Phoenix Coffee: Coventry Road Cafe in Cleveland, OH

Background: Phoenix Coffee was started in 1990 by Roaster Carl Jones in Cleveland, OH. In 1993, barista Sarah Wilson joined Phoenix and eventually married Carl, becoming Sarah Wilson-Jones, CEO and self-proclaimed 'Superbarista' of Phoenix Coffee Company. Today, Phoenix has a roastery located on Sinclair Avenue in Cleveland, as well as five cafe locations throughout the city. The product line includes single origin coffees such as Papua New Guinea Estate and Kenya AA, organic fair trade coffees such as OFT Bolivia and OFT Guatemala Huehuetenango, signature blends such as Blue Moon and Carl's Classic, over fifty artificially flavored coffees such as banana nut, chocolate rasberry, and irish cream royale. Phoenix also carries teas such as earl grey, lapsang souchong, japanese genmaicha, tung ting oolong, china jasmine, and an assortment of flavored teas including apricot, black currant, and vanilla. Phoenix also has a program in which it will send coffee 'hot off the roaster,' meaning the coffee most recently roasted whatever it may be for a set price. A large percentage of Phoenix's business is done with wholesale customers who operate cafes in northeast Ohio and throughout the U.S.

The Store Ambiance: I visited the Phoenix Conventry Road Cafe on February 16, 2010 and was impressed by cafes cozy, unassuming set-up. It was part of a large complex with other restaurants and offices surrounding it along the stretch of the street. As I entered, I descended a flight of stairs into the cafe leaving the windowed facade of the store a level above me. It was rather picturesque with the winter snow blowing outside as people passed by. As I approached the counter, I heard middle-eastern 'snake-charming' music playing, creating an exotic vibe to the store. There were two people working, both in their mid-twenties. One was a man with jeans, a t-shirt, and long dread locks pinned up behind his head. The other was a woman with short hair and one of those 'french artist' hats on her head. They both engaged in friendly banter and various tasks as I approached. As I thought about my order, I took the time to look around the cafe. There was a lot of seating room, probably twenty to thirty tables with two cushy chairs for each. There were two men in their late twenties sitting at different tables with earphones and laptops. On the walls were coffee bags from origins such as Mexico and Costa Rica, crayon drawings from local elementary school children, and a 'Phoenix Events' sign posting local news. All in all, the cafe seemed like a nice place to hang-out, socialize, study, and take a break from the blistering cold just outside.

The Menu: The menu was arranged in a set of panels inside what had once been used as window frames. They were posted on the wall behind the counter and had written on them in various fonts the available menu items. As teas go, Phoenix offered hot teas, iced teas, and 'Bubble teas,' some sort of foamy teas made with tapioca. The coffees being brewed were the house dark roast coffee called 'Blue Moon Blend' and its decaffeinated version in addition to the light roast of the day, 'Guatemala Huehuetenango. The specialty coffee and milk beverages included the cafe mocha (made with Toddy) and mocha light, the white mocha, the almond steamer, the cafe phoenix (made with espresso), the chocolaccino, the mocha swirl, the milky way, Our Own hot chocolate, irish cream hot chocolate, espresso macchiato, cappuccino, the Speedball (more intense mocha) and the Stuporball (more intense Speedball). On a shelf along the sides of the registers rested various jars with hand-written signs indicating the kinds of coffee that were in them. Resting on top of the registers was a pastry case with goodies including muffins, scones, cookies, and giant cinnamon rolls. Just below the pastry case was a refrigerated display case including drinks such as Nantucket Nectars and Maine Root fair trade sodas.

What I Had: I purchased two drinks. The first was a medium-sized (16 oz.) Blue Moon Blend coffee. The coffee was dark in comparison to most house blends. Its flavor profile was also more intricate. It had a sweet, florally, and roasty aroma, medium body with a smooth but lingering effect, biting acidity on the back of the tongue, and flavors of cocoa, roasty sweet buttery caramel, and slight orange-tangerine. I also had a cafe mocha. Phoenix's mochas, unlike many cafes, use Toddy--a cold water brewed coffee concentrate--instead of espresso. The result is a chocolatey coffee drink with less of a bite. It was smooth, light and creamy like milk chocolate rather than deep and edgy like mochas made with espresso.