There are a lot of places to buy coffee in Cleveland. Then again, there are a lot of coffee drinkers in Cleveland. Happily, Pour Cleveland (530 Euclid Ave., 216-479-0395, facebook.com/PourCleveland) has found its own special sauce, with the introduction of a pour-over and espresso bar, serving Counter Culture coffee in the heart of the city. You won’t find coffee quite like this anywhere else in town.
First, let’s clarify a few things, for those who don’t already know. Pour-over is a style of brewing that uses a coffee dripper, basically a fancy funnel, into which ground beans are placed. With this method, your barista can pay attention to the fine details of the brewing process. Pouring hot water by hand, slowly over the coffee, results in the extraction of more flavor. Counter Culture is a coffee brand with a mission: to source, roast, and deliver the most exquisite, freshest coffees from all over the world.
Sounds pretty good, right?
Pour’s menu offers a rotating list of Counter Culture offerings, each with a detailed flavor profile. For instance, the Bartolo Concha from Peru is bright and sweet, with notes of apricot, vanilla and clover honey. Kalungu from the Congo features citrus, dark fruit and hibiscus. For something richer, hot cocoa is made in-house, using Askinosie single origin cocoa powder, organic sugar and kosher salt. Ask them to add a shot from the espresso bar to make it a mocha.
Sourcing from various local bakeries, Pour’s tempting pastry case is one to peruse. Bagels and schmears are delivered daily from Cleveland Bagel Co. Meringue Bakeshop is enticingly represented with an array of cookies, brownies, muffins and more. An assortment of Brewnuts’ donuts, inspired by craft beers, taste as good as they look.
If you’re an 8-to-5 worker, you might find Pour’s hours somewhat tricky. The shop is open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday – Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday (closed Sunday). But with an urban chic décor, friendly and knowledgeable baristas, world-class coffee and scrumptious treats, you’ll want to find time to get here soon.
This article appears in Feb 19-25, 2014.
When will they have reasonable and plentiful parking for all the new cool places on Euclid? I’m not going to pay $5 parking for a $10 coffee and bagel-and I’m not going to go around the block more than once before I just hit the donut shop on St. Claire on the way to work (shoreway guy). Any plan in the works to fix this? I’d like to go there for lunch too, but same problem. Even worse during lunch. Now for dinner, I’ll pay the parking, if there is any. If not, we turn around and head to W 25th.
Lots of places have coffee, but few places have good coffee.
I like Cleveland but they do need to give us a break on parking even at the events we attend at list stamp a card and if you park so many time give you at least one free parking a year –
Parking in Cleveland is cheap and easy!
Every time I go someplace on Euclid, there’s a free spot. There’s plenty of spots on Euclid, just so don’t go during the lunch hour! Jeez!
Also, how is this the only game in town when Rising Star is 2 miles away? 😛