Tag Archive for '21st Street Coffee and Tea'

Featured in Pittsburgh Magazine: Best of Pittsburgh 2008

This is cool.  If you’re a subscriber you already have in your possession the September Pittsburgh Magazine- their annual “Best of Pittsburgh” issue… and we’re in it!

Best Place to Get Custom Coffee: 21st St. Coffee and Tea’s Strip District location was the first place in town to get the famed high-tech $10,000-plus Clover coffee maker. (Now that Starbucks has bought Clover, the gadget may become more ubiquitous.) As at any good farmers’ market, you won’t find the same thing all year - the coffee choices change with the seasons (in September, look for newly arrived beans from Central and South America). Your barista can adjust the grind, water temperature and brewing time to coax the best flavor from the bean of your choice. Now: Caffeinate! 50 21st St., Strip District; 412/281-0809, 21streetcoffee.com. - K.C.

And by custom coffee we don’t mean sugar free vanilla syrup- a’ight?  And IF SBUX does drop a Clover in Pittsburgh I’ll go head to head with them in Pittsburgh’s first ever Clover throwdown.  Bring. It. On.

Since we own a newsstand next door (that’s Smallman News @ 2018 Smallman Street- open Tue-Fri 8a-3p, Sat 8a-12p), we don’t subscribe to magazines. We’re waiting for it to hit the shelves so we can see what (if any) photos they used.  DJ and Drew were working bar the day the photographers brought in all their gear, so we’ll see what comes of it.  It may be precious and/or hilarious.

There weren’t too many coffee mentions, but local micro-roaster Jakes Java gets a shout for “Best Zippy Delivery”, fellow Strip District business Leaf and Bean in the reader’s poll for their extensive cigar bar, and Kiva Han for their “hippy breakfast” (they probably don’t call it that).  JoJo’s got the nod for “Best After-Bar Eats”.  Pamela’s won the reader’s poll for “Best Breakfast”.  The Strip also got a “worst of” for most dangerous bus stop- at 16th and Penn… so keep your heads up kids.

I would like to call attention to this year’s “Best Selection of Beer”- D’s Six Pax & Dogs.  The dogs are really good, but the beer cave is sweet as hell.  I had a Bornem Tripel to wash down a three cheese dog, a Chicago dog, and their 1919 Draft Root Beer.  Total food coma the rest of the night.

Anyway, we have really good coffee.  Come on dahn the strip and try it.

A Fresh Menu

FINALLY finished the new daily menu- it’s a new format encompassing our current by the cup coffee and tea offerings.  It also includes retail prices if you want to take a bag home with you.  Remember that our prices now include 7% tax.  Look for this to be updated every time we get in something new.  We’ll have copies in the store for you to take as well.

daily menu

Throw that old menu out and get yourself a fresh one…

FOCUS

When you work in a business long enough, you know what it is and what it is not.  Each time you make a change to the business it either feels good or it doesn’t.  Each step is an evolution of sorts, a further refinement of what you believe the business should ultimately be.  You begin to really focus on details that you couldn’t see before.  I give you our new menu…

New Menu

It feels good.

Area coffee shop ditching menus?

Our offerings are a little different than what you’d find in 99% of area “coffee shops”.  Over the past couple of years we’ve had the traditional menu boards up on the wall. They’ve worked great for us but we’re always looking for ways to improve and focus our business.  Sometimes customers see the words espresso, latte, even coffee and think they’re going to get the same beverage anywhere they go.  We’re not changing the names of drinks or anything, but rather the way the options (and number of options) are presented.  We aren’t going to be confused with the “fast food” coffee joints of the world.

Having said that, all of our menus are getting a facelift…

Food: We’ve taken down our existing food menu.  Our focus is on the drinks, but you’ll be able to see what food items (fresh baked pastries, fresh made panini, etc) are available each and every day on the front of the deli case.   We’ll also continue to have those wonderful belgian waffles… just don’t ask for syrup please.

Brewed Coffee/Tea: We’ve had menus on the front counter for a while detailing descriptions of our offerings, but we’ve decided for visibility they’d be better placed on the back wall.  This is a big change for us as we feel this will put more emphasis where it should be… on the coffee and tea itself.  We’ll probably (hopefully soon) come up with a small takeaway version of what is fresh for that week on the brewed coffee and tea side that is a little more informational.

coffeetea

Drinks: This corresponds to everything else… from espresso to italian soda.  Keep your eyes peeled.  As soon as we get our new menu board delivered to the Frick Building you’ll see something cool and new at the Strip.  Hopefully this will all go down sometime this week.  Be excited.

drinks

Loyalty

Loyalty Card

They’re here.