Coffee Cycle opens at 4856 Voltaire
By Candice Woo / Eater San Diego / September 9, 2024
A coffee company that got its start as a mobile business has just opened its second storefront in Ocean Beach.
Working in the coffee industry since age 16 and never owning a car, Coffee Cycle founder Chris O’Brien combined his lifestyle and interests into building a tricked-out coffee cart on the back of a tricycle, which he pedaled around San Diego for several years before finding a permanent spot to park in Pacific Beach. Operating out of a small cafe on Grand Avenue since 2017, Coffee Cycle previously did its roasting at Point Loma’s Accento Coffee Roasters.
The new Voltaire Street space has room for a five-kilo roaster on which O’Brien will roast the beans for Coffee Cycle’s beverage menu, which includes single-origin drip coffee and flash-chilled iced coffee along with specialty drinks like lavender lattes and a honey freddo, which is an espresso shot shaken with local honey. The cafe, which makes cashew-macadamia nut milk and all its flavored syrups, will also be serving mocktails including a virgin mojito and a passionfruit and butterfly pea tea refresher.
Currently offering empanadas from Empanada Kitchen, Coffee Cycle will soon introduce sandwiches made in-house.
The cafe, which includes a backyard patio, will also host events like education classes and meet-and-greets with the coffee farmers with whom the company works directly.
O’Brien spent seven years as a barista at Bird Rock Coffee Roasters and kept in close touch with one of his mentors in the industry, Bird Rock founder Chuck Patton. Part of the Ocean Beach space will be dedicated to a small roaster that signals Patton’s official return to the industry after selling a majority stake in Bird Rock back in 2017.
His new business, Chuck’s Roast, will feature online sales of rare and small lot coffees and paid on-site tastings. Through his company Patton Coffee Consulting, Patton is also advising coffee farms and gearing up to teach classes geared toward those starting a coffee business.
Is this gonna make the neighborhood smell like burnt coffee now? The smell of burning coffee is not for everyone.
LOL better than the fries smell from Plant Power or the vacant blighted storefronts that were up and down Voltaire for so long. Come on now. This is a positive.