Cluxton Alley Coffee Roasters

Cool hipster place. Local selection is surprisingly small. I went with my best friend who loves full bodied, dark roasts with a splash of milk depending on how bitter it is. I myself like fruity light roasts and add a lot of milk with a bit of raw sugar. We asked for recommendations and the barista (and her friend (?) that just chimed in from the counter seating now and then while eating pizza) recommended the same coffee to both of us based on the fact that we might use milk. I found this surprising as we have completely opposite tastes and the description for the recommended coffee (the Guatemala) explicitly noted «full bodied.» I emphasized that I really don’t like darker roasts and was assured I would like it because it is a crowd pleaser.
The coffee was really bitter for me. No matter how much milk I added, it tasted burnt. My friend loved it, of course, because it is exactly what she asked for.
Cool place but don’t expect helpful guidance on their coffee /​don’t listen to their recommendations!

Hit this place up on our drive up north. Is it a fancy hipster shop, nope, and that’s what I loved. No espresso machine (think she mentioned she was looking at one to install), but damn good coffee and great cold brew as well.
Very tiny place hidden in the back off the street, but you’ll know your in the right spot as you start walking back and smell the coffee. The owner is very nice and friendly, and knew nothing about Unilocal.So when I showed her how I found her, I showed her the Unilocal page with people raving about her coffee. You could see a huge smile form across her face. I love how she roast right there (roaster is right behind the counter).
I love good coffee, and have my own «real» espresso machine and grinder at home, always order fresh roasted beans shipped in. So we had a nice chat with the owner, and even showed the machines that people can home roast with now like the Behemor.
I grabbed some her Ethiopian Yirg and Costa Rican and have been pulling shots at home with them, very nice. Her prices are very cheap too. Wish we had a nice little roaster and shop like this by us in South FL.

I was in Northside, laptop in tow, seeking a place to get some work done, and sad to find all the tables at Sidewinder occupied. A quick check of my Unilocal app indicated this place was close by. I had never heard of it and had no real visual idea of where it could be; so I naturally set out on foot to explore. What a great find.
Warning: this did not meet my original intent to sit down and get work done. While there is a table and chairs and a little bar area, there’s not really work space, and no outlet available (a necessity for my nearly decrepit beast of a computer). It would be fine to sit with a friend or 2 to chat, but not a larger group.
I was greeted by Jan, the proprietor and roaster of the establishment in an inviting, sun-​lit space. She sadly had no coffee ready to serve as she was just getting ready to brew a pot. So, she offered to make me a cup a la French press. We stood and chatted about the neighborhood, careers, and coffee for probably a solid 30 minutes while I enjoyed my coffee. She tells me that there are usually Take the Cake confections to accompany (it was mid-​afternoon), and there is a little courtyard area which I’m sure is nice in the warmer months.
There is no mistaking, this is a coffee roasting establishment. Jan even admitted that the counter and by-​the-​cup sales was a bit of an after thought. Your choices are coffee or tea-​no frills. But, for $ 1 a cup (add 50 cents to have either iced), you can get some top-​notch, freshly roasted coffee-​it HAS to be the best deal in town, especially for the quality. You can also buy by the pound to take home or source your business, I came home with a sample of a surplus blend which I’m looking forward to in the morning.
This place is actually on the back side of Fabricate. On foot, it was easy to find once I saw the banner at the gate opening in the fence, but I probably would have driven right past. I didn’t notice street parking near by, but if you’re just dropping in for a cup on your way to work, I’m sure parking in the alley isn’t a problem… but I didn’t say that.

Awesome fresh roasted coffee done with a lot more care than anywhere I have been. You can stop in the roasting room for a cheap cup of coffee and and buy beans when she is roasting — which is often because she has a cult following. Loved the Monkeybean, Guatemalan, and Samantra beans… whole family highly impressed and our family of full of coffee snobs.
We visited to other roasters in cincy ad were unimpressed. One roaster’s beans we even tossed after our purchase here.

This is our new favorite coffee shop and the place we plan to take out of town guests. You probably have never noticed it before since it literally is in an alley, but it’s well worth the sketch-​factor once you make it back to the shop. The shop actually started because the owner is in the coffee roasting business and sells her roasted beans commercially. Enough people started walking in that she decided to open a shop.
I realize the one thing you actually want to hear is about the coffee, so here you go: it’s good. It’s damn good. For one dollar, you can get a cup of freshly roasted, freshly brewed, unlike anything else you’ve ever tasted, goodness in your hands.

If you like coffee, stop in at Cluxton Alley to discover how amazing it can be when it’s been roasted in the last 24 hours. Truly, the difference between Cluxton Alley coffee and what you can get at the grocery — which may have been roasted weeks (or months!) ago — is remarkable. The owner tinkers with roast temperatures and times and is always willing to tell you in detail about the beans that you’re buying (although only if you’re interested).
The roaster sits right in the corner of the one-​room shop, with a small but devoted group of friendly regulars in another corner. Local art is for sale on the cinder-​block walls, and enormous burlap sacks of unroasted coffee are stacked in various locations. Service is not exactly speedy — don’t go if you’re in a hurry — but it’s always personal and, as far as I’m concerned, always a pleasure.

Support your locals, friends, with this fine coffee roasting establishment. The hours are promulgated on the gate on Hamilton that winds through the building to take you to the solariumesque roasting house. If the gate is open, go on in. If not, walk away with shoulders hunched like Charlie Brown and steep for the rest of the day in woe and sadness.
Try the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. Or the Papua New Guinea Roast. Local art festoons the walls in the comfortable setting where one can buy ½ or a full pound of unground or ground beans. The beans are roasted right there daily, so freshness is not an issue.
She is also at the Northside Farmers’ Market (Wednesdays 4 – 7:30).