The first coffee-themed cocktail bar — focusing solely on that combination — has opened in Beaverton.
The Roastery by Ava held its grand opening Friday, Feb. 9, at 4770 S.W. Hall Blvd., with a ribbon-cutting event sponsored by the Beaverton Chamber of Commerce.
Dubbed as the first coffee-themed cocktail bar in Oregon, The Roastery by Ava pairs both a master roaster with an expert mixologist.
The result of fusing java with alcohol are some unique creations, to create such drinks as The Classic (vodka, coffee liqueur, house espresso and a touch of Fleur de sel) and The Midnight Cocoa (vodka, coffee liqueur, house espresso, Irish liqueur, chocolate liqueur in a drink topped with shaved dark chocolate).
At the same time, the new venue, which currently houses Ava’s coffee-bean roasting site, also will serve premium single-origin coffee from Colombia, Brazil and Honduras.
The Roastery by Ava, which seats up to 45 guests and offers a menu of culinary options, is kitty-corner from Ava Roasteria’s Hall Boulevard coffee shop.
During Friday’s grand opening, Amy Saberiyan, an Ava Roasteria owner, declined to take credit for the opening of the new business.
“It’s not me. Don't say ‘Amy.’ It’s everybody you see here,” said Saberiyan, a Beaverton resident since 1992.
Taking the helm at the new venue are Nathan Buell, The Roastery by Ava bar manager, and Amirali Khosravani, a master coffee roaster.
Saberiyan credited Buell for his forward thinking in mixing coffee with cocktails to come up with some “fabulous drinks.”
At the same time, she said Khosravani’s coffee-roasting skills come from his heart, and praised both innovators, saying “their enthusiasm and their passion for this business is the main driver for me and my family to continue doing what we’re doing.”
Buell said it was a two-year process to get to the point of opening the business.
“We're kind of blazing this path to this really beautiful experience that you're not just getting a cocktail with a little bit of coffee mixed in. We’re focusing on where we source our beans from, (something) that matches and pairs perfectly with each and every drink,” Buell said.
He said the goal too is to create a business with a warm ambiance that also provides a place for people to decompress and hang out with friends.
Khosravani, who has been roasting for Ava Roasteria coffee for seven years, praised Saberiyan and her family for continually supporting him as he pushes forward to learn more and more about the coffee industry.
Most recently, he’s particularly proud of the shop’s use of premium coffee beans.
“I always wanted to have some place to showcase some more limited, more precisely produced coffee that you (wouldn’t) … have the chance to serve in a fast-paced, high-volume coffee shop,” Khosravani said.
He said a lot of work goes into producing that coffee from the producers of those beans, many of whom have used their life savings to produce the product. As a result, Khosravani said one of his goals is to help make their lives better, emphasizing that many who live in coffee-producing countries are not as fortunate as those in other countries.
“So the only thing we can do, (with the United States) as the biggest consumer of coffee, is to support them, pay the fair price for them and keep pushing them so they have a better life and we have a better coffee,” Khosravani said.
The Ava Roasteria success story dates to 2006 when the original Ava Roasteria coffee shop was built on Hall Boulevard on the site of a former gas station. Since then, another Beaverton location has been added to the Progress Ridge shopping complex, and Ava Roasteria has coffee shops in Lake Oswego and at Hillsboro’s Orenco Station. The company’s biggest venture to date is almost complete in Tigard.
At Friday’s event, Beaverton Mayor Lacey Beaty praised Saberiyan for having the “Midas touch” when it comes to opening new businesses. She said Saberiyan possesses the ability to solve problems.
“It just shows you that she's always evolving, bringing her business up to speed, but she's listening to the community. And so, I think wherever she goes, that's where I want to go,” said Beaty.
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