In Cleveland, Edda Coffee Roasters Seeks Quality of Mythic Proportions

Inside the new Edda Coffee Roasters cafe in the Intro building in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood. Photo by Josh Dobay, courtesy of Edda Coffee Roasters.

Prophecies of quality specialty coffee were fulfilled in Cleveland earlier this month with the opening of Edda Coffee Roasters.

The new coffee brand, whose name references the Old Norse term referring to two seminal texts of viking mythology, comes courtesy of Harbor Bay Hospitality, the food and beverage-focused offshoot of Illinois-based Harbor Bay Real Estate Advisers

Edda now occupies a portion of the ground floor of Intro Cleveland, a shiny new residential complex in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood that boasts sprawling arrays of mass timber (manufactured wood) surfaces.

Photo by Josh Dobay, courtesy of Edda Coffee Roasters.

Designed through a collaboration with the Chicago firm Studio K Creative, the 80-seat Edda space is illuminated by a sweeping fluorescent starburst chandelier and abundant natural light through windows that reach approximately three stories tall.

The bar at the heart of the shop is set up to feature light and bright Nordic-style roasts by well-known Cleveland coffee pro Charlie Eisenstat, who previously founded the roasting company Pour Coffee, and later the Scandinavian-focused multiroaster retail brand Pour Cleveland.

“The cafe is absolutely stunning,” Eisenstat, who now serves as head roaster and director of coffee for Edda, told Daily Coffee News. “It’s a beautiful, bright, airy spot. It’s really a dream.”

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Three bright orange powder-coated Modbar AV espresso groups are installed on one side of the service bar for the standard espresso menu. A fourth orange Modbar AV font is located at the other end for “EK shots” of any single-origin coffee currently on offer. That end also hosts the Edda slow bar, where V60 manual brews will additionally shine.

Eisenstat started setting roast profiles last fall on green coffees sourced mostly through Genuine Origin and Nordic Approach using the Diedrich IR-12 roaster owned by Birdtown Coffee in Lakewood.

Photo by Josh Dobay, courtesy of Edda Coffee Roasters.

“I really sought out a Diedrich for Edda,” said Eisenstat, who roasted on an identical machine in his Pour Coffee days. “I wanted a Diedrich for my old company, and for this one, because a lot of the Scandinavian roasters that I used to buy from roast on Diedrich and I really like the clean roast profile that you can achieve with it.”

Baked goods will be served immediately while a full kitchen onsite will soon provide breakfast and lunch options, including tacos, toasts, salads, sandwiches and bowls.

Eisenstat and company are on the hunt for an appropriate industrial space in which to establish a dedicated Edda roasting facility. As additional Harbor Bay real estate projects in other cities present opportunities, Eisenstat said Edda’s ambition is to be a recognized as a nationwide name in specialty coffee.

Photo by Josh Dobay, courtesy of Edda Coffee Roasters.

“We’re really wanting to grow this brand not just in Cleveland but around the country,” said Eisenstat. “I’ve seen brands start really small and, fortunately for them, grow dramatically and be served at some of the best shops around the country. That’s something that I think we can achieve here at Edda. The company is really supportive and wants to grow it, so that’s what I want to deliver for them.”

Edda Coffee Roasters is located at 2075 W 25th St. in Cleveland. Tell DCN’s editors about your new coffee shop or roastery here.