{"id":443083,"date":"2026-08-25T15:00:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/443083\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T15:00:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T15:00:12","slug":"sanctuary-coffee-roasting-opens-a-refuge-for-tasting-in-fresno-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/443083\/","title":{"rendered":"Sanctuary Coffee Roasting Opens a Refuge for Tasting in Fresno County"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Sanctuary_TastingLounge_CuppingTable\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The tasting room at Sanctuary Coffee Roasting in Clovis, California. All images courtesy of Vatche Moukhtarian \/ Sanctuary Coffee Roasting.<\/p>\n

Chef-owned Sanctuary Coffee Roasting<\/a> has opened a tasting lounge inside its production roastery in Clovis, California, offering a friendly haven for exploring coffee production and flavors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The lounge hosts free public cupping sessions every Wednesday and Thursday at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Each session lasts about 45 minutes and is limited to eight guests, with reservations available by text.<\/p>\n

Sanctuary\u2019s current program includes side-by-side coffee tasting and a set of visual tasting aids called Cup Rings, designed to make sensory evaluation more approachable.<\/p>\n

Sanctuary owner and roaster Vatche Moukhtarian, a longtime chef and founder of Fresno\u2019s Cracked Pepper Bistro<\/a>, designed the Cup Rings as coasters that sit in front of guests. The rings use plain-language flavor and intensity cues in place of what Moukhtarian called \u201ccoffee snob vocabulary.\u201d He leads all the cupping sessions.<\/p>\n

\"Sanctuary_ECM_EspressoMachine\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside the Sanctuary roastery.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea was a speakeasy behind a working warehouse,\u201d Moukhtarian said. \u201cYou walk past the roaster and the pallets, open a door and the room changes.\u201d<\/p>\n

That change comes by way of Chesterfield sofas, brass table lamps, leather ottomans and a blue rug. Burlap coffee sacks from countries where Sanctuary sources coffee, including Brazil, Guatemala, Peru and Indonesia, line one wall, while a hand-painted coffee cherry tree mural adds another focal point. The exposed ceiling remains as a reminder that the lounge sits within a working roastery.<\/p>\n

The Italian phrase \u201cdolce far niente,\u201d meaning roughly \u201cthe sweetness of doing nothing,\u201d is painted into the mural.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the whole point of the room, and honestly the whole point of the company,\u201d said Moukhtarian.<\/p>\n

The Sanctuary name follows a similar idea: creating room for people to slow down with coffee.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe all do so much in a day that we leave ourselves almost no time,\u201d Moukhtarian said. \u201cA quiet cup of coffee is a refuge in itself in this busy world.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Moukhtarian roasts to order in approximately 24-pound batches on a Primo roaster with Cropster software.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Most of the coffee is destined for Sanctuary Coffee Refuge<\/a>, Moukhtarian\u2019s cafe in northwest Fresno. The cafe uses Eversys machines to support espresso-based drinks, which are offered alongside pourovers, sandwiches and pastries.<\/p>\n

At the new tasting room, Moukhtarian takes a more deliberate approach to espresso with a manual ECM machine. He described it as \u201ctwo rooms, two speeds, same coffee.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Sanctuary_Roastery_Packaging\"<\/a><\/p>\n

That divide between speed and ritual traces back to Moukhtarian\u2019s childhood in Lebanon, where a roaster down the street would fill the block with coffee aromas two or three times per week. It\u2019s also where coffee was inseparable from genuine hospitality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn our home, every guest was greeted with a cup. My mom, my grandmother, that was the first thing [they] did when somebody walked in. The coffee was ground almost to a powder and brewed in a jezve,\u201d said Moukhtarian. \u201cWhen the cups were empty, for fun, they\u2019d flip them over and read fortunes in the grounds. I remember that vividly. That\u2019s what coffee was to me before it was ever a business \u2014 a way of welcoming somebody.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moukhtarian also describes Sanctuary as a family operation, with his wife and children helping behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy wife keeps things running behind the scenes, and when a big roast day comes she\u2019s at the warehouse helping me label bags,\u201d Moukhtarian said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t do this without them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moukhtarian\u2019s professional background is primarily in food. He is a classically trained chef with more than two decades of kitchen experience. He opened Cracked Pepper Bistro in Fresno in 2006, and in 2019 won an episode of Food Network\u2019s \u201cGuy\u2019s Grocery Games.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCoffee wasn\u2019t a pivot away from cooking \u2014 it\u2019s the same work,\u201d said Moukhtarian. \u201cI build roast profiles the way I build recipes: balance first, then clarity, then sweetness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cracked Pepper Bistro now also serves breakfast and brunch during the day, with Sanctuary coffee featured as part of the program. Meanwhile, Moukhtarian is preparing another Cracked Pepper Cafe inside Fresno City Hall. In June, the Fresno City Council approved a lease with Moukhtarian\u2019s Culinary Studios Inc. to operate the cafe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of Fresno has trusted us with a real honor there, to be part of City Hall and take care of their staff every day. We don\u2019t take that lightly,\u201d Moukhtarian said. \u201cEvery location pours the same coffee we roast in small production right here in Clovis \u2014 specialty coffee, nothing else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moukhtarian said he also now plans to expand Sanctuary\u2019s retail and wholesale reach.<\/p>\n

Sanctuary\u2019s tasting lounge is located at 12 W. Palo Alto Ave. <\/a>in Clovis, California<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Comments? Questions? News to share? Contact DCN\u2019s editors here<\/a>. For all the latest coffee industry news, subscribe to the DCN newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Daria Toptygina<\/a>
Daria Toptygina is a freelance writer, avid coffee lover and social media manager of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. <\/p>\n

Tags: California<\/a>, Clovis<\/a>, Cracked Pepper Bistro<\/a>, Fresno<\/a>, Sanctuary Coffee Refuge<\/a>, Sanctuary Coffee Roasting<\/a>, Vatche Moukhtarian<\/a><\/p>\n


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