The new Canyon Coffee cafe in Brooklyn, New York. All images courtesy of Canyon Coffee.
Moving from one peak specialty coffee city to another, Los Angeles-based Canyon Coffee just opened its second cafe in Brooklyn, New York.
The new Prospect Heights cafe transplants the carefully curated SoCal vibes of the first, with shelves, surfaces and furniture built from Douglas fir and maple wood, warm pendant globe lighting, tunes from vinyl records and plenty of natural light through generous storefront windows.
Cedar was chosen for the outdoor benches to better hold up through the northeastern seasons that Canyon Coffee Co-Founder Ally Walsh knows well, having grown up in Long Island.
Canyon also has familiarity with the market: Walsh said New York has been one of the company’s strongest regions outside Los Angeles through wholesale and online sales since the brand’s 2016 launch.
“We knew it’d be a greater challenge for our second shop to be on the other side of the country. But we reached consensus that the time felt right,” Walsh, who has two siblings in Brooklyn, told Daily Coffee News. “We’ve known for years we want to open in New York.”
As in L.A., limestone counters anchor the Brooklyn bar, topped by a 3-group La Marzocco Linea PB ABR and two Mazzer Kony SG grinders. A Mazzer ZM supports batch brew on a modified Curtis G4, while a 3-button Marco font delivers hot water to the bar. An 8-tap draft system keeps batched specialty lattes and more flowing.
Chef James Wayman, who helped shape the food program in Los Angeles, trained the Brooklyn team on a nearly identical menu, while adding a new bean toast and developing additional grab-and-go sandwiches.
Yet the new Big Apple shop is not entirely a mirror of the original. Notably, it skips the fresh-squeezed orange juice program.
“Citrus may be local in California, and worth highlighting its specific farmers — less so in New York,” said Walsh. “Instead, we’re trying out nitrogenated apple cider on tap.”
Coffees for the new shop ship from Canyon’s Downtown L.A. roastery, led by coffee director Matthew Williams and head roaster Frank Valerio, who oversee a Loring S35 Kestrel machine.
Canyon’s sourcing program continues to lean on long-term producer relationships, including ASPRASAR in Tolima, Colombia, SNAP Coffee in Ethiopia and Finca Churupampa in Peru. A more varied seasonal menu is also in the works, with a shift toward buying smaller lots more frequently.
“This is enabled largely because of opening the cafés, which gives us an outlet to serve coffees that isn’t entirely dependent on wholesale and e-commerce,” Walsh said. “In the process, we’re excited to feature more producers and share more exquisite coffees for our customers to enjoy.”
Continued wholesale roasting, as well as further expansion into shelf-stable cold brew concentrate, espresso concentrate and canned cold brew are ratcheting up demand in the roastery, where a spot is being reserved for an inbound Loring S70 Falcon roaster.
“The cold brew is something I’m pretty excited about,” Walsh said. “It’s one of the first Regenerative Organic Certified cold brews, and we produced the can via direct print, without any labels, so it’s actually 100% recyclable.”
Meanwhile, a second Los Angeles cafe is also in the works.
“We’re drawing nearer to completion of our goal of scaling operations, scaling the production facility and opening a couple more cafes,” Walsh said. “From there, we’re excited to continue to grow in a way that considers longevity of the business.”
Canyon Coffee is located at 601 Vanderbilt Ave. in Brooklyn, New York.
Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
