This new Clovis coffee roastery lets you watch behind the scenes and drink coffee
Ever heard just-roasted coffee beans crackling like popcorn?
You can now that a new coffee shop and roastery has opened to the public in Clovis.
Rare Earth Coffee is a Clovis-based coffee brand that you can find at Johnny Quik and Save Mart stores around town.
Now the company is branching out into something new.
Its new digs in the Dry Creek Business Park are part coffee shop, part roastery where you can watch the roasting process, and a classroom for tastings and deep-dive classes. It’s near Highway 168 and Herndon Avenue, just north of Jimbo’s bar.
Rare Earth will celebrate the new location with a pop-up event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, June 26. Local makers, bakers and food trucks will be there, including It’s in the Mix, a Clovis company that provides the cinnamon rolls at Johnny Quik stores.
The coffee business
Rare Earth has been around for seven years. Founded by father-son duo Ernie and Trevor Beal, the business has five full-service coffee counters inside Johnny Quik stores, which are also owned by the family.
They sell lattes and cold brew coffee and all the popular blended espresso-based drinks.
Two locations – at Clinton and Blythe avenues and Willow and Alluvial avenues – have drive-thru coffee shops.
There are also self-service coffee bars at convenience stores around town. Bags of Rare Earth beans and coffee are available at Save Mart and Johnny Quik stores.
Two new coffee counters are in the works, including one under construction at Bush Street and Highway 41 in Lemoore.
The roastery
Rare Earth starting roasting its own beans a while ago and moved to the new space about six months ago.
“Now we have a place where we can really share with the public how coffee starts, to a (brewed) cup,” said Trevor Beal, co-founder and vice president.
The public can watch the whole process, from pouring the green beans into the roaster to listening to the hot beans crackle and sampling the final product. (Coincidentally, Crow & Wolf Brewing Co. is a few doors down on what is becoming the Clovis ale trail, so you could make a foodie day out of it and visit both.)
Some things to know about watching the coffee-roasting process: It’s done in surprisingly small equipment. Most roasting is.
Here, operations manager and head roaster Hector Leyva pours 25 pounds of beans a time into the roaster.
Unlike the coffee roasting you see where a bar pushes the beans around as they cook, Rare Earth does air roasting. The beans are roasted in a vertical cylinder with air pumped in from the bottom so the beans are flying around inside and not resting on metal.
That prevents charring and also allows the papery skins of the beans to be removed, said Trevor Beal. A hat-like top on the roaster sucks them away, making the final product less bitter. (Ask them and they’ll momentarily remove the top so you can see the roaster blow a confetti party of skins into the air.)
“That’s one of the components that helps us with that fresh clean taste,” Beal said. “That’s our goal: Drink it black and be smooth enough you don’t have to put anything in it.”
In addition to watching the process, you can order any drink off the menu and take a load off at the tables.
You can also order a flight of coffee for between $10 and $15, tasting samples of different roasts.
Classes and how to sign up are detailed online. They include classes on different roasts and origins, brewing, roasting and a barista class. They cost $25.
UCP and coffee
One particular roast you may want to try?
The Ethiopian Reserve roast. It’s a single origin roast from Ethiopia with $1 from every bag benefiting United Cerebral Palsy Central California.
The organization serves students with cerebral palsy, autism, Down syndrome and other disabilities, and a student is featured on the coffee’s packaging every few months.
Rare Earth and UCP have a history, with donation jars at its stores and the Beal family inviting students to its horse ranch.
You can buy the coffee at the roastery, in some Save Mart stores and Johnny Quik stores.
Details: The Rare Earth Roastery is at 587 Park Creek Drive in the Dry Creek Business Park. It’s open to the public from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays.
This story was originally published June 24, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
