Calistoga Roastery

Jim and I have purchased coffee from Calistoga Coffee for years.  Even now while we are on the road, we order a custom-made blend they put together specifically for us.  We established the exact flavor we enjoy after narrowing it down by trying flavors from a variety of samples Calistoga Coffee provided.  Clive (who is the owner) established Calistoga Coffee twenty-two years ago and to this day he works at the front counter in a job he says, “I love.”  That love of his job is evident as he greets his customers and interacts with his employees.  Going into the store for the first time, we felt like we’d just reconnected with an old friend whom actually we have only known previously by placing orders with him over the phone.  That’s the kind of business we want to connect with forever, hoping Clive will never retire (at least in our lifetime.)

The coffee shop sells a variety of bagels, quiche, muffins, breakfast sandwiches, and more along with its brewed coffees and café lattes.  Sitting and visiting with Clive for a few minutes, we learn that coffee is best when roasted and consumed within two weeks.  Bags of coffee sit for sale on his shelves for only one week.  Keeping coffee in an airtight container after opening its sealed package preserves its freshness for the week or so it takes to consume it.  (We usually drink a one-pound bag per week.) 

Read a paper, come down on Tuesday afternoons and join a knitting group or catch-up with friends in a totally relaxing atmosphere any morning over coffee here and you will be glad you took the time to go to this special place the next time you are in Calistoga.  Then go out and browse the wonderful shops along Main Street or visit the Farmers Market if you are there on a Saturday morning.  Calistoga also offers mud baths and mineral baths if you are so inclined.  We drove up from San Francisco crossing over the Golden Gate Bridge and going north through Sausalito in under two hours and then drove back through the Napa Valley and into San Francisco over the San Francisco Bay Bridge.  It was a wonderful drive with our prized box of coffee safely riding along on the back seat.  These are the moments that “life is good” are made of.

P.S.  If you want to try our coffee blend, just call Clive and tell him to send you the "Chris and Jim Mays Blend" but be forewarned that you may never go back to any other brand once you have tried any blend from Calistoga Roastery!