Highwire Coffee, a small East Bay-based coffee house chain with Oakland roots, kickstarted the soft launch of its new Walnut Creek location July 22.
Situated inside The Waymark, a new apartment complex just outside the Walnut Creek BART entrance, this is Highwire’s first foray east of the Caldecott Tunnel.
At the Walnut Creek location, they’re putting an added emphasis on offering cold, refreshing drinks, says co-owner Robert Myers, because, well, “it’s notable how much hotter it is (than) on the other side of the tunnel.”
Those cold drinks include a seasonal iced lavender latte, as well as their “Cruel Summer” iced tea, a variation on the Arnold Palmer featuring lemonade, watermelon syrup and lychee flavors, and cold sparkling tea drinks. The cafe’s pastries come from croissant and viennoiserie specialists Starter Bakery and Third Culture Bakery, which specializes in mochi-based baked goods. They also offer chai sourced from Tipu’s Chai.
Rich Avella and Robert Myers, owners of Highwire Coffee, sit inside the lobby of Walnut Creek’s new Waymark building, home to the coffee house’s newest location. (Courtesy Highwire)
Myers started the first Highwire in 2011 with Rich Avella and Eric Hashimoto (who has since retired), who all worked together at Peet’s in the 1990s. The Highwire name was inspired by the idea of finding balance along a tightrope that spanned Peet’s and Starbucks-style dark roasts and lighter roasts that had become popular during that era, serving up high-quality coffee while remaining inclusive and unpretentious.
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“I really wanted something more approachable, something we could bring our families, parents and friends to and not worry about whether you were cool or not,” Myers says.
Details: Open weekdays 6:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and weekends 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m. at 200 Station Way (outside the Walnut Creek BART station at the Waymark Transit Village); highwirecoffee.com.
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