Barismo
The roasting happens at 171 Massachusetts Ave, so the bags on the shelf were roasted behind the counter you are standing at. It is the company's first address and now a lab-style coffee bar with the brewing equipment for sale beside the coffee.
Why go
Jaime van Schyndel cofounded Barismo and has spent years buying green coffee and supplying Boston cafes, which is how the company ended up running other people's rooms: in 2015 it took over Voltage Coffee + Art in Kendall Square, and van Schyndel had already bought out the investor behind Dwelltime with a plan to rebrand it.2 The Arlington shop went the other way. It started as the retail front, became the roastery again, and now trades as the bar where the equipment is.1 The company says it went back to its roots, which in this case means the roaster returned to the room it started in.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: whatever came off the roaster that week, and buy a bag while you are there.1
- Avoid: arriving hungry. The bakery is at the Cambridge cafe on Broadway.1
What locals & experts say
- Katrina Yentch, Sprudge, writing about the company at its Cambridge bar:
Barismo pays attention to detail. The quality is what matters most, and the gang is always looking to experiment with the 'next big thing' in specialty coffee.
3
Good to know
- Hours move. The company's own page says so and points at its ordering link rather than printing a schedule.1
- Different door: barismo 364, on Broadway in mid-Cambridge, opened in 2012 in the old F.B. Hubley Auction House and has the bakery.1
Verdict
could-visit — Buying at the roastery counter is a real advantage and this is the roastery: the company roasts at 171 and sells brewing gear over the same bar. Jaime van Schyndel cofounded it and has been buying, roasting and supplying Boston cafes since before the Kendall Square takeover the Globe covered in 2015. It sits where it does because the coffee writing I found was done at the Cambridge cafe, so I cannot tell you how the espresso at this bar tastes.