Coffee on Wheels
Nowadays, you needn’t visit a brick-and-mortar coffee shop for a high-end caffeine fix: Mobile units such as Black Magic Coffee Co. and the Coffee Trike have popped up everywhere from Somerville to downtown. Joining their ranks is Triangle Coffee, which has been selling premium Blue Bottle espresso and pour-over coffee inside Brooklyn Boulders’ climbing gym, in Somerville, since Labor Day. Though Triangle doesn’t travel outside the building, it can move around the 40,000-square-foot gym’s many underutilized spaces, explains co-owner Ottavio Siani. It’s been so successful that another outpost is in the works for the Innovation and Design Building in the Seaport. Above, Siani details how Triangle’s unique design makes it so versatile.
Photograph by Chelsea Kyle
1. All of Triangle’s machinery runs on 120 volts, so it can be plugged in anywhere.
2. Triangle was built as a modular, two-piece unit to accommodate various spatial configurations.
3. Because the espresso bar lacks a counter, the two pieces are able to nest.
4. The bar was designed by Michael Smith and Mark Rukamathu, who work in the Artisan’s Asylum next door.
5. Triangle doesn’t need plumbing—a 5-gallon water tank is built into the unit.
6. The pour-over bar features a 6-inch cantilevered counter so patrons can lean and linger.
