Revolver has Pulled the Trigger

Revolver has pulled the trigger.

Revolver, one of the 3 or 4 bastions of Third Wave Coffee in Vancouver, has expanded, allowing more seating and a much wider selection of beans and coffee paraphernalia. In early December the Giannakos family, who also owns West Vancouver’s café/bakery Crema, opened Archive, in the adjoining space. Via their knowledgeable full-time retail staff, Archive sells anything and everything related to making coffee: beans, grinders, coffee makers of all shapes and sizes, books, scales and more. It’s been a huge success thus far, if only for the expanded seating for Revolver customers.

Goodbye tramp stamps, hello Archive. When Revolver opened back in April 2011, a tattoo parlour was their next-door neighbour. When the ink shop decided to move a few blocks away, the landlord offered the space to Revolver and the family jumped at the chance to expand.

“Our retail is an extension of the Revolver coffee experience. We wanted to create a focused one stop shop for all things coffee. What that means is we stock grinders, all sorts of brew methods, filters, and even texts and books on making coffee. We’ve also just started getting into ‘Café Lifestyle’ items – things you’d use while enjoying a cup of coffee, the first item of which are Field Notes journals,” says George Giannakos, Partner and GM of Revolver and Archive.

Another of said lifestyle items are Book Bundles, packages of 4 classic novels. It’s a project Giannakos and his girlfriend, Robyn Yager, have been working on for a few years under the name Sons & Lovers. With well-worn titles like The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Sound and the Fury, Book Bundles are now in their third and most successful run.

To relieve the crush at the consistently packed Revolver, Archive’s designer, Craig Stanghetta, went with large communal tables instead of a two to four-tops. Not only do the long tables accentuate the narrow length of the room, but they’re able to accommodate different sized groups, forcing famously cold and distant Vancouverites to {gasp} talk to strangers.

Archive’s biggest sellers so far? The Aeropress and Porlex Hand Grinder, no surprise. Aeropress is the brewing method du jour and the Porlex grinder is ultra compact, fits well in the hand, is easy to use and is super durable.

When asked what every coffee enthusiast should have at home, Giannakos was quick to reply. “Whichever brew method you like best. For me at home it would be an Aeropress, a burr grinder, a weigh scale so that you can brew a consistent cup every single time, and of course a nice bag of fresh roasted coffee (fresh being within 3 weeks of brewing).”

So stop by Revolver and Archive next time you’re in Gastown, for one of the best cups of coffee in town. You might leave with a good book and someone’s phone number.

Revolver and Archive

325 Cambie Street, Vancouver

revolvercoffee.ca

Twitter: @revolver_coffee

FB: facebook.com/revolvercoffee