Highwire Coffee Roasters

Peaberry's Changes

After serving 500,000 cups of coffee, Lynn Mallard, owner of Peaberry’s, retired from the coffee business in early May to travel and enjoy other interests. She has sold her beloved Peaberry’s to us, three friends and coffee veterans with over 55 years of combined experience: Rich Avella, Eric Hashimoto and Robert Myers. Like Lynn, we value and respect the tradition of deep roasted coffee that Alfred Peet introduced in the 1960’s. We intend to continue celebrating this style of roasting, even as we explore flavors possible only with other styles of roasting. We pride ourselves on being coffee and tea professionals; everything we serve will be craft-driven and something that we personally enjoy drinking or eating.

About the New Owners

Rich Avella has spent the last 20 years teaching people to taste, understand and enjoy coffee and tea. More recently, he has been heavily involved in international barista competitions, judging the top baristas of the world. He is also a seasoned tea professional and will lead our development in this area.

Eric Hashimoto has worked in coffee for the last 15 years, including ten years in green coffee logistics. He is a respected, highly-skilled and knowledgeable cupper. Eric will spearhead our efforts to source, secure and roast the finest lots of top grade green coffee.

Robert Myers has worn many hats in his 20 years in coffee, most recently as founder, in 2009, of Modern Coffee in downtown Oakland. Robert is guiding our endeavor to create more coffee-focused menu offerings and upgrade the grinding and brewing equipment. He will also update our pastry selections.

Our Products and Plans

Our menu will reflect the new-crop coffees that we find most exciting in a particular season, while some classic blends will carry over from Lynn’s time, as our way of keeping her spirit alive at Market Hall. Some recent coffees we've sourced and offered are Guatemala Finca Candelaria, Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, El Salvador Santa Adelaida and Kenya Gambarara, the first of four tiny lots of Kenya coffee we secured. And because we believe that the quality of our products requires service that matches, we have discontinued the self-service coffee and pastries in favor of better tasting offerings, served professionally and efficiently. We are currently investing in developing a well-trained staff of coffee and tea experts, and we will soon install a state of the art espresso machine. We will offer individually brewed cups of coffee and upgrade our tea service, and all the food we sell will be designed to pair well with coffee or tea.

In the near future, we will also welcome you to take part in our comparative tastings and demonstrations, held here at the store. We know that you, the customers, are what made Lynn’s 22 years in this location so rewarding, and we look forward to serving you and sharing our love of coffee and tea. Please feel free to introduce yourself when you see us in the shop. You can also reach us with any questions or comments here.