Collective Espresso Northside
Collective Espresso now offers two of the city’s finest coffee shops found off the beaten path.
Owned and operated by Dave Hart and Dustin Miller, Collective Espresso’s original alleyway location off Main Street in Over-the-Rhine quickly established itself as a worthwhile destination for caffeine-cionados. They’ve branched out with a second location between Happy Chicks Bakery and Fabricate on Hamilton Avenue in Northside. And their new spot has inevitably found itself on a similar easy-to-miss-but-hard-to-forget alleyway — enter through the swinging wrought-iron gate in front of Cluxton Alley, home to Cluxton Alley Roasters, which is renting them the space.
The imposed sense of secrecy only adds to Collective Espresso’s allure. Staff and owners, who are usually steaming milk or doing pour-overs alongside each other, are extremely inviting, talented and knowledgeable in all things espresso. And though the new location boasts a fully functional coffee roaster (owned by Cluxton Alley Roasters), it’s not in the duo’s business trajectory to roast and sell their own coffee beans yet.
The shop has already enjoyed a soft opening and is currently open the same hours as the OTR location (7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday; 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday). The Northside shop also serves Collective’s same critically acclaimed coffee drinks, which recently received accolades from Food Network star Alton Brown, who grabbed a “spot-on” cortado when he was in town for his show at the Aronoff.
Go: 4037 Hamilton Ave., Northside;
Internet: facebook.com/collectiveespressootr;
Hours: 7 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday; 7 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday; 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday.
