Noella Brew Bar is Open!

The wait is over! , Noella Brew Bar has steeped long enough and served its first cups of coffee on Friday morning on Seventh Avenue.

The java joint, which is located between Berkeley and Lincoln places, sells Counter Culture coffee (which is an organic, sustainable and direct trade coffee bean and roasting company), makes its own chocolate from scratch (for hot chocolate and mochas) and also sells “the golden cup of coffee,” which is a single cup made with the pour-over method.

Although the plate glass window is not finished, the owner Melissa Rapoport, who owned the Seventh Avenue location of Ozzie’s, had a temporary door installed so she could open as quickly as possible.

On Friday, Noella had a constant stream of old faithful’s from Ozzie’s and newcomers, all who ordered coffee for the morning’s start and examined the new digs, complete inside with an exposed brick wall, an oak butcher block counter, warehouse-style lighting hanging down from the high ceiling, bar stools at the counter and a large back room with tables and chairs.

A graffiti-style painting on one of the walls in the back room was done by one of Rapoport’s daughter’s friends, Mason Grassfield. He is a high school student and a graffiti artist.

For the pour-over method, which costs from $3 to $6 for a single cup, Noella has a choice of beans from Papua New Guinea, Colombia, Kenya and Peru.

“I think as far as specialty coffee roasters go, Counter Culture is in the top three,” said Jessica Blauvelt, who was waiting for a late morning cup of joe at Noella. “There’s a lot of bad coffee in the city, but hopefully this kind of place will push out the droll coffee you get at delis. Noella gives us options—we have a choice to drink different great cups of coffee.”

Shortly after 8 a.m. a line of ten people formed with waves of customers coming in for about two hours.

“To me it feels like three in the afternoon. I was here preparing until 2 a.m. and got back here at 6 a.m. this morning,” Rapoprt said while sitting with four patrons in the back room. “I am relieved and I am so happy to see familiar faces.”

The featured coffee on opening day in the big brewer was the Farmhouse Blend. It is made all year long but uses a mixture of small estate beans that changes seasonally.

Raphael, a barista who worked at Ozzie’s, followed Rapoport to her new venture and was vital in helping her build the new café, was serving hot cups to the new customers and chatting with long-time friends on Friday.

“I will be working hard all weekend,” he said from behind the counter. “We got a lot of catching up to do.”

A patron, who was sitting with three friends in the back room who all met at Ozzie’s, was happy to be drinking coffee in the new café.

“When Ozzie’s closed we were exiled to ,” a man named Z’ev said in jest. He is a film, media and technology producer who used to go to the now-closed shop every week. “But now we are able to come back home.”

“Ozzie’s had the kind experience of the old idea of café culture,” Z’ev explained. “I created many different projects just from sitting there and meeting artists, producers and writers. I can tell Noella Brew Bar will have the same experience.”