History from 349 SW 4th Street in Corvalis: the home of Mike Sivetz’ roaster fabrication plant and coffee shop.
Back-to-back bench grinders at Sivetz’ sales counter.
It was once whispered that Mike’s joint was a bit cluttered. Those whispers may have been true…
Mike’s signature means of communication: stencils. Nothing is cheaper, easier, or clearer.
Every piece of Sivetz roasting equipment was stencilled. There were many questions about Sivetz roasters…but everyone knew which piece was which.
Mike’s stencils were not limited to the sides of roasters, burners, and afterburners.
An oval with a straight line through it: representative art, but not hyper-realist. If it wasn’t about the coffee and its aromatics, rough representation was good enough.
Mike could be defensive at times.
For those rare instances when stencils didn’t go far enough…
Mike was organized. In some fashion.
Some thought Mike was a rebel. Others believe that Mike didn’t rebel against “popular wisdom”, he just ignored it.
Why go high-tech when a simple template works better?
A bit of postcard history from Mike’s bean freezer.
Rumor has it that Mike’s facility once housed a boxing ring. The visuals lent themselves to this theory…
The Sivetz facility was much like a Sivetz roaster: it was perfect where it needed to be perfect. And the other places? They were good enough.
Beneath his rough-and-tumble facade, Mike did care deeply about roasting coffee, and was adamant that his disciples should learn the truth.
Even the kitsch was earnest.
Mark Overly and Adam Schley of Kaladi Coffee in Denver visiting the Sivetz facility with Johnny Jenkins of the Laughing Goat in Boulder, CO.