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    Ohio’s Own: Westside Barbell Coffee

    There’s strong coffee…Then there’s Westside Barbell strong coffee. 

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    Westside Barbell is a bona fide institution on the (at the risk of being obvious) West Side of Columbus. According to its website, it’s an invitation-only physical training laboratory that’s been the home of 140 world records and Olympic gold medals. It’s been the subject of a documentary (Westside vs The World), it publishes books, it makes custom strength equipment.

    And now it has its own coffee. 

    It’s not like there are a lot of other food products in Westside’s inventory. You can walk right into its distribution center filled with shirts and paraphernalia and ask the goliaths who work there, “Why coffee?”  There’s an answer for that: because they drink a lot of coffee. That is what the super-strong people do. 

    But it’s not just any coffee, the Westside website details its heritage, the elevation at which it is grown, harvest season, fermentation time and roasting date. Importantly, the beans are roasted in small batches here in Columbus by Brioso, a roaster with an impeccable reputation. 

    So it’s fancy and strong coffee. 

    The coffee itself is a dark roast. The team is working on a highly-caffeinated, light roast version for next year. But meanwhile, the coffee is sold in modest brown bags, in both whole bean and ground formats. While the bags are plenty sturdy and stable, they emit a lovely, freshly-roasted coffee aroma. And as for strength in the traditional, concentrated-coffee sense, that probably depends on how you make your coffee. Regardless, once brewed, it delivers a robust, hard-hitting coffee kickstart.  

    Better yet, it’s part of the Westside Barbell empire that is not invitation-only. Anyone can have this taste of the Westside. You can find the coffee online at its store here: westside-barbell.com/collections …But it’s super-fun to visit its hub at 457 Industry Drive. 

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    Miriam Bowers Abbott
    Miriam Bowers Abbotthttps://columbusunderground.com
    Miriam Bowers Abbott is a freelancer contributor to Columbus Underground who reviews restaurants, writes food-centric featurettes and occasionally pens other community journalism pieces.
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