When I was given the assignment from Edible Idaho to write a profile article on the St{r}eam Coffee & Tea Bike I didn’t know anything about this cart, its proprietor or cold pressed coffee. I was in for a treat on all accounts.

If you’d like to see the complete online version of the magazine, click here.

Idaho Finds  – St{r}eam Coffee & Tea Bike

After a 25 year hiatus Jodi Eichelberger has returned to the Treasure Valley to embrace a slower pace of life. I’m not just talking about the difference between living in Brooklyn where he’s spent the last 10 years, and that of Boise, but also the switch from being an actor to his new endeavor, St{r}eam Coffee & Tea Bike.

While the bike was custom built in Portland, everything else about this self-propelled cart was brewed up by Jodi himself. But this is just the beginning of his craftiness, for his specialty is cold brewed coffee which is not only a labor of love but also of patience. It looks like a science experiment with its glass beakers and jars, the top is filled with filtered water that drips at the glacial rate of about one drop every second and a half. That water slowly works through the hand-ground Dawson Taylor coffee and a filter and finally drips into a carafe waiting at the bottom. The result is a bright, clean tasting coffee that has none of the bitterness that sugar and cream usually mask. It takes approximately 6 hours of this methodical brewing to fill a 750mL bottle—and Jodi keeps the process going around the clock.

The St{r}eam cart also offers blooming tea, flavored waters and is looking to add cider and hot chocolate going into the chillier months.

The day I tracked down Jodi, he was on the Greenbelt by the Whitewater Park. When asked about the location he said, “There’s lots of solutions for those that want coffee fast. I’m not one of them. I’m the anti-hurry up. What I make is meant to be enjoyed leisurely and I can’t think of a more beautiful place to do that.”

Follow him at facebook.com/streamcoffeebike to have your own leisurely experience.