Elixr's new coffee roastery will feature an 'omakase' bar

In the works for more than a year, Elixr Coffee Roasters' new roastery/cafe on 12th Street near Vine in the Goldtex Building (315 N. 12th St.) is just a few weeks from opening.

The facility, a bit larger than Elixr's backstreet flagship location at 207 S. Sydenham St. in Rittenhouse, will feature what owner Evan Inatome calls an omakase coffee-tasting bar, where baristas will conceive and craft five cups of coffee in unique flights for coffee fans.

The exact location is next to the bar/restaurant space formerly known as Brick & Mortar. (Speaking of which: A new deal for that space is supposedly close to being signed.) The new café and roastery will be divided by large wood and glass doors, so customers can see what is going on in the roasting plant when they enter the coffee shop

The timing for Inatome is fortuitous, as it follows a solid showing the U.S. Coffee Championships in Seattle by his star barista, T. Benjamin Fischer, who won second place.

What did it take to capture second? Fischer provided a 15-minute presentation on his signature espresso beverage, which will be featured at Elixr and Double Knot. The signature drink, the Strawberry Fog Espresso Sour, takes four shots of espresso chilled in an ice bath, 15 grams of simple syrup, 5 grams of egg white, and 7 grams of lime juice. It is shaken and is served with a strawberry aromatic fog utilizing dry ice layered on top.

Inatome, a Los Angeles native, moved to Philadelphia after a 2010 visit, as his sister Dania was married to then-Eagles tackle Winston Justice and needed Inatome's help with child care. Elixr's original location was on 15th Street south of Walnut, where the entrance to SPiN and &Pizza are now. The shop moved in 2012, and later added locations inside Double Knot and a cafe at the Institute of Contemporary Art in University City.

Inatome himself placed in the top 10 three years in a row at the U.S. Roasting Championships, finishing as high as fourth in the country.