Sleeping Tiger, hidden in winery

Witch Creek clears space for roasting machinery and full coffee bar

Michael Summers' 2013 mural Catnap — on the wall outside Witch Creek Winery — is the inspiration for the name Sleeping Tiger Coffee.

Sleeping Tiger Coffee launched what may well be the first café sitting inside an active winery. Last year, Paon wine bar owner Mayur Pavagadhi bought Witch Creek Winery, an urban winery operating out of north Carlsbad the past two decades.

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Pavagadhi subsequently became enamored with coffee, and cleared space within the winery for roasting machinery and a full coffee bar, which features a La Marzocco espresso machine and a Curtis Seraphim automated pour-over station.

Named for a colorful mural of tigers found on the outside wall of the winery, Sleeping Tiger opened with the help of local roaster Nanelle Newbom, who established green coffee accounts and trained Sleeping Tiger's head roaster, Fallon Rusing.

Though new to roasting, Rusing's coffee experience includes time working for esteemed Bay Area roasters, Blue Bottle and Equator. "I wanted to be a barista for a fantastic place," Rusing says. "So, I stayed in the Bay Area for two years and worked for two of the best craft coffee places in the country."

Place

Sleeping Tiger

2906 Carlsbad Boulevard, Carlsbad

Sleeping Tiger is currently open early hours, but the plan is to eventually match the hours of the wine bar it shares space with.

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