The Jewel in the Vault

Pressed For Time Café

Some ideas brew for a while before being executed. For Scott McNab, the idea of opening a coffee shop in his cowork space The Vault had been on the back burner for a while. With a passion for coffee, he wanted to bring a consistently good experience to patrons of The Vault and the people of downtown Port Arthur in his own way.

The concept further solidified when McNab met Steven Beery, now the manager of Pressed For Time. “I knew Steven was a great barista when my daughter and I would go into Starbucks and he would ask her questions about what she liked to make her a perfect custom drink,” McNab says.

With the partnership established, they then went about designing a space that was welcoming, comfortable, and most importantly, made great coffee. “We triple-filter the water for all our coffee, and we use that water to make the ice for our cold drinks, so you get a consistent experience every time,” McNab says.

Consistency seems to be the main concept at Pressed For Time. With no dedicated seating, McNab and Beery put effort into ensuring an enjoyable customer experience before sending them back out into the world (hopefully with more caffeine in the system). During my visit, Beery made me an oat maple latte. As someone who doesn’t usually drink oat milk, I admit I was skeptical at first. But this proved to be unfounded, as Beery produced a perfectly balanced beverage that was great for the ever-colder November days.

Overall, it’s clear that Pressed For Time has carved out its own place in the growing Thunder Bay coffee shop community, and is an easy recommendation for all you readers in need of a caffeine fix.

231 Red River Road 355-0812