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Matthew "Delly" Dellavedova, the Cleveland Cavaliers' point guard known for his love of strong, black coffee, has partnered with the locally-owned Cleveland Coffee Company to launch "G'Day Mate!" a limited-edition coffee blended from specialty-grade Peruvian and Sumatra coffee beans. This is a detail from the coffee package, which will be sold at 40 area retailers through June 30.

(Cleveland Coffee Company)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Coffee-loving Clevelanders and Cavaliers fans can now fuel up with the same coffee that Cavaliers shooting guard Matthew "Delly" Dellavedova gulps before big games.

The Australian-born basketball phenom and java junkie just launched his own cheery "G'Day Mate" coffee blend with Brendan Walton, owner of the Cleveland Coffee Company in Cleveland's Midtown district.

Matthew Dellavedova's G'Day Mate Coffee, by the Cleveland Coffee Co.

During the Cavs' 2015 playoffs against the Chicago Bulls, when his teammates' injuries required him to play more minutes per game, Dellavedova drank coffee not only before tipoff, but again at halftime after teammate Anderson Varejao brought more into the Cavs' locker room. That was the same game where Dellavedova played so aggressively that he had to be treated for dehydration afterwards.

"I just made a little mental note to myself," Walton said. "I noticed that coffee was Delly's drink of choice, so I approached him with the idea of branding his own coffee."

"Delly and his girlfriend, Anna, came by our warehouse in December -- he had never seen the roasting process before."

After sampling several combinations of single-origin beans, Dellavedova chose what eventually became G'Day Mate -- a custom-made, small-batch-roasted blend of specialty-grade Peruvian and Sumatra coffee beans. "The Indonesian islands are the closest coffee-growing region to Australia," Walton said.

"It's a medium dark roast that can be enjoyed all day, as a morning blend or after dinner, because it has a mild acidity with a nice snap to it. People enjoy its full-bodied, velvety texture, so they don't even need cream," he said. The package depicts Dellavedova running toward the basket in a nonspecific home uniform, and says, "Making Way for a Positive Day."

Dellavedova uses a French press at home and takes his coffee black, he added. "He said it tastes great." Delly said his mother would especially appreciate the coffee, because he is "trying to get her off the Nescafe."

Ten percent of the proceeds from G'Day Mate will go to All Faiths Pantry, a Cleveland-based nonprofit that delivers groceries from the Cleveland Food Bank to homebound residents and others with limited mobility.

G'Day Mate went on sale starting on Australia Day on Monday, Jan, 25. At about $9.99 for a 12-ounce bag of whole beans, it will be available only through June 30 at about 40 area retailers, including:

Matthew Dellavedova helps roast coffee beans for Cleveland Coffee Co.'s G'Day Mate Coffee.

-- A.J. Rocco's downtown cafe and bar near Quicken Loans Arena,

-- Campbell's Sweets Factory on West 25th St., and in Lakewood, and and Campbell's Popcorn shop on West 25th Street in Cleveland.

-- Constantino's Market in the Warehouse District and in University Circle Uptown,

-- Constantino's Convenient Food Mart at 11022 Clifton Rd.

-- Earth Fare stores in Fairview Park and Fairlawn,

-- Giant Eagle Market District stores in Cuyahoga Falls, Solon, Strongsville, and Uniontown.

-- Heinen's Fine Foods' 18 Ohio stores,

-- Rego's Neighborhood Market in Rocky River and Strongsville,

-- Zagara's Marketplace in Cleveland Heights,

-- and at the Cleveland Coffee Company's www.ClevelandCoffeeCompany.com website.

Cleveland Coffee Company buys Arabica green coffee beans from growers around the world, and has been supplying roasted coffee to area cafes and businesses since 2003.



Walton is renovating an older building at West 58th Street and Lorain Avenue on Cleveland's West Side and converting it into a coffee shop that will open this summer.

Another Cleveland Coffee blend, called "Bright Side Blend," a light to medium roast Costa Rican and dark roast Honduran, helps raise money for the Barry Winovich Endowed Chair for ALS Research at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, in the hopes of finding a cure for ALS.