Use Grouch if you want a concise API for interacting with CouchDb from the JVM.
Once you have Grouch and it's dependencies on the path it's as simple as this to use:
Example.groovy import com.curiousattemptbunny.grouch.*
grouch = new Grouch('http://localhost:5984')
if (grouch.mydb.exists()) grouch.mydb.delete()
grouch.mydb.create()
grouch.mydb << [_id: 'mydoc', aField: 'aValue' ]
assert grouch.mydb.mydoc.aField == 'aValue'
Note: a public maven repository is a TODO item. For now you can build both the jar and pom yourself using gradle - see build.gradle.
Let me know if you find this useful. Fork it and send me a pull request if you want to try your hand at adding to it yourself.