About
Two of us, one room, and a roaster that takes up more of it than it should. We have been on Geary since 2019.
The unit was a print shop until 2018, and a locksmith before that. We opened in the spring of 2019 with eight seats, a borrowed grinder and a fairly loose idea of what we were doing. The long table at the back is the original composing bench. The ring marks in it are entirely ours.
We have stayed small deliberately, and turned down the unit next door twice. One room means we see every cup go out, and it means whoever took your order probably made it. It also means we run out of cardamom buns most days before ten, which we are told is annoying.
The Roast
We started roasting our own in 2021, on a 5kg Probat wedged into the back room. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on a Tuesday afternoon the whole block knows about it. The house blend is two thirds Brazilian and one third Ethiopian, built for milk rather than for a tasting note, and we will explain at length why that is a real decision and not a compromise. Filter is always a single origin, and it changes whenever the last one runs out.
The People
Behind the Roaster
Co-founder
Runs the Probat and does the green buying. Will talk about water chemistry for longer than you want.
In the Kitchen
Co-founder
In at four to get the buns going. The chilli oil is entirely deliberate.
On Bar
Head barista
Trains everyone who works the machine and set the recipe we are pulling now. Ask about the Kieni if you have ten minutes spare.
Who We Buy From
Blackwood Creek Dairy
Milk and cream, three mornings a week, in glass.
Wychwood Mills
Red Fife for the sourdough and the buns.
Meridian Green Coffee
Green coffee, with the farm and the price we paid printed on every bag. Not everyone does that.