#ambex

When I first went to Hey! Cafe, I couldn’t believe how good their coffee was. This was my first introduction to both freshly roasted beans and single origin coffee. I’ve always drank my coffee black and enjoyed it, but now I’m drinking coffee exploding with berry-like aroma and you could almost taste the flame on the bean. Like a chargrilled burger. I never knew coffee could harness such a complexity and depth of flavor and I also couldn’t believe the unbelievable variety. You’ll never get two of the same cups.

When Eric and I went to do a tour and quick lesson of the Ambex roaster, the owner of Hey! admitted that their brand new Diedrich didn’t roast coffee quite as flavorful as the old Ambex. (Nothing against Diedrich, I hope to own one of those one day.) I think he was right. I’ve had plenty of small batch, freshly roasted coffee since my journey began and nothing compares to what our little roaster can do. I’m not sure if it’s craftsmanship in the machine’s design, our technique as coffee roasters, or if the old thing is just haunted by a ghost that knows a thing about good coffee. The Ambex did live in a three hundred year old building for a decade and I’m not sure where it came from before that.

Even when the time comes to elevate to a bigger roaster, we will probably still roast our in-house beans on our little Ambex.