Channing and Ianik from Ember Specialty Coffee Lab didn’t imagine opening a cafe less than 12 months into their roasting business, but when a space in Adelaide’s bustling East End, Ebenezer Place became available, it was too good to resist.
Ember Specialty Coffee Lab was born mid-last year and originally began as a coffee bean roasting business. They source beans from Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica and Guatemala, and roast the beans in a commercial space in Largs Bay.
Opening this week Ember Specialty Coffee Lab will be a place for people to enjoy coffee, not just get the caffeine hit and run. Think of sipping on a nice wine or a whiskey. This is a similar vibe.
The space was originally a clothing store but Channing and Ianik could see the vision and thought “We could make a cafe out of this.”
Ember Specialty Coffee Lab will be the newest addition to Ebenezer Place with Laneway Social, and Jewels of Thought Records recently entering the Ebenezer/Vardon hub. Tucked behind Rundle Street, Ebenezer Place and Vardon Avenue are always bustling, but they heat up to another level during Fringe with night markets, express menus, and a whole lot more foot traffic.
Channing and Ianik looked at this space in Ebenezer Place and thought how could we turn it into Adelaide’s coffee nerds’ next spot.
“We’re quite nerdy when it comes to coffee,” said Channing.
With two coffee machines at home, and three grinders it’s safe to say the new space is in safe hands.
“We’re just excited to open our space and show Adelaide what we can bring, and we’re really proud, because we roast all of our coffee ourselves,” said Channing.
At the heart of Ember is a deep love for specialty pour-over coffee.
“What we’re going to offer is more of an experience,” said Channing.
“We’ll offer milk based drinks, but what we want to do is introduce customers to an other side of coffee rather than ‘Oh, I need a coffee to wake up,’ we want it to be like wine whiskey, or gin.”
“We want to introduce people that there’s much more than just getting a hit of caffeine.”
Specialty coffee differs from espresso and blends by being lighter in flavour and more refined. Channing describes it as not as strong but more punchy, and more floral and fruity flavours shine through. It has multiple layers and its lighter flavour means you can drink it all day.
But specialty coffee doesn’t come easy, Channing joked that you need an engineering degree because of the precision and technicality needed to make a cup of coffee.
“It starts from the bean and how fine or how coarse you grind it and then there’s all different recipes,” explained Channing.
“It’s not just as simple as putting grind into the paper filter and pouring water over it, everything needs to be timed, and depending on which recipe you’re using, that is something that goes into account.
“With a paragon, when you pour it onto the filter, it goes through this cold ball, and again that changes the taste from when it comes through the filter to when it goes into the cup.
“Every single a roast has a different recipe which is quite a lot, but I feel like people will be appreciative of it.”
Opening on Saturday, Ember is coffee that’s meant to be sipped like a single malt, not shot like an espresso.
Ember Specialty Coffee Lab
Where: Shop 2, 4-10 Ebenezer Pl, Adelaide
When: Opening Saturday 28th February (8am – 3pm), Monday – Friday (6.30am – 3.30pm), Public Holidays (8.30am – 2.30pm)
For more information, click here
