Bean Business: Big Eddy gets two new coffee roasteries

This story is part of a feature that first appeared in print in Revelstoke Mountaineer Magazine’s February 2023 issue. Read the entire e-edition here:

Not every day, a small city expands by two new coffee roasteries in the same week, but like so many other unique things, it happened in Revelstoke.

Holm Coffee Company and Dose Coffee are the latest editions to Revelstoke’s specialty coffee roasting scene. The businesses join the existing roaster, Stoke Roasted Coffee Company, in the expanding market. Both new companies nod to Stoke Roasted for paving the way in the industry.

Despite both being in the Big Eddy and both starting the same, rather niche adventure of coffee roasting, neither Dose nor Holm feel the market is over-saturated. Both businesses have unique plans for the future.

HOLM Coffee Company

Izzy and Simon opened Holm Coffee Company to break down the intimidating atmosphere that surrounds the coffee scene. They want their space to be a place where people can see how roasting works, ask questions and sit down for a coffee in their small intimate space that feels like a home. Photo: Nora Hughes

Simon Harper and Isabelle Lamoureux are the owner, operators and roasters at Holm Coffee Company. Their quiet, cozy corner of the Big Eddy is carefully curated. It feels like you’ve walked into your best friend’s living room. Sitting in the thrifted chairs and being handed a steaming cup of HOLM coffee, it’s hard not to throw your feet up on the coffee table and kick back. While you probably shouldn’t get that comfortable, Izzy and Simon want the place to feel like home.

HOLM is a mash-up of the word home in Simon and Izzy’s countries. He’s English, and she’s French: Home is La Maison. The space is decorated with art, velvety blue thrifted furniture and quirky mugs from marketplace. Almost everything is secondhand, aside from the roaster and the espresso machine. Holm is also a piece of land that floods and drains, a very fitting nod to Revelstoke locals and their love for the flats on Airport Way.

Simon and Izzy have been in the bar industry for ten years. In addition to roasting coffee at Holm Coffee Co., they plan to bring the bar atmosphere to the coffee scene with their cozy corner in the Big Eddy. Photo: Nora Hughes

The couple has worked in the bar industry for the last ten years. Like cocktails, the coffee industry can be intimidating, snobby or posh. As good bartenders do, Izzy and Simon want to talk their customers through the process and flatten the pretentiousness of coffee.

HOLM Coffee Co. is a roastery and a tasting bar. Simon says their not ready to give up on being bartenders, but they would rather share an 11 a.m. coffee than a midnight beer.

“The tasting house is really important for us because we’re bartenders,” explains Izzy. “Being bartenders is something we don’t want to give up. We just want it to be a little different than serving drinks at 11 p.m. But the interaction with people is something I don’t think we could live without. We love it.”

Simon and Izzy are passionate about running a sustainable business. Once they’ve perfected their roasting recipe, they will have a bulk bean filling station and reusable branded bags. The couple has plans to supply locally in Revelstoke but isn’t ready to share where you’ll be able to find their delicious coffee just yet.

Regarding their neighbouring roasters down the street at Dose Coffee, Simon says that despite competing in the same business, they strive to help each other.

“We feel like there is plenty of room for us both. Our ambition is to do us, and their ambition is to do them.”

HOLM Coffee Company is located at 101-722 Big Eddy Road in Revelstoke. Photo: Nora Hughes

HOLM Coffee Company will be open in mid-February. Customers can stop by their tasting room at unit 101, 722 Big Eddy road or follow them @holmcoffeecompany on Instagram.

Dose Coffee

John and Lauren opened their roastery to create career avenues for their dedicated staff, provide coffee for their popular downtown cafe and add to the ever expanding, vibrant coffee community.
Photo: Nora Hughes

Dose Coffee needs no introduction. John Pierce and Lauren Webster, owners of the downtown cafe, Dose Coffee, are celebrating the opening of their roastery this month. The idea has been growing since the cafe opened six years ago. Their goal is to supply the cafe with their beans, but they also want the roastery to create avenues of growth for their staff members.

Dose Coffee has loyal customers and even more loyal employees. John says that the roastery will expand opportunities for its staff members. Photo: Maxim B. Vidricaire

“We’ve definitely hit a glass ceiling with some of our staff in the past, and we wanted to be able to provide career path job security,” says John. “We realize Revelstoke is a desirable place to live. So if we can offer something sustainable that is meaningful work for our team members, that’s a huge reason we want to push in this direction.”

They’ve already invested in one of their staff member’s roasting education. John and Lauren found that their staff members stepped up and flourished into leadership roles during COVID. As a result, they say as owners, their role in the business has changed. “We’re only as strong as our team,” says John. “If we can foster a positive work environment that can provide growth, we will.”

Rosa is Dose Coffee’s 15-kilogram Loring Roaster. Photo: Nora Hughes

Their space in the Big Eddy is home to Rosa, a 15 kilogram Loring Roaster that travelled here from Santa Rosa. Rosa is high-tech in the coffee industry. She’s energy efficient and reduces emissions in every roast. If you’re wondering how Rosa got her name, there’s a story there. Ask John the next time you see him.

When it comes to bag design, you might be surprised to learn Dose Coffee bags are white with black writing or the inverse for premium coffees. It seemed a little off-brand until Lauren explained, “The reason it’s so clean is so that we can work with different artists and have a canvas that represents that consistency of our brand over time.”

Dose is known for collaborating with local artists and didn’t want to lose the ability to do that by creating one logo. Dose will have three staple roasts: Dose Dino Espresso, Daily Dose and a decaf blend.

Dose will use stickers to customize their locally roasted coffee. Photo: Nora Hughes

“I think it’s always the more, the merrier in business,” says John regarding their neighbour, Holm Coffee Co. “Everyone has space to coexist and be successful.” John and Lauren see the coffee roasting scene’s growth as a huge help and expansion in Revelstoke’s food and drink tourism.

John and Lauren have big plans for their locally branded bags to travel around the Interior, provincially, nationally and maybe one day, internationally. In addition, Dose Coffee plans to start cold-brew canning at its location to keep up with trends in the coffee industry and make it local. They also have big plans for a second cafe location.

Visit Dose Coffee Revelstoke on Second Street East or @DoseCoffeeRevelstoke on Instagram.