Our story
A small roaster with a weekly rhythm.
We roast every Monday in an old barrel workshop in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and we ship most of it to people who never have to think about running out. Here's how that started, and who does the work.
Where it started
From a garage to Cooperage Lane.
Ember & Oak started in 2019 on a 1 kg sample roaster in a North End garage. Ines Barrow had spent ten years running café bars and was tired of serving coffee that had been roasted months before it reached the cup.
The first customers were neighbours at the Saturday market. Most of them asked the same thing: could we just send a bag every couple of weeks? That question became the subscription, and the subscription became the business.
The name comes from the two things in the room: the ember of the roaster's flame, and the oak of the old barrel workshop on Cooperage Lane where we roast today.
The short version
- 2019 A 1 kg sample roaster in a garage, and a table at the Saturday market.
- 2021 We move into 14 Cooperage Lane, a former barrel workshop, with a 12 kg roaster and a six-seat café.
- 2022 Subscriptions launch, built around roast dates and easy cancelling.
- 2026 Still roasting every Monday, still in batches of 12 kg or less, now shipping across Canada.
What we believe
Four rules we roast by.
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01
Roast dates, not best-befores
Every bag carries the day it was roasted. We schedule your box against the roast calendar so it reaches you while the coffee tastes its best.
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02
Same farms, year after year
We would rather buy from a producer for the fifth season than chase a new name every month. Long relationships mean better coffee and steadier planning for the farms.
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03
Taste every batch
Each Monday batch is cupped on Tuesday before it's packed. A batch that misses our standard goes to the compost, not to your mailbox.
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04
Easy to leave
Skip, pause and cancel all happen online, with no fees and no phone calls. We'd rather earn your next box than trap you into it.
A week at the roastery
One roast day.
Every single week.
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Monday
Roast
Every subscriber box and café bag for the week, in batches of 12 kg or less.
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Tuesday
Rest and cup
Each batch rests overnight, then gets tasted at the cupping table. Misses go to the compost.
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Wednesday
Pack and ship
Bags are ground if you asked, sealed, roast-dated and packed by hand. Boxes leave by afternoon.
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Thursday on
On your doorstep
Most boxes arrive in 2 to 4 business days, well inside the window where coffee tastes its best.
The people behind your box
Four people, one roaster.
The same small team roasts the coffee, answers your emails and packs your box. We each picked the coffee we'd drink if we could only have one.
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Ines Barrow
Co-founder and head roaster
Ran café bars for a decade before buying a tiny roaster. Still roasts every Monday batch herself.
Drinks: Paper Kite
Roast level 2 of 5. Light-medium roast -
Dev Moreau
Co-founder and green coffee buyer
Looks after sourcing and the long relationships behind it, including four seasons with Finca Casa Verde.
Drinks: Casa Verde
Roast level 3 of 5. Medium roast -
Shona MacLeod
Subscriptions and customer care
Answers the inbox, plans the weekly box schedule, and writes the Sunday Cupping email.
Drinks: Morning Oak
Roast level 3 of 5. Medium roast -
Kofi Asante
Café lead and brew trainer
Runs the café bar and the free Saturday cuppings. Will happily talk grind size for an hour.
Drinks: Ember Blend
Roast level 4 of 5. Medium-dark roast
Come by
The roastery café
14 Cooperage Lane, Halifax, NS B3K 2R7
Roastery café: Mon to Sat 7am to 4pm, Sun 8am to 2pm
Free cupping every Saturday at 10 am. No booking needed.
Directions and contactTaste it at home
Start with the coffee we'd pick for you.
Five questions, two minutes. Skip, pause or cancel online whenever you like.