Our Story
Empyrean means “Relating to heaven or the sky.” The term connotes something lofty and aspiration--something exceptional. We aspire to that--but it's not the reason for our name.
Roasting, for us, is a technology-aided exploration into the flavor potential of coffee. When I was in graduate school, my son and I used to visit the observatory in Cambridge, MA, to see renowned astronomers and physicists give talks and then show us the beauty space had to offer, visible only with the assistance of a telescope. When we'd leave to walk home, I'd nearly always look up into the night sky and marvel at the fact that those incredible sights are always there, but they're only visible with the use of the correct technology.
This is what roasting is to us: we leverage roasting technology to efficiently expose the flavors inherent in the coffee bean. For us, efficiency is about capturing and exposing all of the inherent beauty in the bean. We love our work because it’s a journey of excitement and discovery—a journey that’s accessible to those who are new to coffee, but also to those who have been exploring coffee for many years.
Our passion is facilitating a sense of discovery with every coffee we offer. We are obsessed with discovering all the potential that exists within a particular coffee, and with helping others to experience the joy and excitement of discovery along with us! And we pledge to do this efficiently: we strive to find every bit of inherent potential in each coffee we offer, and to never waste any of that potential.