Since 2013, we've had the privilege of accompanying people on their coffee journey. Many come to us because they've discovered a hobby and want to learn more. Others come to us because they see coffee as their future path in life. Today, we're introducing one of them: Simon Inniger.
“Coffee is simply incredibly diverse; I learn something new every day,” says Simon when asked why he delves so deeply into coffee. Yes, we feel the same way – coffee offers so much and connects not only worlds but also completely different taste preferences.
Simon works full-time in IT consulting and got into coffee rather by chance. As often happens, he "got hooked" – interest turned into a hobby, a hobby into a passion, and passion into his own project: Simon's Coffee Roastery in Frutigen in the Kandertal.
Simon's Mini Roastery
After Simon attended a sensory course, the advanced Barista course, and most recently the Roaster Level 2 course with us, he felt more than ready to start his own project.
In Frutigen in the canton of Bern, he made his dream come true in a small garden shed. With the help of his family, he converted the "shed" and installed his roastery in the almost ten square meters.
He bought his coffee roaster, a Probatone 5kg, from the colleagues at GoodLife Coffee. Coffee roasters are primarily made of steel, and their depreciation is minimal – so it makes a lot of sense to buy used ones, especially when you're just starting out and want to stick to a budget.
In the mini-roastery, everything a roastery needs is there. A green coffee scale, various buckets, a roaster, and the green coffee storage. If Simon's roastery were to grow, there would still be space for green coffee in his parents' basement.
“Simply really good coffee”
In March, I spent a consulting day with Simon and helped him find the roast profiles for his coffees. Simon's goal is simple:
Simply really good coffee. What sounds like a trite marketing slogan embodies my goal: I want to roast really good specialty coffees and make them easily accessible to my customers.
Simon Inniger, Simon's Coffee Roastery
And Simon understands that every market has its own rules and taste preferences. In his region, much more coffee is consumed from automatic machines, not filter coffee. His goal must therefore be to meet his customers where they are. Thus, his focus is on coffees that work well in automatic machines, yet still taste like specialty coffee.
So, a Jura automatic machine and an espresso machine stand side-by-side in his roastery. This allows him to extract the coffee during quality control just as his customers would at home.
In his online shop, he offers single origins, blends, and also two filter coffees. These are primarily for him, as he simply enjoys drinking filter coffee – a coffee from Nicaragua and a classic Ethiopian Sidamo profile.
Simon, have fun!
The journey to Frutigen alone is fun – so if you ever find yourself there, you should definitely visit Simon. We've never seen such a small roastery before.
We wish you great success and, most importantly, fun on your coffee journey, Simon, and we're happy if we could support you a little.
Your Kaffeemacher
