Because we always have been—and always will be—committed to excellence in all areas of Axum Coffee, the decision to open our own roastery was an easy one.

From the beginning, we knew selecting our own beans and having complete control over their roasting profiles would be of utmost importance if we were to continue providing our customers and community with the best cup of coffee around for a comfortable price. That’s why in 2015, we opened the Axum Roastery in the heart of downtown Winter Garden, Florida, at the Plant Street Market.

Our first roast was of our Sidamo beans from Ethiopia, which have become our flagship varietal.

Type, Frequency, Process

You can find us roasting around three times per week. This frequency allow us to brew our beans within 14 days of roasting, which ensures we are serving and selling the freshest and highest quality coffee beans in our stores and online.

All of our beans are shipped to us in their raw, green form. We then roast them in a twelve-kilo roaster made by Probac, a German company with one of the oldest and most renowned histories in the coffee roasting world. Each batch gets roasted at the proper 80% capacity of our machine, which allows the beans to tumble correctly and receive uniform heat. This results in about 21 pounds of perfectly roasted beans per batch.

After roasting, the beans are degassed. Each variety of coffee bean requires a different degassing period, determined by our head roaster and apprentices by means of an in-depth cupping process. This short delay between when the beans are roasted and when we make them available for brewing is crucial for the beans’ flavor profile to reach its full potential and to get the best possible crema on your espresso.

Once degassed, the beans are manually bagged, dated, and delivered to our coffeehouse locations; our wholesalers/resellers; and our fulfillment center, where they are packaged and mailed to our coffee subscription customers and other online shoppers.

Head Roaster

Neal Faul has been our head roaster since we opened the Axum Roastery in 2015. Hailing from South Africa, Neal received his barista certification in Australia and was one of the first baristas and trainers at Axum Coffee when opened our first location in 2010.

Along with his apprentices, Neal skillfully profiles each bean that arrives at our roastery. Before any of our beans are made available to our customers, Neal and his team determine the best way to bring out each bean’s notes and distinguishing characteristics. Because of their expert work, Axum Coffee is able to offer our customers consistently exceptional coffee, served and sold at its peak.

Neal has been awarded multiple Specialty Coffee Association (SCA) roasting certifications and has helped Axum develop a unique roasting profile that has earned us a well-respected place in the Central Florida coffee community and beyond.

Axum Roastery’s Coffee Bar and Viewing

Axum Roastery is open daily with a limited menu served at our roastery coffee bar. Our baristas are always eager to talk about the roasting process, our beans, and how you can get the best results from brewing our coffee at home.

Stop by to see us any time. You may even catch us roasting and be able to see it all happen live!