About Us - Why Coffee?

The inspiration to embark on our caffeine adventure came in 2007 while living in Nelson, New Zealand where we were impressed and intrigued by several local boutique coffee roasteries/cafes that consistently made fabulous coffee from beans they had roasted themselves. We became so interested in the roasting process that we bought our own home roaster and became hooked! With the bulk of Darryl's working life spent in hospitality starting our own cafe seemed like a way to build the business around our family. As we developed our own ideas for a cafe, we were drawn back to the passion and fascination of roasting for ourselves and so decided to make coffee roasting the main focus of our business.

After returning to the New England region in early 2008, we began to put the pieces together. In November of 2008, after over a year of planning and 3 months of renovating, Altitude Coffee Roastery was finally opened in what had previously been a bakery. When all the painting, plastering and carpentry were finished, we opened the doors, and Armidale had its first coffee roastery where people from all walks of life can find a space to enjoy delicious coffee and freshly prepared food.

Since then, our business has continued to grow, now including commercial and domestic espresso machine sales and servicing, a blossoming wholesale trade and the continued success of our cafe!  Originally, we roasted in-store on a 2kg Belaroma coffee roaster, but our growth has been reflected in the replacement of our original roaster with a much larger Italian IMF drum roaster and a small warehouse to roast in!

However, our aim hasn't changed - to continue to create and provide gorgeous coffee every time, with every batch we roast and with every coffee we pour. When we combine the aromas of freshly roasted coffee, the subtle flavours and golden crema of a perfect extraction and silky textured milk we make your coffee indulgence a memorable one. We love the process of roasting, the challenge of bringing out the best in each bean, and in turn the best out of each blend. But most of all we love sharing our passion for coffee with our customers, and in turn seeing them come back again and again to enjoy that moment of bliss.

Rachel & Darryl Stace