Our Story

It all started with a passion for coffee, a love of quiet mornings on the lake, and a dream to open up a locally owned micro-roastery. 

Rock Island Roastery's mission is simple:

Roast great coffee. Be good people.

We strive to provide high quality, small-batch roasted coffee to share with those who want something more in their morning fuel, and who want their morning fuel to do good for the world. Our micro-roastery works hard to find quality green coffees from around the world that are ethically and sustainably sourced, to roast to our customers’ taste and satisfaction. What is in your cup is the brilliant taste of thoughtfully sourced and roasted coffee from some of the world’s greatest coffee regions.

Established in 2019, Rock Island Roastery garnered its name from a small island on a northern Ontario lake; an island that fostered the tradition of watching the glorious sunrise with a freshly-roasted coffee in hand.

Co-founded by a father-daughter duo, Peter handles all of the roasting activities while Teeka takes care of the business.

And of course we can't forget Bondi, the real boss around here.

 

 

Connection to Our Land

We acknowledge that our business operates across the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee, Anishinabek, Neutral, and Mississauga nations, and the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit. We give thanks to the Anishinabek and Mississauga nations as the traditional inhabitants of the land which inspired Rock Island Roastery. We acknowledge a debt to those who were here before us and recognize our responsibility, as guests, to respect and honour the intimate relationship that Indigenous peoples continue to have with this land. The soil and water on these territories allow us to roast coffee and provide us with the opportunity to continuously hone our craft. We are grateful for the opportunity to live, work, and play on this land.

We also acknowledge the traditional lands on which the green coffee beans we roast and consume are cultivated and harvested and strive to further educate ourselves on the Indigenous histories of these territories and the impacts of colonization on the land and local communities.

 

Roasting

Our roasting philosophy is to unlock the unique flavours hidden in each bean of our sustainably and responsibly sourced arabica coffee.  We get to know our coffees and roast them to the profile that best suits that coffee while creating other roast profiles that cater to a wide range of palates.