By Angie Sullivan
There’s more than just coffee brewing for the holidays at Elpida Café & Roastery in Keswick. This cozy shop welcomes guests with the mouth-watering smell of freshly ground beans roasted right on the premises.
There is a large yellow roaster stationed by the front door which churns and heats the beans bought directly from women coffee farmers in remote coffee growing regions of the world, like Peru, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Sumatra.
Caffeine lovers can win a gift basket filled with over $500 worth of beverage related goodies with a donation to the Food Pantry. The giveaway is running till December 20 and is an annual fundraiser. Past years have raised approximately $1000.
Owner Amanda Zielonko said, “We weren’t expecting to have such an impact on the community with our café. In addition to the food donations, we have also given out many free meals with our pre-paid donation program.”
She and her husband, Justin Zielonko, run the cafe and a robust wholesale delivery business by themselves.
They deliver fresh coffee to over 25 businesses personally, including farm stands, restaurants, bistros, and grocery stores. The couple are involved in every facet of the coffee creation process and have even travelled overseas to pick beans themselves and meet their suppliers.
Justin said, “I’ve been interested in roasting coffee beans since college, where I used to roast coffee for my friends in my dorm room.”
Leaning into this passion, Justin and Amanda were married in September of 2018, and opened their coffee shop two months later.
Amanda said, “It was such a whirlwind! We weren’t expecting the café to be so popular. We had to move to a bigger store a few months later and are now hoping to expand and open another location in Georgina.”
If you like to gaze at art while sipping your favorite drink, Elpida Café is featuring the work of Jordan Findlay for the month of December. Findlay specializes in hand-drawn maps, many of Lake Simcoe, and bespoke cartography.
The coffee shop is located at 14 The Queensway in Keswick, and open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays. Try their Christmas blend flavoured with vanilla, cinnamon and maple.
For more info, visit www.elpidacafe.com.
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