The Boredom Set Excites Pittsburgh With Two Bars and a Roastery

The Boredom Set inside Heat Check in Pittsburgh. All images courtesy of The Boredom Set.

An upstart roasting company called The Boredom Set is enthusiastically piquing the neurons of coffee drinkers in Pittsburgh, opening two coffee bars within the past month. 

In the quaint, mostly residential neighborhood of Shadyside, the Heat Check Cafe Powered by The Boredom Set opened last month inside an established vintage apparel and merchandise store. The Boredom Set’s Stronghold S7 roaster is installed behind the dedicated new bar. 

Earlier this month, The Boredom Set also set up shop behind the downtown coffee counter previously operated by De Fer Coffee inside the Market Street Grocery.

The Boredom Set bar at Market Street Grocery.

The Boredom Set Co-Founder Q. Miller-Edwards leads the beverage craft and service with coffees roasted by the other co-founder, Jett Wasson

“The name comes from the concept of reclamation of our idle hands,” Miller-Edwards told DCN. “Everything you drink here is an attempt to create.”

At the Heat Check Cafe, The Boredom Set runs a La Marzocco Linea Classic paired with a Mahlkönig E65S GBW grinder for espresso. A Mahlkönig EK43 grinds beans for manual pourovers and drip coffees through a Technivorm Moccamaster CDT Grand.

“Brendan [Kelly, co-owner of Heat Check] leaves all the coffee stuff to me and Jett but has a huge say in the aesthetics and overall atmosphere of the cafe itself,” Miller-Edwards said. “It’s been a really fun project and Brendan pushes me to be my absolute best. We work insanely well together.”

The Boredom Set C-Founders Jett Wasson (right) and Q. Miller-Edwards (center) with the Market Street cafe manager, Ky Broderick.

Downtown, The Boredom Set took over several pieces of existing equipment, including a Synesso MVP for espresso. There the company is focusing on satisfying existing customers while earning the business of new ones. 

“We can really focus on all the little things and just have fun making coffee the way we think it should be presented,” said Wasson. “We have a lot of corporate people come down and get just drip or pourover or a plain latte — things that we enjoy to serve. Not that matcha and cold brew isn’t great — we just really love plain lattes and great pourovers.”

During idle hours, The Boredom Set is busying itself with the Mr. Coffee Project, which involves refurbishing simple home automatic drip brewers and re-selling them with a package of coffee and Third Wave Water. The project was designed to prove that delicious, high-quality coffee does not require high-end equipment. 

“All you need is great coffee, and great water. Fancy equipment certainly helps, but everything tastes better when it’s made with true love,” Miller-Edwards said. “This is a huge passion project, and eventually both Jett and I see it blossoming into a new way to deliver consistent coffee experiences to our online community. Not every one of us has scales, goosenecks, v60’s, but it’s safe to say everyone can access a gallon of distilled water and has an outlet in their kitchen for a brewer.”

Miller-Edwards and Wasson met as students at Midway University in Kentucky. Miller-Edwards, who had been working in specialty coffee for about two years, moved into the dorms with his trusty De’Longhi Dedica EC685M espresso machine. Wasson was working at Starbucks at the time.

“Jett and I hit it off and became fast friends,” Miller-Edwards said. “It was pretty easy. He was the only other long-haired metal head on the floor, and we bonded over our love for grimey punk rock and espresso.”

After teaching himself the basics of roasting on a Hottop 2K+ home roaster linked to Artisan software, Wasson landed a production roasting job at Pittsburgh’s Commonplace Coffee, where he spent the first year running a Diedrich IR25 and then transitioned to a 35-kilo Loring.

“It was fun roasting on the drum roaster. The Loring is a very interesting machine. And then I kind of morph both of those with the Stronghold, so it’s been quite a journey,” said Wasson. “I still have a lot of fine tuning to get through. It just never stops.”

For green coffees, The Boredom Set turns to smaller-volume connections such as Colombian coffee specialist Juan Diaz of Know Where Coffee, Rwanda-focused Sundog Trading, Honduran specialist Andrew Delgado of Pittsburgh-based Dynamic Coffee and others.

“Andrew and Dynamic have helped me with roasting fine tuning and cupping. Juan [Diaz] helped Q. in Portland for the first round of barista championships,” said Wasson. “It’s like, you helped me; let me help you, and let’s grow together.”

The Boredom Set at Heat Check Cafe is located at 5518 Walnut St in Pittsburgh. The Boredom Set at Market Street Grocery is located at 435 Market St. in Pittsburgh. Tell DCN’s editors about your new coffee shop or roastery here. 

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