A room inside the new Prismatic Coffee Roasters cafe in Salem, Oregon. All images courtesy of Prismatic Coffee Roasters.
In Salem, Oregon, Prismatic Coffee Roasters is shining new light on the rainbow of flavors in specialty coffee through the opening of its first cafe.
Inside a 90-year-old former carpentry workshop at what is now the Pringle Creek development in South Salem, the approximately 2,000-square-foot cafe preserves the original exposed wood ceiling trusses, along with the matching trim and sills around generous picture windows.
“They’re really stunning, and bring a lot of natural light in,” Prismatic Coffee Co-Founder Evan Delgado told Daily Coffee News.
More than a year in the making, the coffee shop features ornamental wood columns that extend the warm tones of the ceiling into multiple “living rooms,” as Delgado describes them. Each is furnished with vintage pieces, artwork, books, rugs, and lamps for a cozy, lived-in feel.
In one room, guests can browse through an installation called The Library of Black Excellence, which is an extensive collection of books and anthologies by and about Black authors and individuals.
“It’s a full lending library and creates a whole cafe bookshop feel,” said Delgado. “I mostly wanted Prismatic to feel like a welcoming space to grab a quick coffee and snack, but reward time spent admiring the details.”
The space will continue to evolve in the coming months, hosting a rotation of works from local artists, as well as a permanent mural.
The remaining 1,500 square feet of the building, which is owned by Prismatic, includes its kitchen and production area, an office and storeroom, and two bathrooms.
After hours, the cafe and its kitchen will give way to a formal “new American” dining experience by Epilogue Kitchen & Cocktails, which is sharing the space.
By day, a 2-group Slayer Steam LP espresso machine on the new bar pairs with several Mahlkönig grinders and a Puqpress autotamper for consistent espresso. Drip coffees come in batches via a Fetco NG Extractor. For smaller brews down to a single cup, Prismatic is running a pair of Fellow Aiden home brewers.
“The repeatability and reliability has been so nice for busy days,” said Delgado. “We’re going to have to see how they hold up over time.”
Prismatic Coffee was founded in December 2022 by Delgado and Ariel Ellis with an initial focus on wholesale roasting and ready-to-drink cold brew, which comes from a Brew Bomb X-60 production system inside the new building.
The company rolled out a teal Citroën coffee truck in the summer of 2023 that became a weekday mainstay in downtown Salem for nearly a year. Prismatic then relocated the trailer to a spot outside the new cafe as construction unfolded within.
With doors now open on the grounds of the eco-conscious Pringle Creek community of gardens, green spaces and LEED-certified homes, Prismatic partners with 1% for the Planet and the local environmental nonprofit Willamette Riverkeeper, among other organizations. The coffee company is currently collecting data in pursuit of B Corp certification.
“Ariel and I decided early on that we would make this a priority,” said Delgado. “We’re doing what we can to source local ingredients and we’re fortunate to have a community greenhouse next door to the cafe where we’ll be growing fruits and vegetables and herbs to include in our food menu, and also for house-made syrups for coffee drinks.”
Delgado, previously the roaster and co-owner of The Governor’s Cup Coffee Roasters, recently transferred Prismatic roasting duties over to Prismatic partner Kyle Layton.
“Kyle has taken us to a new level. I really miss roasting, but having him has allowed me to focus on building the cafe and he’s really demonstrated his skills and love of the art,” said Delgado. “Another great thing about Kyle is his deep connection to the wider coffee world and he’s always exploring new sources for beans. Our goal is to eventually have some direct relationships with select farms.”
Layton roasts coffees purchased through importers such as Ally Coffee, Hacea Coffee Source and Royal Coffee on the Probat P12 roaster owned by Governor’s Cup, pending the delivery of a recently purchased Diedrich IR-5.
The Diedrich will be installed in a production space behind the cafe inside the new building, at which time the company will ramp up its wholesale business. Future plans include expanding the cafe’s food program, and hosting outdoor movie nights and other community events.
“We’re all really looking forward to having a roaster on site so we can host public roasting demonstrations and classes,” said Delgado. “This project was a huge challenge but overall it was a lot of fun building something from the ground up, and we’ve learned so much. I can’t wait to do it again soon.”
Prismatic Coffee Roasters now open here in Salem, Oregon. Comments? Questions? News to share? Contact DCN’s editors here. For all the latest coffee industry news, subscribe to the DCN newsletter.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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