Inside the new Papaver Roaster House in Olympia, Washington. All photos by Max Fasenko, courtesy of Papaver Roaster House.
A new family-run coffee shop in Olympia, Washington, called Papaver Roaster House celebrated its grand opening this month inside a space that, at first glance, might pass as a jewelry store or other high-end boutique.
Beyond the golden accents, white stone, soft lighting, natural wood and luxurious cushions throughout the shop, guests can find sweet Ukrainian family recipes and freshly roasted coffees.
“It’s a little bit surprising. People that walk in sometimes don’t realize what all we do, that we roast our own coffee and bake our own goods,” Papaver Roaster House Co-owner David Sherepitka recently told Daily Coffee News. “It gives the feel of a higher-end kind of lounge — definitely not what you would traditionally see at a coffee shop or roastery.”
Inside, a community table is available for groups, while smaller tables welcome couples and wandering workers. A pair of lounge chairs is tucked away in one corner, where the cafe’s chessboard sees regular use.
Sherepitka’s wife, Elona Sherepitka, the head baker and co-owner of Papaver Roaster House, worked closely with Olympia-based interior designer Alona Pernula on the 1,400-square-foot cafe that includes a long, crystal-clear pastry case on top of the white quartz bar.
The sweets showcased like precious gems inside that case are crafted by the Papaver baking team, which includes David Sherepitka’s Ukrainian-born mother, Luybov Sherepitka, in a 4,000-square-foot off-site commercial production facility in Lacey. David Sherepitka was born in Moldova, and Elona Sherepitka grew up in the Odesa region of Ukraine.
“A lot of the recipes we’re using are tied to our heritage,” Sherepitka said. “One of our most popular cakes right now is my mom’s recipe of a very traditional honey cake that we have in basically all the Eastern European countries. So it’s very close to home for us.”
The Lacey facility also houses the roastery, where head roaster Ilya Kushnirenko roasts Papaver’s full range of single-origin offerings on a Loring S15 Falcon. Kushnirenko is also the owner of a roasting company with one cafe in Ukraine called Hipsters Coffee Roasters, which he founded in Kharkiv but recently relocated due to sustained heavy bombing amid the ongoing Russian invasion. Kushnirenko and his wife, Elena Babenko, now both work at Papaver, with Babenko in the bakery.
“Obviously with the current events, his business took a huge hit,” said Sherepitka. “We were able to sponsor them and help them come over here. Part of it was for us to work together, but another part of it was, you know, we’re always looking for ways we can help people. It was a great thing for us to be able to help them out and help their family. They have a 9-year-old son, and I came over when I was nine.”
Kushnirenko brings more than 15 years of experience sourcing and roasting coffee to Papaver, where green coffees that score 87 points or higher are purchased through importers such as Falcon Coffees, Red Fox Coffee Merchants and Caravela Coffee, as well as directly from producers in Colombia.
“Most of our house roasting is a modern take on a Scandinavian roast,” Sherepitka said. “Everything is on the lighter side. We don’t want to over-roast any of our coffee because the whole goal is to express the actual flavors of the coffee itself rather than masking it by a dark roast.”
That approach extends into the cafe, where coffees pass through a pair of La Marzocco Swan grinders to a two-group La Marzocco Strada S espresso machine. Specialty drinks are crafted using house-made flavor additions as well as syrups by Proper.
“We don’t use any of the syrups that are full of flavoring chemicals that mask the whole taste of the coffee,” said Sherepitka. “We really want things that will complement the coffee rather than mask it.”
Papaver plans to grow wholesale roasting, private-label and grocery sales, and will launch an online Papaver Roaster House store in the coming weeks.
[Note:This story has been updated. The original version incorrectly stated that the shop uses La Marzocco Swift grinders. It uses La Marzocco Swan grinders.]
Papaver Roaster House is located at 500 Columbia St. NW in Olympia, Washington.
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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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