Kirjala Roastery - About Us

April 5, 2024

We are Kirjalan Paahtimo, a small roastery from Mikkeli founded in late 2018. Our roastery got its start in the heart of Kirjala, the old wooden house district, and in spring 2020 it moved to Heimari, close to the pulse of Lake Saimaa. At the same time we opened our café in the Nuijamies district of Mikkeli.

Roastery

Olli first got the idea for a roastery of his own when he tasted a “breathtaking” coffee on a trip to Porvoo. It was coffee from a small roastery. After that Olli set off on an intense journey of research and study into the world and secrets of coffee, and it still continues today. The first roaster was designed together with a local blacksmith friend, but this homemade roaster has since been replaced by a Giesen W15, on which Olli roasts Kirjala's coffees several times a week, sometimes even at weekends.

Coffee

Coffee is the heart of what we do. In our range you'll find unique, carefully selected coffees from around the world. We have light, medium and dark roast options, each offering a unique taste experience. We look for the right recipe for every coffee to make sure of the quality and a perfect result. You'll also find decaf options, in case you love your coffee moments but not the caffeine overdose.

Quality, responsibly produced coffee matters most to us. We source our beans from South and Central America and Africa, making sure the coffee we offer is both delicious and responsibly grown. Freshness and quality are key values for us in making coffee, so we can serve you the best flavour. Every coffee bean is roasted by hand and ground fresh, so we can preserve the coffee's aromas for as long as possible.

Café

We also put effort into the look and visual finesse of how we serve our coffee. Our staff are trained to make perfect milk coffees and latte art, so we can offer our customers photogenic and visually delicious coffee moments. We also use cute coffee cups that we've managed to find at flea markets and recycling centres, which also does its bit for the circular economy. Filter coffee is our customers' most popular choice, but we also serve a variety of espresso-based milk coffees and changing seasonal treat drinks, which have quickly grown in popularity.

And of course we haven't forgotten our tea lovers! We offer quality teas prepared in different ways, and our café menu has everything from steeped teas to our own blended chai lattes. We get our teas from TeeMaa in Helsinki, which imports quality loose leaf teas and matcha to Finland.

Delicious pastries and dishes from our own kitchen!

In Kirjalan Paahtimo's kitchen everything we serve is made with love and care. Every one of us pitches in with the kitchen work, and our cooking skills are built on years of experience and the inspiration we find in the world around us and on the internet.

Over the years we've fine-tuned our menu to match what our customers want and kept up with the times by following ever-changing trends. New ideas can come from trips around the world, for example, and we always try to fit them into our own café style. Kirjala's Italian-style focaccia, for instance, was inspired by a trip to Italy and has been praised for its delicious yet simple toppings.

Special diets are an important part of our menu, and many of our sweet pastries are also available gluten-free. Our almond croissants and breakfast rolls have become customer favourites, and they even tempt visitors from outside the Helsinki region to come and enjoy our treats.

Our sourdough bread and surprisingly vegan carrot cake are also popular choices. At breakfast, our various egg dishes and breakfast combos have also become a big hit with our customers.