Tomáš Novák is a qualified lawyer who loves life, music and good coffee. Like many roasters, his life was changed by a popcorn maker. After a long period of experimenting and teaching himself, he decided to replace it with a small coffee roaster to take his hobby further. A few years later, he realised that his hobby had become a passion. It was time to invest in a larger roaster and turn a leisure activity into a full-time business. Today, that business brings him fulfilment and happiness, and you can taste much of that emotion in every bag of specialty coffee from Diamond’s Roastery. For more information or to discuss working together, visit www.diroastery.sk.
We met Tomáš at the Drip Coffee Festival in Piešťany and asked him a few questions for you…
None of us knew at the start what we wanted to do or what would fulfil us. I would have laughed if someone had told me during my final school chemistry exam that I would one day be making coffee for people… That is why I always ask how people got into coffee and why they chose this path in life…
As a qualified lawyer, I completely understand how you feel. (laughs) I am not even sure how it all started. My mum gave me a popcorn maker one Christmas. Out of sheer curiosity, I bought my first samples of green coffee and tried roasting them. It was fascinating, but unfortunately the process was almost impossible to control. Online, I found an offer for my first roaster, a Huky 500, and became completely hooked. Alongside my day job, I gradually roasted around 150 kilos in 200-gram batches, learning through tutorials, books, the internet and several workshops. Slowly, I began wondering whether this “hobby” could support my family and fulfil my expectations of life. I decided to take the risk because it gave me far more satisfaction and purpose than sitting in front of Excel spreadsheets. I bought a larger roaster and tried to turn my hobby into a real business. Of course, it was not easy: they are two completely different ways of life. But I have no regrets. I left behind the benefits of being an employee, and since January 2017 I have focused entirely on the roastery.
So Diamond’s is a fairly young but energetic project. What direction will it take?
I want to focus on specialty coffee, improve my roasting, satisfy my customers and educate them at the same time. They are the ones who will decide whether I can continue pursuing my passion. Coffee is a huge field of study, and there will always be room to progress, learn more and improve. That is why, for example, I attended a roasters’ camp in Poland this year, where many of us met to exchange knowledge and experience. Objective feedback is one of the most important things for my own development.
How do you see the Slovak coffee community? Was it easy to find your place in it?
The beginning was a little harder because I came into coffee from a completely different profession and knew almost nobody in the field. What I did have was a huge desire to roast excellent coffee and make people happy with it. So I followed my own path. It may have been longer than if I had already had a name in the coffee community, but I certainly do not regret it! Along the way, I met many wonderful people who are passionate about specialty coffee and who have helped me a great deal, and still do.
Personally, I think our coffee community has the right kind of enthusiasm. What I perhaps miss is more events aimed at people — our customers — that help develop their understanding of coffee. Events such as the Standart Festival, Drip Coffee Festival and Coffeeslava are how we can share our passion and knowledge with them.