IF YOU’RE NOT ANGRY, YOU’RE NOT AWAKE. That’s the mantra of Mal Dasin, owner, operator, and head roaster with The Angry Coffee Roaster. Founded in late 2020, Mal has been making a name for himself in the Canadian specialty coffee community ever since.
While our path’s have never crossed, we have certainly talked on multiple occasions, and you’ve likely see Mal’s colourful coffee bags on various cafe shelves across the country. If not, it’s only a matter of time as his coffee is incredible, and his reputation is only growing more and more.
That’s why I reached out to Mal and invited him to share the story of The Angry Coffee Roaster on my site. So buckle up, grab a cup, and let me introduce you to this month’s Coffee Roaster of the Month for May 2025.
So great to get the chance to connect with you! Help our audience get to know you a bit better… What’s your personal backstory in coffee? How did you get started? What keeps you going in coffee?
By trade, I am an actor if that makes any sense. I was filming an episode of a comedy show in Vancouver about 10 years ago. Down the street from our filming location was Matchstick Coffee Roasters. I would go there everyday. In the back they had a 5kg Diedrich. There was this girl Rafaela roasting on it. I would just bother her with questions. So, she asked me to swing by on my day off work. She introduced me to roasting and that was the start of my journey. In terms of what keeps me going, I would say ego and passion. I would be lying if I didn’t say my ego kept me going after so many roadblocks. I am a stubborn person and with an obsessive personality. Once I start something I like to get better and better and better at it. In all aspects. So, for me coffee is endless learning so that means ill be at this for a very long time.
Before we go much further, share with our readers what you’re drinking/enjoying these days when it comes to coffee!
I am a big fan on Naturals, I did not really know this until recently. I’ve had a natural Guatemalan that tasted like blueberry pie. Couldn’t pass that note no matter what I tried. It just smelled and tasted of blueberry pie. It was on the table with some big producers and this coffee had all the red flags when it comes to physical attributes. Lots of quakers and defects, but man did it smell and taste amazing. So, I took a chance on it, and it became one of the most sought-after coffees on my menu. I froze some and been taking out little by little every morning. I just switched to our Uganda another Natural. Its just what resonates with me. These coffees are what I believe myself (the average drinker) and most of the audience likes. A good cup of coffee, no special processes, just taste like a good f*cking cup.
Ok, what’s the story behind coming up with the name “The Angry Roaster”?
Honestly, this one is a bit long winded and has two parts. The first part and the more complex reasoning behind this is due to my experience in the space. I personally never had a good experience in this space with other coffee professionals. Before starting The Angry Roaster Coffee Co. I created Blk Drip Coffee. It was supposed to be a high-end coffee brand showcasing the most expensive Gesha’s. During this time, I was talking to Rafaela the girl who introduced me to speciality. I had so many questions and she answered most but I found that no coffee shop really did what they said they did. They never really spoke about the coffees well, the never explained actual issues it always seemed like smoking mirrors and the more I got involved the more I realized how competitive it was and not in a healthy way. Coffee shops and roasters speaking ill of others. Not paying employees or treating them well but they would speak about “equality” for farmers. This stuff bothers me. Still does.
Which leads to my part 2. As I was searching for a concept, I was taking courses about sourdough baking and pizza. I would be in the kitchen and my wife came to give me a hand and I got very protective of my pizza dough and shrugged her off. Her response was “ jeeez such an “angry baker”. Light Bulb moment. The Angry Roaster Coffee Co. Came to life. Each bag of ours tells a story. If you look at the eyes on our bags, they all have meaning. They all speak of issues going on in the world. Nothing on our bags is random, everything has a purpose on our design.
Can we stay on this “angry” topic for a bit more? I’d love to know how does this “anger” fuel your mission and what you do as a company?
Anger is an emotion, and it could be viewed in a negative light, but it has a lot of positive to it. Its purpose is to alert us to something we must act on and to take that action. IF we don’t act the anger runs inward. When we do act, it makes the situation better and hopefully the world better. There is lots to be angry about in this world and that’s okay, its necessary. After all, if you’re not angry you’re not awake.
So with Toronto being home to you, what can you say about the current landscape of that city’s coffee culture? What do you like? What angers you?
Toronto is a big city in one way but a small city in other sense. It’s got a strange culture. It’s a place that new things pop up and stay hot for a minute and than people move on to other things. It’s like the people are always searching for something different instead of appreciating what it has and support that. There is lots of talent in the city, but the mentality must change. I hate the infrastructure, its not designed for growth. Overpriced for what it has to offer.
I love your bags. And I love your branding. But you said something that stuck with me during one of our conversations a while back…you said that the eyes tell a story on your bags. Not only so, but that everything on the bag has a purpose. Can you share more about this?
Yes! I think I answered this above but I’ll add more: Our bags all have a story starting with our main line The Mad House Roast. The eye on this speaks of the rainforest deforestation. This is why this bag was chosen and its colours, and more importantly this is why we chose the producer. We work with Orange Brown Imports for this coffee. Its part of the Rainforest Alliance. The commitment we have is for every 60kg of coffee we purchase a tree is to be planted in the amazonian forest. This is why we continue with this coffee. Its just a way for us to take some sort of action. Other bags speak of Covid, Unjust Harvesting, Meting crisis in the Arctic, Reparations, Wars, Global Famine, and Boarder Issues. Sounds very woke but in its core, its just truths.
I read that one of your goals is to bridge the gap between the everyday coffee drinker & the specialty coffee connoisseur. What does that look like? How are you doing that?
Yes, this has been our mission statement. This stemmed from what I mentioned earlier. When I got started, I just didn’t know enough. I didn’t know what the connections are between farms, exporters and importers, roasters and baristas and the consumer. So, when we get the chance to speak to customers, we try to speak on all these matters. After all education is a big part and what’s important is honesty. Now we are seeing this more than ever with the prices of the C market sky rocketing. Consumers are pissed. How do we navigate this? By speaking the truth. I think The Angry Roaster is as honest and truthful as it gets. When we don’t know something, we do not pretend. We are all students in life and learning in endless. So, we are tying to bridge that gap through conversations. I do this mostly when I am at coffee shops that carry The Angry Roaster. I speak to their customers spend as much time as I can with them and then I leave. I do it all over again on the next delivery date.
These past few months have been quite chaotic on a global scale, with rising C-market prices, tariff threats and I’m sure a few other things. I’m sure our readers are wondering how have these impacted what you do?
They have just made it harder financially. Our dollar is very small compared to the US. So, for us its always more expensive to begin with and with all this added stuff it just makes it harder. Biggest challenge has been wholesale clients. No matter how loyal you are the conversations are difficult but needed. I am a smaller roaster so I don’t have purchasing power as others do which makes it easy for them to be like “well we are going with so and so because they can offer a 5lb bag for 5 dollars cheaper. Or cafes looking to private label to save on costs, but the reality is they are not helping the speciality cause. I think everyone should educate their customer base and be open and honest. As a roaster I don’t have a big margin, to be honest I don’t even make money and I’m hoping this to change. It needs to change if I am going to continue with, he brand.
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your story. Is there anything else left that you want to say? Here’s your chance!
Coffee is subjective. There is no right way and wrong way. Yes, there is good coffee and bad coffee. But what someone likes is what they like. The speciality coffee industry is only hurting itself with the Snobby attuite of I am better than you. This is what I left out. This “cool kid’s attitude” of we are the end all be all of coffee is what’s wrong with this space. It reminds me of bullies, and I f*cking hate bullies.
Stay Angry Friends
xoxo
– The Angry Roaster
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Contact Info:
web: www.theangryroaster.com
instagram: @theangryroaster
email: info@theangryroaster.com
Find their beans: If you’re looking to get your hands on some beans then definitely check out their web-store for what they’re currently roasting.
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I just want to say a huge thank you to Mal from The Angry Roaster for helping to share his story. Check out his site, grab yourself some beans, and enjoy!
Stay Caffeinated,
Tyler
commonly coffee 