commonly coffee

Three years ago (to the day) I had the opportunity to feature a fairly new roaster out of Revelstoke called Dose Coffee here on my BLOG. Following some significant growth and even a re-brand I knew it was time to run it back, and invite them to be featured on my site once again.

This is actually the first time in the six years of publishing content on this site that I have ever invited a roaster to be featured again. And I couldn’t think of anyone more deserving. So, here they are, SPILT MILK as our Coffee Roaster of the Month for May 2026! Let’s jump into the interview.

Hey Split Milk, so it’s been three years to the date since you were first featured on my site. This is in fact, the very first time we’ve repeated a roaster for this feature. Our long-time readers might recognize you’ve got a new brand/name. Walk us through the reason for the change.

– what led to making the change?
– what does Spilt Milk mean to you?
– share the process of how you came to your new name.

Firstly, wow—time flies. I can’t believe it’s already been three years since we last chatted. We’re stoked to be back and to share a little update on what we’ve been up to, along with our new name: Spilt Milk.

The change came down to the fact that “Dose Coffee” is a fairly common name. When we opened our café back in 2017, we didn’t realize it was already being used elsewhere. For a long time it wasn’t an issue, but once we started roasting and our reach expanded beyond Revelstoke, it became clear that the name wasn’t really ours to keep.

So began the process of finding something new—which, as it turns out, is much harder than it sounds. We had a long list of ideas, but nothing really landed. Eventually, we narrowed it down to two: Spilt Milk and Holiday (named after our daughter, Zoe-Holiday).

After weeks of umming and ahhing, we realized Spilt Milk felt far more aligned with who we are as a business. While Holiday was meaningful, it didn’t quite reflect what we’d built.

Spilt Milk references the phrase “Don’t cry over spilt milk.” As business owners, you’re constantly facing challenges, and if you let those setbacks stop you, you’ll never move forward. Things go wrong every day—you just have to keep going and find the best solution you can in the moment.

John’s a skater at heart too, and skateboarding is basically built on falling down and getting back up. So our tagline, “Better After Every Spill,” is a reminder that growth comes from those moments—you just have to keep showing up.In the end, Spilt Milk feels like us—built on the idea that every setback is part of the process. And honestly, we’re so glad it happened. We feel more aligned than ever with the brand we’ve created.

Before we go any further, what are you drinking these days?

For years now, our mornings have started with a pour-over at home. It’s one of the highlights of the day—a chance to slow down, sit together, and try not to talk about work (we’re not always successful).

Our pour-over setup has levelled up recently with the Fellow Aiden, which has been a bit of a game changer—especially now with our 11-month-old, Zoe-Holiday. Anything that makes life easier and gives us more time with her is a win.

In terms of what we’re brewing, it’s usually our Daily Driver, and lately we’ve also been loving a washed Peru from Lenin Flores.

Revelstoke continues to impress me with its passion for specialty coffee. Over the past three years what are you seeing in terms of trends and community support towards what you’re doing?

Revelstoke is definitely going through a big growth phase right now. Development is moving quickly, and the demographics of the town are shifting. It’s become a truly seasonal place, with people coming from all over the world to experience a few months of winter.

Since we opened the café in 2017, the coffee scene has evolved a lot. There are now so many incredible cafés in town serving great coffee, which is awesome to see. It really reflects a growing appreciation for quality coffee as part of people’s daily routines.

At the same time, in a town like Revelstoke, people still want something approachable. Most of our customers are looking for a balanced, full-bodied espresso that works well with milk. We do offer a rotating single origin on batch for the more curious palate, but for the most part, people want something they can come back to every day.

For us, the hospitality we provide is just as important—if not more important—than the coffee itself. That’s been true since day one.

You really have done an incredible job inviting people into your lives through your use of social media. Why is this important to you as a company?

That’s really nice to hear. Social media is a bit of a tricky one for us, as we try to stay present in our day-to-day lives rather than constantly being online.

That said, a big part of our community lives outside of Revelstoke, so it’s an important way for us to stay connected. We try to approach it as an extension of our hospitality—something that adds value or creates connection, rather than just contributing to the noise. It’s something we genuinely enjoy, but like anything, it comes in waves depending on what else we have going on. It’s definitely an area we’d love to keep improving.

I noticed through your frequent social media posts that you’re in the process of moving your roastery. Can you walk us through the reason for this, and what you hope to come from this change?

We’d been passively looking for a new roastery space for a while, mainly due to the lack of long-term security at our original location—we were on a month-to-month lease.

Late last year, a building we’d admired for years came up, and we made the decision to purchase it—it felt like the right long-term move for us. It’s located right downtown, just a few blocks from the café, and it used to be a General Motors dealership, so it has this really cool industrial feel while still being in a prime location.

We’re all moved in now and couldn’t be more stoked with the new space.

In 2024 & 2025 you hosted regional qualifier events ahead of the Canadian AeroPress Championship. How important are these types of events for you as a company? For Revelstoke? 

These events are honestly super important to us. They give us a chance to properly connect with our community in real life.

The café can be pretty busy and fast-paced, so it’s not always easy to slow down and have meaningful interactions. Events like the AeroPress qualifiers allow us to create something fun, bring people together, and shine more of a light on the coffee and the people behind it.

Following a successful run as a pop-up, you’ve launched a full-service Restaurant (ALFRED’S) in Revelstoke. For those travelling through town, what can people expect when they stop in? What lessons learned from running your coffee shop did you bring to this new venture?

Alfred’s is our Italian-Mediterranean restaurant, and honestly, it’s been a bit of a dream project for us.

It’s located downtown in a bright yellow and blue building just around the corner from the roastery. The space is cozy but modern, with an open kitchen that brings a lot of energy into the room.

The menu is designed to be shared family-style, with everything from smaller plates through to more hearty pasta dishes. Behind the bar, we focus on old-world wines from places like Italy, France, and Australia, alongside cocktails that are rooted in the classics with a bit of an Italian twist.

One of the biggest highlights of this project has been bringing on our first business partner, Ivan, who is also our Head Chef. It’s been incredibly rewarding to build something collaboratively and to have someone leading the kitchen who shares the same values around quality and hospitality.

Just like the café, hospitality is at the core of everything we do. At the end of the day, we care just as much about how people feel when they walk in as what’s on the table.We’ve also taken a lot of learnings from running the café into this project—especially around building strong teams and having slightly more realistic expectations when it comes to timelines and costs (we tend to be optimistic by nature).

As you look ahead at the next few years for specialty coffee (especially in Canada) what excites you? What changes/innovations/opportunities do you see on the horizon?

We’re really excited about what’s ahead for specialty coffee, especially when it comes to exploring new growing regions and varietals.

We’re currently working on a project in Uganda, collaborating with John’s family on a small robusta farm. It’s been really exciting to explore robusta from a different perspective—there’s a lot of untapped potential there that hasn’t fully been realised in specialty coffee yet.

We’ve also got a fun collaboration in the works with Emily Makes Coffee that we’re excited to share soon.

On a more day-to-day level, we’re looking forward to continuing to bring new technology into the café—tools that can make life easier for baristas and ultimately give them more time to connect with customers.

It’s been great getting the chance to connect up and share your story. Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?

We’d just like to say thank you, Tyler, for continuing to shine a light on so many incredible roasteries—it’s really special to be included again.

And to anyone who’s followed along, bought a bag of beans, or stopped by the café—thank you. It means more than you know.

If you’re ever in Revelstoke, come by and say hi.

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Contact Info:

web: www.spilt-milk.ca
instagram: @spiltmilkrevelstoke
email: info@spilt-milk.ca

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 wanted to say a huge thanks again to Lauren & John at Spilt Milk for being a huge contributor to the specialty coffee community in Revelstoke and for giving me the chance to share their story (again)!

-Tyler