Local Business Highlight: Connected Minds Custom Roasters

Coffee roaster Naim and Lyn have been running their business Connected Minds Custom Roasters for 9 years: 7 years as a coffee shop in the Burquitlam neighbourhood, and almost 2 years as solely a roaster based in Surrey. They have graciously shared with us their story and passion for the art of coffee roasting, and we are thrilled to feature them for this Local Business Highlight!

Before Connected Minds came to be, both Lyn and her husband had been working office jobs for quite some time when they both felt they needed a change. Lyn decided to quit her job and began working at a little coffee shop and roaster located in Burnaby, run by a lovely couple who shared their coffee knowledge with her. She discovered a love for coffee and its intricacy, in how a slight change in roasting and/or brewing could create a completely different taste of the same coffee beans. 

Inspired, Naim and Lyn decided to set up their own place, which they first started in 2014 as a combined coffee shop and roastery: Connected Minds Cafe & Roastery. Since then, as they faced difficulties operating a small business in the current financial climate, and welcomed exciting life changes such as the birth of their daughter in 2022 (bringing them new blessings and challenges!), Naim and Lyn have closed the cafe portion and turned to focusing on the roasting part of the business, hence why you will now find them by the name of Connected Minds Custom Roasters.

The name of their business is inspired from a TedX talk Lyn had seen, in which she learned that during the Renaissance period due to the mass imports of coffee and teas into Europe, many coffee houses opened up and became places where minds would come to connect. She loved the idea of a space for everyone to come together and share their ideas with one another, so “Connected Minds” was born. 

Naim and Lyn have as their main goal to introduce everyone to what coffee could and should taste like. They aspire that their clients too can recognize the difference between freshly roasted coffee (from your local roaster) and any grocery store coffee, as night and day. They share that coffee should be consumed from about 3 days after roasting to about 3 weeks after (depending on storage and brewing methods), as this is the time frame for when coffee is at its peak flavour, after which it is likely to become stale and bitter. The Connected Minds customer experience is precisely designed to ensure customers have this full window of opportunity to enjoy their coffee fresh. Customers will first choose from any of the 7 different origins of coffee offered and select their preferred roast level, and their coffee order will be prepared through small batch custom-roasting using a 1 and 2 lb air flow roaster. Then, customers will choose to either pick up in-store at the Surrey location, or choose a fantastic free delivery option available with a minimum purchase of 1 or 2 lbs (depending on the area). Connected Minds currently provides service to Surrey, Burnaby, New Westminster, parts of Vancouver, the Tri-Cities, Port Coquitlam and Maple Ridge. Naim and Lyn have unfortunately had to limit their delivery service to these areas, as they are another small business that has been impacted by the rise in gas prices. However, by maintaining an online platform as well as a physical storefront space, they hope to offer customers the opportunity to choose what works best for them. 

As a customer-driven roaster, Naim and Lyn opt to not choose specific roasts and instead make recommendations to customers. They uphold a value that coffee is a very personal experience and that the difference in everyone's taste buds should be celebrated! Their hope is to deliver you your custom coffee orders always fresh and with consistently the best flavour. For any questions or requests for recommendations, they can be reached via social media (Instagram or Facebook) or email. 

Whether you are a seasoned coffee connoisseur or just beginning to explore coffee, we at Happy Homes Vancouver invite you to treat yourself to your very own custom roast of coffee with Naim and Lyn at Connected Minds Custom Roasters - Head on over to their website for the full experience and they will be more than happy to connect with you!