Chicago · United States
Passion House Coffee Roasters
Passion House Coffee Roasters is one of 4 Chicago roasters tracked on day9, in Illinois.
Since 2011 · Joshua Millman
Overview
Joshua Millman founded Passion House in 2011 — the same day his daughter Bayla was born — after starting in coffee at a Glenview Starbucks at 16, then training as a barista, equipment tech and roaster in San Diego before moving back to Chicago. Production runs on a vintage 1957 German Probat cast-iron roaster at the Garfield Park roastery, and the brand sorts every coffee into one of three tiers — Ambient, Mainstream, Experimental ('AME') — each with a curated music playlist to match.
Known for
- Vintage 1957 German Probat cast-iron production roaster
- Coffee sorted into Ambient / Mainstream / Experimental tiers ('AME') each with a curated music genre
- Founded the same day founder Joshua Millman's daughter was born
- Two Chicago cafés (Goose Island, Logan Square) plus Garfield Park roastery
- Cold Brew collaboration with FEW Spirits (Passion Cat cold brew used in barrel-aged spirits)
Why it matters
Passion House translated Chicago's deep music-and-design culture into a coffee program. The AME tier system is a real sorting tool, not a marketing label — it gives wholesale clients and retail customers a vocabulary to talk about complexity without coffee-snob jargon, and it's part of why Chicago has a recognizable local coffee aesthetic distinct from the coasts.
Production
- head roaster
- Joshua Millman
- roaster machine
- Vintage 1957 German Probat (cast-iron)
- roastery location
- 328 N Albany, East Garfield Park, Chicago, IL
- espresso equipment
- La Marzocco KB90 (Goose Island cafe)
Café
1200 N Branch St, Chicago, IL 60642 (Goose Island)
Recognitions
- FEW Spirits collaboration (Passion Cat cold brew used in barrel-aged spirits)