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Chicago · United States

Passion House Coffee Roasters

Since 2011 · Joshua Millman

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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

destoning
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head roaster
Joshua Millman
color sorting
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roaster machine
Vintage 1957 German Probat (cast-iron)
filter equipment
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cupping frequency
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roastery location
328 N Albany, East Garfield Park, Chicago, IL
espresso equipment
La Marzocco KB90 (Goose Island cafe)
annual volume tonnes
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Café

1200 N Branch St, Chicago, IL 60642 (Goose Island)

Recognitions

  • FEW Spirits collaboration (Passion Cat cold brew used in barrel-aged spirits)

Sources

More roasters