The Driftaway Coffee tasting room at Driftaway’s East Williamsburg roastery. All images courtesy of Driftaway Coffee.
Brooklyn, New York-based Driftaway Coffee is now helping guests explore the friendly seas of specialty coffee through its new roastery tasting room.
A cheerful terrazzo-topped bar and wooden stadium-style bench seats accommodate walk-in guests or events under a big, bright skylight in the East Williamsburg shop.
Like a 400-square-foot island within the 3,600-square-foot industrial facility, the tasting room is separated only by curtains and a pallet rack from Driftaway’s Loring S35 Kestrel production roaster.
“We’ve always wanted to maintain an open feel, so there’s no physical separation between roasting, production, office space and storage,” Driftaway Coffee Co-Founder Suyog Mody told Daily Coffee News. “We wanted visitors to still see the roasting and production space while visiting the tasting room and [we] plan to offer tours of the roasting process in the future.”
Suyog Mody (left, behind the bar) and Anu Menon preparing coffees for guests.
Pendant lighting dressed in breezy rattan hangs over the six-seat pourover bar, where dual brewing stations balance the action. Each station features three brewing stands paired with Timemore scales and Fellow kettles. A Mahlkönig EK43 grinder stands at one end for prepping the beans.
“We have plans to experiment with various pourover brewers — manual and XBloom, Aiden, [different] filter papers and waters like Apax Labs, Lotus, etc.” said Mody. “It’s a space for us to experiment and learn and educate the community.”
The espresso station on a smaller, adjacent bar opposite the stadium seats holds a white La Marzocco Linea Mini and a Mahlkönig E80 grinder. Altogether the layout aims to balance an efficient workflow with a visually cohesive and symmetrical design.
“Education has always been at the core of our mission to make coffee more accessible, and we wanted the design to reflect that,” said Mody. “The pourover bar is the centerpiece, creating a space where customers can engage directly with baristas and coffee educators, explore coffee flights, and dive into conversations about each coffee’s story — its sourcing, farmers, and brewing methods. It’s designed for conversation, learning, and hands-on experiences.”
Married business partners Suyog Mody and Anu Menon launched Driftaway in 2014 as a small-batch roasting company, selling beans online and at events around Brooklyn. The sourcing program prioritizes women and minority producers, while also never compromising on flavor.
“We believe in building long-term relationships that create real impact while ensuring every coffee we offer is exceptional,” said Mody. “Our current vision for the Driftaway’s coffee program is to continue sourcing with intentionality — supporting producers, maintaining transparency, and offering coffees that showcase the best of each origin.”
A finalist for the 2025 Roast magazine Roaster of the Year, Driftaway imports coffees from producers in India, while also working with importers such as JNP Coffee and Unblended Coffee to round out the selection.
After initially roasting at home then moving up to shared equipment at the Pulley Collective co-roasting facility in Red Hook, the couple moved into their current roastery in 2021.
While the company continues to develop its direct-to-consumer and wholesale efforts, Mody and Menon plan to also use their new public space to engage with guests and the greater coffee community, offering nano-roaster takeovers and other events.
“We’re working on creating more meaningful experiential events, bringing people closer to the stories, craft, and flavors behind each coffee,” Mody said. “Whether it’s hands-on workshops, collaborations with producers, or unique tasting experiences, we want to deepen connections between coffee, people, and the communities that make it all possible.”
Driftaway Coffee is located at 85 Debevoise Ave. in Brooklyn. Comments? Questions? News to share? Contact DCN’s editors here. For all the latest coffee industry news, subscribe to the DCN newsletter.
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
