The Roaster and Owner
My name is Andrew Shepherd, and I am proudly Belleville born and raised. I roast coffee in my home on East Hill, Belleville. When I’m not roasting coffee, I’m a full time registered nurse providing care for Belleville's community in an inpatient setting at Belleville General Hospital.
My coffee journey began while in university in 2010 when my brother got me a French press. Little did I know it was the gateway into coffee culture. I bought a blade grinder, and I noticed that every brew tasted a little different. Then, I bought my first hand grinder - the first generation of the Hario Skerton - and that was mind blowing for me! I couldn’t believe the difference the taste made with a simple manual tool. I was getting obsessed. I started measuring and standardizing my brews which motivated me to try other brewing methods, leading me to the Hario v60, Chemex, Aeropress, and more. The chase for the perfect cup is such a deep rabbit hole, and I’m sure if you read this far… you understand being captivated by coffee in some way or another.
Two and a half years ago the vision of controlling my beans came to me, and the need to roast my own beans became clear during my quest for the ultimate cup of coffee. Here I am now with Railbed Roaster located in my hometown. I have talked with local coffee shops, invested time researching the right roaster, took a coffee roasting course, read many coffee roasting books, and spent countless hours watching tutorials in the pursuit of that perfect cup of coffee.
Railbed Roaster is a culmination of my love of coffee, passion to chase that perfect cup, and desire to share my craft with the residents of Belleville.
Inspiration for Railbed Roaster
Belleville historically sits on the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, and Huron-Wendat peoples' land. It has a colonial history that predates Canadian Confederation and was a railway town before Canada was officially founded as a country. Belleville’s first train station was erected in 1856 as a part of the Grand Trunk Railway that connected Belleville to the major cities. A lesser known sub-sect of railbed, the Grand Junction Railway, stretched from the Station Street station, down Pinnacle Street, and ended at Meyers Pier to increase the ease of goods and shipments to the St. Lawrence Seaway. The Grand Junction railbed connected Belleville to Madoc and then outward to Peterborough. Passengers could board the caboose car set up on most Grand Junction Railway Trains, allowing people to travel between those local towns. That train station still stands today as The Legion building on Pinnacle Street.
Naming my company "Railbed Roaster" was almost a no brainer. It's a direct homage to my home town's unique rail history here in Belleville, Ontario.
