Ben Lytle & Haley Lytle
Hello, my name is Ben (they/them) and this is my wife, Haley (she/her) and I’s coffee and tea bar! We’re both former coffees pros who owned and operated a multiroaster shop called Cryptozoology and once we closed we started developing our home bar more, piece by piece. It’s my favorite space in our home.
I would describe the style of our coffee and tea bar as maximalist, cottage-core, and inspired by gongfu tea aesthetics. It’s eclectic, warm, and full of tea pets and tchotchkes. There’s a range of textures and colors but consistently a warmth and coziness. We also make sure to consider the aesthetic for both during the day with natural light and early morning brewing.
The equipment is anchored by our Mahlkonig EK43, the only piece we kept from our shop when we closed. We have some home barista standards such as a Technivorm Moccamaster, a Fellow Stagg EKG, and a heavily modified Gaggia Classic. We have a dozen filter brewing methods on the shelves and many tea brewers as well. Some of our more unique pieces are our large gongfu tea tray and a Norelco Express Four brewer we use for automated single cup brewing which we bought at Goodwill for $3.00.
This spring we hosted a pop up with our friend Britain and had about eighty people through with a four course menu in a five hour span. It was so fun to play coffee shop for a day and to share our space with family and friends.
Videos of this home coffee bar can be found on Instagram.
Best Home Coffee Design of the Year Semi-Finalists
Amer Ajami, Ken Tanaka, and Osamu Hironaga
Andrew Coe
Ben Lytle & Haley Lytle
Darren David
Drago Tomianovic
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Manuel Huder
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