It’s hard not to root for a shop like Daylily, which describes itself as “an itty-bitty” coffee bar with a great big heart. We’re especially stoked to see an entry from South Dakota, a state that’s gone underrepresented in past seasons of the Build-Outs of Coffee. The cafe itself is gorgeous—clean design, an eye for details, and a true care and passion for coffee that comes through in this interview. Let’s learn more!
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
As told to Sprudge by Andrew Fritz.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Daylily Coffee began in 2022 with the dream of working closely with talented and dedicated coffee farmers and artfully, devotedly, roasting these exceptional coffees they painstakingly produce. Side by side, we bake unique and seasonal pastries while trying to bring some good into the world—and have a bit of fun along the way!
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
Daylily is an itty-bitty space with big goals and dreams. We are a roastery and small tasting room (cafe) with an in-house baking program all nestled in ~1,250 square feet of a remodeled bicycle shop! We are located on the edge of an upcoming neighborhood of Downtown Sioux Falls with plentiful diversity and cool things growing around us. We really love the neighborhood that we’ve landed in and want to be a part of the community as it grows. In Daylily we are roasting some solid coffee, serving simple yet delicious food and beverages, and are a place full of life and good energy where people want to hang out. It’s a simple philosophy, but in our opinions, less is always more; treat humans and the earth with respect, empathy, and kindness and Bob’s your uncle; good things grow.
What’s your approach to coffee?
What a loaded question!
We serve a small menu of single origin coffees, specializing in pretty hecking light roasts to let each coffee be the star of the show. That being said, we’re devoted to fully developed, balanced coffees that dance in your mouth and highlight the life in each seed. Our hearts truly lie with the people and humans in coffee producing countries, and we really want to share their stories! We offer espresso beverages, pour-overs via V60s, and a small menu of lattes and fun seasonal drinks we like to get creative with!
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Currently our main equipment is on bar is:
La Marzocco Linea Mini (small but mighty and basically a non stop beast)
A Mahlkönig Ek43 grinder
A Rancilio Kyro 65 grinder
Fellow Stagg EKG kettles
V60s
We have a FETCO batch brewer lined up for installation as well as a new water filtration system. I know a water system doesn’t sound fancy or super exciting but we are pretty jazzed—coffee is ~98% water after all! Currently, we are “building” our water, which is awesome for the level of control we have but having a decent water system here will be a massive game changer! I do imagine later on some sort of new espresso machine on bar when we have the volume, as well as some grinders. I lean towards some Mythos Clima Pros but there are so many grinders available currently, who know what will land in this space.
How is your project considering sustainability?
Another loaded bit to tackle.
Sustainability is an important issue to us but, of course, it’s multi-layered and complex. We are trying to make our own impact on the environment as mindful and minimal as possible, in every area. Our coffee bags were specifically chosen because they are recyclable. I know that compostable bags are all the rage, but the cost for a small business is almost impossible to swallow on a start up. In the tasting room, we recycle/compost/reduce/reuse as much as we can, encouraging people to enjoy coffee in house rather than takeaway, and if taking away, encourage reusable cups. Coffee and food things are all managed down to the gram in an effort to produce as little waste as we can. Basically, every ingredient and coffee has a home before it’s even been made/baked/roasted/brewed. We have been using spent coffee as compost and a few local farms are interested in our waste for their compost as well, which we are happy to give away. As we grow, we plan to implement a more sustainable take away programs (looking at you Horizon Line Coffee/Oddly Correct) and look for ways we can try and give back to our planet and community.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
Daylily opened its physical space in February 2024. We started small and have been fortunate to experience abundant growth organically. We are ready to start pushing for growth, while working to avoid outgrowing ourselves too early in the game. Slow and steady wins the race, we’ve heard.
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
There are so many people to mention, I don’t think I could name them all! First and foremost, to all the humans growing coffee, thank you thank you for all the work that you do. You are the true heroes and we love you. We are so grateful for Hope Christofferson who brought our branding ideas to life! Props to our families for help and support throughout this crazy time. And a HUGE shoutout to our customers and patrons who have joined us in this wild and crazy journey we have embarked upon! None of this would be possible without you <3!
Thank you!
No, thank you so much! See you soon!
The 2024 Build-Outs of Coffee is presented by Ceado and Dona. The 2024 Build-outs of Coffee is sponsored by Pacific Barista Series, La Marzocco, Acaia, and Ghirardelli.
