Roasting coffee became Ethan’s dream after walking into an up and coming roastery, which is now a main player, when he was 16 as part of a course he was doing at a local tech. The senses went into overload, taking in the smell, the warmth, the sounds and the atmosphere, and he was drawn in. A couple of weeks later he had a job there, and so began his coffee journey. From there he worked across a variety of different coffee locations, including a stint for another local coffee roasting company, before founding Empire in early 2017. Fast forward to today and Empire predominantly supplies homes and workplaces across the North Island. Their coffee is roasted on a Toper in Napier, and the have their coffee bar and store in the Napier suburb of Pirimai. Empire are family run and orientated, and circa 2021...