About Us
Chyrus is a draft coffee brewer and wholesaler in Washington, D.C.
Tyler Philips originally launched the company as Alchemist Coffee Company in 2015.
Aaron Banshick began assisting with the brewing process and operations in 2018. Aaron and Tyler became business partners in 2019, and rebranded the company to Chyrus in 2021.
Our Values
Supply Chain Transparency
We believe in the specialty coffee industry that quality coffee and pricing transparency inevitably go hand in hand. Supply chain transparency empowers farmers to reinvest in their business, improve the quality and consistency of their crop, and ultimately create a more sustainable, healthy, and equitable relationship between coffee producers and consumers.
Our roasting partners are all signatories to “The Pledge”, a promise to transparently publish their green coffee prices every year. This translates into more bargaining power for farmers, and a more equitable supply chain. We understand pricing transparency is not a silver bullet to remove inequity from the coffee supply chain, but we believe it’s a step in the right direction. Contrary to many roasters who merely talk the talk, we’re gratified to work with people who care about sending value back to coffee producers
Ecological Sustainability
Taking full account of the social and ecological costs of our actions is essential to doing business in the 21st century.
That’s why:
- All of our spent coffee grounds are composted, and 100% of the packaging our roasted beans arrive in is recycled.
- We use a production space powered with rooftop solar panels.
- Unlike companies which utilize disposable one-way kegs, we depend on reusable steel kegs and growlers in order to eliminate 99% of potential packaging waste.
These are first steps. We understand as our business grows, so too does our responsibility to our community and environment. That’s why we’ll continue to aggressively pursue making Chyrus a fully carbon neutral business.
Our Process
Our process is laser focused on respecting and preserving the quality of the coffee beans we receive. In practical terms, this means exercising fine control over every variable affecting the coffee brewing process.
We tailor the chemical composition of our brewing water to the roast styles of the partners we work with. We individually test the strength of every coffee keg by calculating the amount of coffee solubles extracted with each brew cycle using a refractometer. Every keg is tasted at least twice before delivery. We obsessively clean the draft equipment through which our coffee is served.
We designed and built our own custom coffee brewer, keg filler, and nitrogenation system. These tools are necessary to extract the full sweetness, clarity of flavor, and complexity from the beautiful coffees provided by our roasting partners
We love coffee and have passion for our craft, and we believe that grit, hard work, and attention to detail are necessary to produce a consistent, superior product.
Our Mission
We enable restaurants, cafes, and other commercial spaces to serve beautiful, consistent, and delicious coffee — and for you to have that café experience in the comfort of your home.
Founded in 2015, our mission is to challenge the definition of what “good coffee” can be. Coffee can not only be consistently delicious, but quality coffee goes hand in hand with ecological sustainability and supply chain equity. We do not accept the status quo of “good enough” and are constantly seeking to better ourselves, our business practices, and our impact on the world.
We only use reusable containers for our packaging, and collect and reuse all home delivery growlers.
Our coffee is brewed hot, flash chilled, and infused with nitrogen - keeping it fresh and imparting a velvet texture. All our coffees may be served both hot and cold, using a hot draft system we developed in 2018.
Press
Tyler Philips Wants You To Drink Better Coffee – JW On The Road 2019
Alchemist Coffee Company – Drip: A DC Coffee Podcast 2019
Alchemist Coffee Company Wants To Make Nitro Hot Coffee The Next Caffeine Trend – Washington City Paper 2018
Alchemist Coffee Co. Brings Rare Nitro Brews to D.C. – Washington City Paper 2017