Pipe dream becomes Dream Cloud Coffee Roasters

By Tony Bennett

Life has a real way of doling out a right when you’re anticipating a left. One day, you think you’re on a particular path, and the next, you’re wildly off-course, unmoored, scrambling. The other side of that coin is that life can just as easily plop you down in a place that is surprisingly more suited to you than the previous one.

This sort of chaos is what the universe seems to do best, but it’s what’s resulted in a brand-new coffee shop in downtown Duluth. Dream Cloud Coffee Roasters is run by Charlie and Emily Comnick, a married couple from the area who didn’t expect to be where they are right now only a short while ago, but they can’t believe their luck.

“For the past 10 years,” Charlie said, “I worked at Duluth Coffee Company. I came on board right when they opened and helped manage and grow that company, until last year.”

This is the part where the universe gets involved. Charlie was let go from the job he had worked at for a decade, and, suddenly, his future was cloudy. But he wasn’t short on determination.

“I said I would roast coffee there for my whole life,” Charlie said, “and, when I was surprised with being let go, I decided that I would continue to pursue roasting coffee for the rest of my life.”

Emily, who had worked for the last decade in photography, explained the pair decided pretty quickly that they should strike out on their own, together.

“I think we wanted to develop something that was a little different from a lot of places,” she said of the couples’ initial conversations.

“We wanted it to be more than just a coffee shop — we wanted a space that would be inspiring for people and filled with creativity, where Charlie could really use his sense of craft.”

“We’ve always talked about having a cafe,” Emily said, “like, whenever we’d be traveling and stuff — but that was always just kind of a pipe dream, I guess. We never thought it would actually be a reality. But once we knew we were going to have the space we’re currently in, we both really took it and ran with it.”

That space — the former home of Jitters and Lake Superior Bakehouse — helped form the Comnicks’ plans. After an early plan to do a coffee truck was jettisoned, the availability of the location they landed in helped cement their plans.

“It already had a roasting vent,” Charlie said, “and it was already commercially certified.”

Not that the project has been easy — the two did a lot of aesthetic changes and deep cleaning and other prep before their opening in May. So far, it’s been a positive experience, Emily said.

“It’s been great. We’ve had great feedback on the coffee, but the space itself has been something that people really enjoy seeing. Everybody’s been really kind and warm and welcoming.”

Dream Cloud offers six different coffees that are roasted in-house, and they also offer specialtygrade loose-leaf tea.

“We have some of the best coffee and tea in the world available for purchase here,” Charlie said.

The future may bring other options as well.

“We’re in talks about possibly adding in a bakery at some point,”

Emily said. “But right now we just want to focus on the coffee and the tea.”

“For me,” Charlie said of his business, “It’s kind of something I never imagined doing and having, but I feel very fortunate. When something very surprising and traumatic happens, to have a beautiful space that’s inclusive for everyone, and to be sharing that work with my lovely wife less than a year (later), it feels amazing, and kind of like a dream, oddly enough.”