Pull Caffe Coffee Roasters and Bakery owners Todd and Mary Millar are bringing a bit of history to Clark County with their unique coffee shop and bakery. Originally from the Clark County area, the couple moved to Seattle in 1989 to start a company building espresso carts and importing espresso machines. They also focused on roasting coffee and servicing espresso machines.
They moved back to Clark County, settling in Yacolt in 2000 and continued their business, then four years later began manufacturing stainless steel outdoor wood fired pizza ovens and beer brewing grain mills. Following that, the duo began building their own line of commercial traditional hand-pulled espresso machines on-site in their metal working machine shop, similar to those produced in the 1940s.
But the real excitement came when they discovered a vintage German Probat wood fired coffee roaster in a farmer’s barn in Serbia.
Todd shared, “We imported it and spent one year restoring it with the help of David Cornell – former head restoration manager for famous classic car collector Jay Leno.) The factory and museum in Germany has confirmed we indeed own and operate the oldest known Probat Coffee roaster in the world – circa 1896.”
So, they began roasting coffee with the machine and to keep it exclusively authentic, they use vacuum sealed steel cans for packaging their wood-fired whole bean coffee.
In 2019, the Milars began building a large wood fired brick bread oven and installed an authentic stone grist mill to create and sell authentic sourdough bread. They also started offering a sourdough bread making school. Every first Saturday of the month from 12-3pm, they sell their sourdough bread to the public.
Today, the Millars are joined by their son Devin and daughter Nina to help run the business. Together, they sell to several local restaurants and retail outlets, but primarily sell direct to consumers, both online and in person at their shop. Pull Caffe also offers a 24/7 self-service ‘trust cabin’ to buy whole bean coffee in cans, where people can leave cash or a check.
“Other companies use petroleum gas to roast, short shelf-life plastic packaging, electronic espresso machines and make food products with additives and using faster modern equipment,” Todd said. “We are committed to the nostalgic values and benefits that have been lost with mass production. We are much less efficient but make up for it in the quality end product.”
He explains that the main challenge Pull Caffe has had to overcome is having people discover them in rural Yacolt.
“But, owning the official oldest coffee roaster in the world has brought many people to make the pilgrimage and come visit to see such a rare artifact of coffee history,” he explained.
Looking ahead, the Millars are excited about continuing to serve people with quality products and down-home service.
“Our family is happy sharing our passions and any success we receive is a direct result of doing what we truly love and care about,” Todd said. “It’s about quality not quantity. Our future goals are that our real family business make deep connections with real people and not only share a sense of community but share the taste of history.”
