Q&A with Chance Coffee

Chance Coffee is operating as the sole specialty coffee roaster in Windsor, Ontario! We caught up with their owner Ryan Nantais to hear about their recently opened cafe and the blossoming coffee scene in the town. 

- Since we last featured you guys, you have opened a cafe! How is that going?

During the pandemic, we started working towards opening our own cafe and retail space here; we opened in a neighbourhood called Ford City. I love the blue-collar feel of Windsor. That's why I've remained in Windsor and want to bring good coffee to Windsor. Ford City is probably the most blue-collar part of the town, so that's why we decided to set up here. 

Back in 2019, one of my goals was to bring in some more people to the team, and give them some work that they enjoy and are happy with. We have just hired some more people so we are up to four employees now. 

- What is the vibe in the cafe that you wanted to create?

We just wanted to retain what Chance Coffee was from the start. We don't take ourselves too seriously; we take the coffee seriously, but that's about it. 

We like to have fun, and we wanted to keep that in our space. We will often be playing some punk rock music or something you won't typically hear in a coffee shop. We want it to be a nice open space. The roaster is smack dab in the middle of the space. A lot of people in Windsor don't know much about roasting, so we want them to be able to see the whole process. 

- What is the specialty coffee scene like in Windsor?

It's definitely been picking up. Windsor's always kind of slow to catch on to how things are but it's definitely starting to get rolling. We're still the only specialty roaster in the city, but there are a few more specialty cafes now, which is great to see. It's great to see people interested and willing to try something new. We are slowly getting people away from just the double-doubles they are used to; it's definitely been changing for the better.