Bohemian Coffee House – World-Class Coffee Roasted in Rumburk!

We bring you an interview with Jiří Dužár, a local entrepreneur and the owner of the Rumburk roastery and café, Bohemian Coffee House. Coffee from his roastery has earned the prestigious “Regional Product of Bohemian Switzerland” (Regionální produkt Českého Švýcarska) certification. In this interview, you will discover how a former business manager, who initially had great doubts about entering the business world, transformed into a successful entrepreneur who today passionately does what truly fulfills and inspires him.

How did the idea to open the Bohemian Coffee House in Rumburk come about?

About twenty years ago, I used to commute to Prague for work. My family only ever saw me in a suit and tie. Around that time, my oldest son was working in America for CzechTourism. When I went to visit him, I witnessed the emerging wave of hipster-filled cafés. I thought to myself: “We have to bring this to our neck of the woods in North Bohemia!”
Missing my family also played a massive role in my decision. I had spent many years working away from home and realized how many shared moments with my loved ones I was missing out on. Originally, we only planned to roast coffee—we bought a car, a pop-up stall, and toured cultural events with our brews. However, we were later offered a space for a roastery in Rumburk, and the idea to open a café right alongside it was born. So, I put on an apron, and we opened just before Christmas 2018. We quickly outgrew the space, and a year later, we relocated to a larger venue right on the main transit route through Rumburk, where we still operate today.

How did you manage to attract customers? Rumburk probably wasn’t exactly the hub of coffee culture back then…

It might not have been, but it boasts a fantastic location—it lies close to Germany, Poland, the Bohemian Switzerland National Park, and the Lužické hory (Lusatian Mountains) Protected Landscape Area. Plus, the people of Rumburk are inherently curious.
Initially, the vast majority of our customers preferred bitter black coffee. But we showed them that coffee can also carry sweeter notes. Today, the bitter-to-sweet preference ratio among our customers is roughly 55% to 45%. Local coffee enthusiasts visit us regularly, and in the summer, when they head off on holiday, they are seamlessly replaced by tourists. From the very beginning, we were also highly active on social media, which my oldest son helped us with, alongside getting the café off the ground.

What do you consider the ultimate key to a perfect cup of coffee—the raw bean, the roasting, or the preparation?

It is the culmination of the entire process, which begins with the farmer. If they dedicate themselves to their coffee with love and meticulous care, it fundamentally shapes its quality. This is followed by correct logistics and storage, with the roasting itself playing a pivotal role. A roaster must completely understand the coffee they hold in their hands to draw out the very best from it. And finally, there is the barista, who prepares and serves it with the respect it deserves.
Good cooperation with suppliers is equally vital. We partner with selected European importers whom we fully trust regarding sustainability in cultivation and fair trade. What we are exceptionally proud of is our “direct trade” partnerships with Mexico, Brazil, and Nicaragua. This means we pay the farmers directly for the green coffee beans, and in return, the beans travel straight from the coffee plantation to us here in Rumburk.

What are your plans for the future?

There are many plans. We have reached a point where our current space is no longer sufficient, so we are going to expand our café into the adjacent premises right next door. Roastery, storage, packaging. The goal is to have more room to play with coffee profiles, experiment, and invite our customers and the public to peek behind the scenes of the entire operation.
That represents the more technical side of the space. The second part will serve as a community hub for social gatherings, private meetings, presentations, and workshops. Another plan is to complement our already diverse coffee selection with decaffeinated coffee. By doing so, we are catering to expectant mothers, for instance, or anyone who wants to enjoy a great cup of coffee late in the evening.
Another major direction we wish to pursue—rather than just a single plan—is expanding our collaboration with local and regional producers and their high-quality goods, whether it is beer, lemonades, farm-fresh milk, artisanal baked goods, pestos, jams, and more. A significant hallmark of our café has also always been offering space for exhibiting large-format photographs, artwork, and historical artifacts. We proudly intend to keep and develop this tradition, providing our customers with a wonderful visual experience. And for those who would like to experience art live, we aim to expand our cultural programme to include performances, building on our long-standing collaboration with Lukáš Hejlík, his loyal ensemble, and his acclaimed LiStOVáNí theatre-reading project.

And your free time? Do you have any? How do you most like to spend it?

I don’t have much of it, but when I do, I love heading out on my bike to explore the surroundings, taking walks with our dog, or going cold-water swimming with friends.

Thank you for the interview, and we wish you plenty of success, inspiration, and satisfied customers on your coffee journey through the region!

If you ever find yourself in Rumburk, make sure to stop by—speciality coffee, a welcoming atmosphere, the aroma of distant lands, and a cup of coffee that tells its own story await you!