Daysol Coffee Lab Transforms Birmingham Brewery into 8,000 Square Foot Coffee Hub
When Ghost Train and Uproot Brewing shuttered their doors at 2616 3rd Ave S in downtown Birmingham, they left behind 8,000 square feet of industrial space with high ceilings and good bones. Now that space is humming again—not with fermentation, but with the crack and pop of coffee beans and the warm static of vinyl records.
Daysol Coffee Lab opened its new downtown flagship on January 17, transforming the former brewery into something Birmingham hasn’t seen before: a roastery, retail cafe, art gallery, and live music venue all under one roof.
From EMT to Roaster
Bert Davis, who co-owns Daysol with Peter Solis, didn’t take the conventional path to coffee. He grew up on a farm in South Carolina, played music across the South, and worked as an EMT. It was a stint in Denver that changed everything—Colorado’s coffee scene lit something in him.
“I’m not much of one for barista tactics or front-of-house knowledge,” Davis has said, “but roasting is my bread and butter.”
He started roasting in 2015 and founded KI Roasters in Denver before moving to Birmingham in 2019. The name Daysol came from combining his surname with Solis’s—Davis, Solis, connected by “Y.” The brand launched during the pandemic with porch deliveries and e-commerce, building a loyal local following one bag at a time.
The Space
The new downtown location dwarfs Daysol’s original Helena, Alabama operation. That 8,000 square feet houses:
- A full production roastery
- Retail coffee bar with espresso drinks, house-made syrups, and kombucha
- An art gallery featuring rotating local exhibits
- An outdoor stage for live performances
The brewery bones work in Daysol’s favor. Industrial spaces and coffee roasting share an aesthetic—exposed systems, the hum of machinery, the transformation of raw materials into something people gather around.
What’s on the Menu
Daysol built its reputation on accessible specialty coffee—premium beans for everyday drinking rather than exclusive single-origins at collector prices. The downtown location serves espresso drinks with house-made syrups, matcha, pastries, and a variety of teas alongside the coffee.
The roastery typically stocks three to four ultra-premium blends and single-origin offerings, with occasional experiments like barrel-aged coffee for those looking for something different. Signature blends include Wanderlust Espresso and the popular Holiday Blend.
Why It Matters
Birmingham’s coffee scene has grown significantly in recent years, and Daysol’s new space represents something bigger than another cafe opening. It’s a bet that coffee shops can be community centers—places for live music, art shows, and the kind of lingering conversations that happen when the espresso machine hums in the background.
“It’s the epitome of the Southern concept of ‘honest work,’” Davis has said, “and I couldn’t be more proud.”
Daysol Coffee Lab’s downtown Birmingham location is now open at 2616 3rd Ave S.