The People Behind the Cart
Solarium Coffee is a mobile espresso bar based in Framingham, MA, owned and operated by Ben and Halle Farber. We run every event personally. The people you book with are the people who show up, set up the cart, pull your espresso, and break down at the end. No staffing agency. No day-of strangers. Just us.
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How a Coffee Farm in Costa Rica Inspired a Coffee Cart in Framingham
Ben's coffee obsession started in a Starbucks parking lot in LaGrange, Kentucky. He was killing time before an ACT prep class, ordered the cheapest thing on the menu (a tall Pike Place), and happened to have mint gum in his mouth. The combination was weird enough to be memorable. That was the beginning.
Coffee became a daily ritual from there. French press with a blade grinder after cross country practice. A first job at Starbucks, pulling 5am shifts before biking to calculus with a venti Pike Place in hand. Louisville's local specialty scene after that: Sunergos, Quills, Heine Brothers, Please and Thank You. He biked the city doing his own informal coffee tour, usually jittery from too much caffeine.
He met Halle in November 2014. A mutual friend introduced them because they both drank black coffee, which for high schoolers was not common. Mostly they were trying to be cool. Ben's younger siblings went to school on the same campus as Halle, so he would drop them off and leave a chai latte in her parking spot with handwritten notes. "Chai like you a latte." "A hot tea for a hotty."
Years later, living together in Boston, they upgraded to a Breville Bambino espresso machine. Every morning, Ben made Halle an oat milk vanilla latte with store-bought Torani syrup from TJ Maxx and beans of questionable freshness. He practiced latte art with almost no success. That drink became the template for what is now called Halle's Morning, one of our most popular menu items. Although now the coffee is high quality and the vanilla syrup is our own custom recipe.
The real turning point was their honeymoon in Costa Rica in May 2024. They visited a small coffee farm called Don Emilios just outside Uvita, walked through the mountainous landscape among coffee plants, and learned about different processing methods for the first time. Ben downloaded "Uncommon Grounds" on Kindle and read it by the pool every morning. When they got home, he upgraded his grinder, ordered a natural Ethiopian from Counter Culture, and understood for the first time what the farmer had been describing. The coffee smelled and tasted like Fruit Loops. It was unlike anything he had made at home.
He took an espresso and latte art course at Atomic Coffee Roasters and went on his first cupping and roastery tour. He bought cupping spoons and bowls in the parking lot before he even started the drive home.
What's in the Cup
Every drink we serve starts with single-origin espresso from George Howell Coffee Company, one of the most respected specialty roasters in the country. George Howell's first cafe opened in Newtonville, right here in Massachusetts. Our partnership with them is direct, not through a distributor.
Our syrups are made from scratch. Halle's Morning (our signature vanilla, made with organic ingredients), Cinnamon Sugar, and a rotating seasonal menu that changes quarterly. Fall brings Clovara (maple, clove, orange). Spring brings Orange Blossom. These are not pumped from commercial bottles.
Milk options include whole milk and oat milk as standard, with almond milk available on request. We carry cups and lids for both hot and iced drinks, and every drink is made to order on a La Marzocco espresso machine.
From the Home Cafe to Coffee Cart
By late 2024, Ben and Halle moved in with Ben's parents to save for a house and build the business. Every morning they made drinks for three people: Halle's Morning, a spicy mocha, a banana latte. They tested plumbing setups, built seasonal menus for when family came to visit, and ran blind cuppings to train their palates. Halle won one of those early cuppings.
The George Howell connection came through a neighbor. They visited the George Howell roastery in Acton, cupped coffees they were considering for the menu, and built a wholesale partnership. George Howell's Montecarlos espresso is our current espresso offering.
They filed the LLC, put the La Marzocco espresso machine on a credit card, secured kitchen access for syrup production, and booked their first event: the Medfield Community Market. On June 1, 2025, Solarium Coffee opened for business.
Why "Solarium"
Ben and Halle have always loved sunlit cafes and bright spaces. Drinking a morning cup of coffee with sunlight coming through the window is, for them, one of the best experiences going. "Solarium" captured that feeling directly.
The People You Book Are the People Who Show Up
This is the thing that matters most and the thing most catering companies cannot say. Ben and Halle personally run every Solarium event. There is no staffing agency, no scheduling coordinator, no day-of person you have not met. The people you text with during planning are the people behind the cart at your event.
That matters because the quality of the coffee and the quality of the experience both depend on the people making it. When you book Solarium, you are not booking a company. You are booking Ben and Halle.
Let's Work Together
Solarium Coffee serves corporate events, weddings, private celebrations, conferences, brand activations, and more throughout Boston and MetroWest. Pricing starts at $599.
Request a quote and hear back within minutes. Or call (617) 620-0232.