Hi, I’m Siv, the person behind Ream Cafe.
My journey with coffee began when I was 11 years old, in Cambodia.
My uncle had opened a small coffee shop built into a tuk-tuk on the road to the airport, directly across from my school. Every morning before class, I would go with him, watch him prepare the shop, and slowly learn how to make coffee myself.
The first cup of coffee I ever drank gave me a headache that lasted the whole day. Somehow, coffee still became a big part of my life.
A year later, my uncle left for Japan to work, and the coffee shop was placed in my care.
From then on, I would wake up at 5 in the morning, go to the market to buy ice, and open the shop by 6 before going to school.
I was still a child, but I had responsibilities that could not wait. I dreamed of becoming a lawyer and loved school, so I kept my books at the shop and studied whenever I could. In the afternoons, my aunt would take over so I could attend class.
When I was 13, there was no one else available to open the shop in the mornings, and I had to leave school to continue running it.
That was not the future I had imagined for myself, but it taught me something I have carried ever since: how to show up, how to work hard, and how to care for something that depends on you.
When I was 14, I moved to Australia and began a completely new life.
I barely knew any English. The only thing I could really say was, “Hi, how are you? I’m fine, thank you.”
Everything was unfamiliar. I had to teach myself English, find my way in a new country, and slowly build a life from the beginning.
Over time, Daylesford became familiar. I got to know the people, became part of the community, and found a sense of belonging here. What began as a new place eventually became home.
So when I decided to open a cafe of my own, I did not look anywhere else.
The moment I saw this space, it felt right. Ream became a way to bring together everything that had shaped me: the small coffee shop in Cambodia, the responsibility I learned as a child, the courage it took to begin again, and the community I found here.
But there is another reason I chose the name Ream.
Ream comes from Preah Ream (ព្រះរាម), the hero of the Reamker, one of Cambodia’s most treasured traditional stories.
To me, Ream is more than a name. It carries a part of where I came from and the values I want to carry forward.
Ream is a place to make coffee, but more importantly, it is a place to build connections, welcome people, and create a little sense of home.
I love making coffee, but what I love most is getting to know the people who walk through the door.
So when I ask how your morning is going, I am not just being polite.
I genuinely want to know.
Because every cup at Ream carries a little of my journey: from a child opening a tuk-tuk shop before school, to someone who found a home in Daylesford and built a place where others can feel at home too.
Welcome to Ream Cafe.