Redeye Roasters in Hingham does coffee right

By Joan Wilder

Say it’s a clear, sunny day.

Or a cold one with light snow falling.

Hey, it could be raining or blowing a gale, it doesn’t matter: The water views from Hingham’s new Redeye Roasters Café & Espresso Lounge are beautiful.

And so is the interior of the cozy new café. The space, which occupies two-thirds of the Bare Cove Marina building, is fitted out with repurposed old wood, pendant lighting, decorative found pieces, and giant burlap bags of coffee.

On the far side of the windowed room sits the bright red roasting machine where owner Bob Weeks works his magic — turning the green seeds of a red fruit into the cherished thing we know as coffee.

The journey that led Weeks to the café, which opened Dec. 3, was a path with heart. After losing his job at a top Boston ad agency in 2006, the art school graduate decided to focus on what he loved and expand his coffee-roasting hobby into an occupation. Incorporating as Redeye Roasters, he began selling beans to local businesses.

A couple years later, he opened a café truck, thinking he’d sell to travelers at the Greenbush commuter rail station. When that didn’t fly (most arrived too late to buy coffee), the vision began to form: Open a real café.

After searching Hingham Center and Square for more than a year, Weeks realized what he wanted.

‘‘Every day I’d pass the Bare Cove building and think, ‘I need to be right there,’’ said Weeks. ‘‘Finally, one day I stopped at the marina, asked a guy if he knew who owned the place, got Nick Bonn’s name and number, and called him.’’

After signing a lease with Bonn, Weeks began to gut the space in June. Much of the cafe, including the bar, was built by folk artist and furniture maker Rich Dunbrack of Martha’s Vineyard, and it captures the magical feeling that Weeks envisioned.

And the coffee? Frankly, I’ve been ruined by Redeye’s crazy-good, creamy lattes (made with Hingham’s Hornstra Farms milk) and haven’t found a cup as tasty anywhere else. They’re always a bit of a unique event, too, topped with “coffee art” — pretty surface designs made by pouring steamed milk carefully over espresso.

My other Redeye favorite is the cold-brewed iced coffee, aka a ‘‘toddy,’’ which, until now, were a once-a-week summer pleasure procured from Weeks’s café truck at the Hingham farmers’ market.

Along with various other espresso and hot drinks — which are all comparable in price to the corporate coffee chains — Redeye’s menu includes several daily brewed coffees; individually prepared filtered coffees called ‘‘pour overs’’; and French-pressed coffees.

The café has an evolving pastry case that sometimes includes offerings from local bakers, and great gelatos and sorbet from Cold Fusion Gelato. Redeye also sells Somerville’s fine Mem teas, served in little porcelain pots, and a choice selection of cold drinks.

A self-admitted coffee geek, Weeks talks about coffee the way a sommelier talks about wine. He’s passionate about the science of roasting and exacting about extracting the best flavor possible from each particular bean. Some mornings, you’ll see the staff blind-tasting a few different brews to see whether Weeks wants to carry them.

But if coffee science is the backbone of a café, its people are the soul, and Weeks has that covered, too. An easy-going guy, he has assembled a smart, friendly staff that seems to love the place. Their warmth sets the tone for Redeye to be what a great café is: a welcoming place to take a break, shoot the breeze, consider the day, and sip something out of this world.

Stepping into Redeye, you can leave your mind behind, come to your senses, and smell the coffee any day of the week— no matter what the weather.

Redeye Roasters Café & Espresso Lounge; 3 Otis St. (Route 3A), Hingham. Open Monday through Friday, 6 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 781-740-2545; www.redeyeroasters.com. Accessible to the handicapped. Major credit cards accepted.