In the opening pages of Jordan Michelman and Zachary Carlsen’s The New Rules of Coffee, the cofounders of Sprudge write, “Drinking coffee is one of the most global things you do each day.”
The coffee plant, though exceptionally finicky and difficult to work with, grows across four continents, in at least 70 countries. After farming, harvesting and processing the bean, which is really a fruit, it’s bagged and sent to roasters around the world.
Still in their more natural greenish-grey hue, these beans arrive to roasters who take the seed of a cherry and turn it into one of the most-consumed beverages in the world. All carrying the official designation of specialty coffee roaster, the best of these roasters bring out of the bean few others can, and push coffee further for it.
Hailing from traditional coffee nations like Italy, New Zealand and Spain and the coffee world’s newer frontiers like Japan, South Korea and the UK, these are the places where the best bags of coffee are made.
The Barn
The Barn
Located: Berlin, Germany
Founded: 2010
Coffee to Try: Gitwe
The Barn’s MO is fairly simple: source, roast and brew stupidly good coffee. Its dedication building bridges between the holy trinity of coffee is where it shines. Ralf Rüller’s four cafés and roastery are monuments to this.
The first step is acquiring the best beans possible; this means beans that they are of the highest quality (The Barn regularly sources from farms and farmers that have won the Cup of Excellence) and are grown using sustainable methods. The Barn also pays high prices for premium beans, which sounds like an obvious thing to do, but is rather rare in the coffee world at large (specialty coffee’s battle with the commodity coffee market is telling of this). It also “slow roasts” the beans it purveys, a practice that results in a bean that’s lightly roasted and carries as much of the bean’s terroir as possible.
Unlike most roasters and coffee makers, The Barn even goes as far as training its baristas in the vocabulary and methods of roasting as a means to better communicate with the roasting team. There’s a reason every interview Rüller has ever given contains at least one use of the word “uncompromising.”
Coffee Supreme
Coffee Supreme
Located: Wellington, New Zealand
Founded: 1993
Coffee to Try: Brazil Fazenda Capadocia
Carriers of the New Zealand specialty coffee flame, Coffee Supreme might be the most charming coffee company out there. It regularly wins awards for bag design, store design and is generally excellent at presenting its coffee. Then you drink the coffee.
Coffee Supreme is decades ahead of most roasters in the coffee world. Its been roasting beans since the ’90s, and it sources those beans from virtually every specialty region and sub-region out there. It’s also on the bleeding edge of coffee sustainability, a movement born out of a closer potential doomsday.
Its ever-rotating collection of coffees contains blends, single origins and a few season-specific Coffee Supreme exclusive limited roasts. The company even opened up a semi-concept shop that acts as the most well-curated coffee gear store on the planet. Coffee Supreme is the complete package.
Seesaw Coffee
Located: Shanghai, China
Founded: 2012
Just about every industry that makes things to be sold has, at some point, considered the idea of breaking into China and its unfathomably large potential. Coffee is no different. Rumblings from in-the-know coffee people like James Hoffmann and green-coffee buyers from all over have been talking about it for a while now, but the great Chinese coffee boom may finally be happening.
If specialty coffee adoption continues on a large-ish scale, China could become something of a unicorn in specialty coffee — a country that has the means to produce, roast, brew and consume great coffee, something few (if any) others can truly claim. Seesaw coffee is the foremost domestic buyer of specialty-grade coffee in China, as well as the biggest buyer of Yunnan-grown specialty-grade beans (the most specialty-focused growing region in the country). It has not yet sent its roasters or baristas to the world stage to compete, but its stature as one of the first truly good coffee companies in the biggest market in the world is a big deal. Seesaw’s coffee is currently available only in its cafés — Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Suzhou or Hangzhou.
Switch Coffee
Switch Coffee
Located: Tokyo, Japan
Founded: 2013
Coffee to Try: Gathaithi
Switch Coffee is an unlikely addition to the list. It’s not a large-scale roaster, it operates out of a single café with a single Probat roaster and is headed by a single person. But Masahiro Onishi’s shop size belies its goodness.
Onishi studied roasting under Toshiyuki Ishiwata of Market Lane Coffee (another great Aussie roastery) and sourcing under Katsuhide Izaki of fellow Japanese specialty roaster Honey Coffee (who also happens to be a certified Cup of Excellence judge). René Redzepi himself adorned the wall of the shop with his signature as a stamp of excellence. All the technical merits and accolades utilized in the making of Switch’s Coffee are only half of what makes it one of the best, because it’s also one of the most relaxed, unabrasize high-end coffee roasters in the world.
A trip to the Meguro neighborhood’s prized roastery includes tasting each of Onishi’s roasts for the day before ordering, chatting with Onishi (it’s a fairly residential neighborhood, so no raised voices or blaring music) and enjoying a drink. And while Japan is home to a mountain of incredible roasters and coffee shops — the legendary Bear Pond, literally world-beating Tokado Coffee, the ones we’ve already named and a hundred more — few provide excellence in way this casual.
180 Coffee
Courtesy
Located: Seoul, South Korea
Founded: 2013
Coffee to Try: Signature Blend
South Korea went from a country drinking primarily instant coffee to one craving the best specialty coffee there is in just a few years. Put another way, the number of cafés in South Korea has grown nearly three times over in the last five years alone. This makes it one of, if not the, fastest emerging market in specialty coffee and coffee at large.
180 Coffee is the most lauded coffee roaster in a country without a great deal of coffee history, but its beans stack up with the best in the world. It is the only Korean roaster with two Korean coffee roasting titles (its founder, Lee Seung-jin was the first winner) and its placed highly on the world stage to boot.
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Right Side Coffee
Right-Side Coffee
Located: Castelldefels, Spain
Founded: 2012
Coffee to Try: Mensur's Natural
Spain is and has been drenched in coffee for some time, just not much of it very good. Joaquín Parra’s Spanish coffee roasting instituion is named for the side of the brain that dictates “creativity and passion,” and Right Side Coffee’s beans exude that. Sourced and roasted by a coffee lifer, Parra is the son of green coffee importers, is a Spanish Roasting Championship winner and a frequent high-placer at the World Coffee Roasting Championships.
And though accolades and winning trophies is nice, what elevates Right Side is taking transparency in coffee sourcing to a new level. Under every bag of beans it sells on its site there’s an “information” tab. When opened, small essays on the specific farmers, lot features and lot history are doled out.
Weirdly, Right Side doesn’t have any cafés of its own, but it stocks plenty of specialty spots all over Spain.
Gardelli Specialty Coffees
Gardelli
Located: Forlì, Italy
Founded: 2010
Coffee to Try: El Mirador Terra Nova
If there were a Michael Jordan of the coffee world, it would be Rubens Gardelli. By accolades, he’s the most successful competition roaster ever. He’s qualified for the most World Coffee Roasting Championships (four of five times), won the most recent one, won the Italian Coffee Roasting Championship four years running and somehow has also won multiple Brewer’s Cups in Italy and a World Brewer’s Cup. No roaster comes close to these achievements.
The coffees from Gardelli Specialty Coffees are all lightly roasted to allow the bean’s flavor to be determined more by the bean than the roast, and a rotating stock of bags are available for purchase online.
Solberg & Hansen
Solberg & Hansen
Hometown: Oslo, Norway
Year Founded: 1879
Coffee to Try: Rwanda Tumba
In a world of youth, Solberg & Hansen is old. Founded 140 years ago, it is Norway’s first coffee roasting company and could very well be its best. Its roasting team is headed up by Simo Christidi, who’s one of five ever winners of the World Coffee Roasting Championship (2012) and holder of a slew of Norwegian and Nordic coffee roasting titles.
Its concept store in Oslo’s Mathallen specialty food court is a testament to this ethos. It is a coffee purist’s coffee shop — that is to say it’s a shop dedicated to showing off the power of coffee in its base form, so no milk or sweeteners are found on the premises. Its beans can be bought online as well (with the help of Google translate). (For what its worth, Solberg & Hansen is also affiliated with another legendary Norwegian coffee roaster, Tim Wendelboe.)
Drop Coffee
Courtesy
Located: Stockholm, Sweden
Founded: 2009
Coffee to Try: Los Andes
Joanna Alm and Stephen Leighton’s coffee company started as a small café that didn’t roast its own beans. A few years later it was a bonafide leader in the third wave coffee movement in Europe. Today, it’s regarded as one of the best coffee roasters in the world (only Gardelli Specialty Coffees has finished in the top five of the World Coffee Roasting Championships more often). Alm, the roasting arm of the team, has been named Sweden’s best coffee roasters four of the last five years. Its baristas have claimed several Swedish Barista Championship titles, there’s only one tiny café and yet the whole operation feels unnaturally welcoming.
Scrolling through Drop’s webshop feels more like flipping through a family photo album than shopping for coffee, and co-founder Joanna Alm’s kindness in interviews is pervasive. Refreshingly, Drop Coffee is as close to the top of the coffee world as anybody, and yet there isn’t a hint of classic coffee snootiness.
Square Mile Coffee Roasters
Square Mile
Located: London, England
Founded: 2008
Coffee to Try: El Diamante
Square Mile was founded by specialty coffee veterans Anette Moldvaer and James Hoffmann with a singular goal: make London famous for coffee.
Among exacting execution, sustainable practices, various awards and titles and a staff that’s basically the UK coffee all-star team, Square Mile is especially remarkable in an area that others aren’t always so great at: sourcing specialty beans from up-and-coming regions. In the span of a week at the end of October 2018, the East London outpost debuted specialty-grade beans from China and Myanmar, both origins you won’t find on the menu at more than a few roasters worldwide.
The company’s bags are available online and rotated very quickly.
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FAQs
What is the best coffee roaster in the world? ›
- Workshop Coffee Co.
- Luckie Beans.
- Has Bean.
- Mission Coffee Works.
- Obadiah.
- Ozone Coffee Roasters.
- Origin.
- Barrington Coffee.
Starbucks. With annual revenues of $23.52 billion, Starbucks tops the list of best coffee brands in the world. The world's largest coffee retailer, headquartered in Seattle, US, was founded in 1971. At present, its operations span across more than 33,800 stores in 80 countries.
Who makes the best coffee in the world? ›To a lot of people, Ethiopia would be where the best coffee in the world comes from. Because of the history of coffee production, location in the world and equality of opportunity, Ethiopia has everything many people believe makes for the best coffee in the world.
What is the oldest roaster in the world? ›Caffè Florian, Venice
Established in 1720, Caffè Florian is the oldest continuously-operated coffee house in the world.
Medium roast coffee is probably the most popular roasts on the market today due to its full, balanced flavor and aroma.
What is America's #1 coffee? ›...
| Rank | Brand | Producer |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dunkin' Donuts | J.M. Smucker |
| 2 | Green Mountain Coffee | Keurig Green Mountain |
| 3 | Folgers | J.M. Smucker |
| 4 | Seattle's Best | Starbucks |
- 1) Hawaii Kona Coffee. ...
- 2) Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee. ...
- 3) Panama Geisha Coffee. ...
- 4) Sulawesi Toraja Coffee. ...
- 5) Tanzania Peaberry Coffee. ...
- 6) Mocha Java Coffee. ...
- 7) Ethiopian Harrar Coffee.
Gaviña has grown to be one of the world's leading gourmet coffee roasters.
What is the biggest selling coffee brand? ›As measured by revenue, Starbucks is the largest coffee company globally, and they pulled in a massive USD 26.5 billion in 2020. Headquartered in Seattle, the brand is known for its chain of familiar coffee houses that span the globe. Just how many Starbucks are there worldwide?
What is the smoothest coffee in the world? ›Exhibiting a full body and low acidity, Sumatra Mandheling beans are best known as a smooth drinking coffee. It is also known for its sweetness and herbacious, earthy flavor, and complex aroma. The coffee is grown in the Lintong region in north central Sumatra near Lake Toba.
Who started roast? ›
Comedy Central
The first roastee was Denis Leary in 2003, followed by Jeff Foxworthy, Pamela Anderson, William Shatner, Flavor Flav, Bob Saget, Larry the Cable Guy, Joan Rivers, David Hasselhoff, Donald Trump, Charlie Sheen, Roseanne Barr, James Franco, Justin Bieber, Rob Lowe, Bruce Willis, and Alec Baldwin.
According to the official Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest rooster died of heart failure at the age of roughly 12 years. Compare this to Matilda, a Red Pyle chicken who worked as an assistant to magician Keith Barton, and lived to be 16 years old.
Who is the roast king of world? ›| Jeff Ross | |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Genres | Insult comedy, observational comedy, black comedy, cringe comedy, satire |
| Subject(s) | Jewish culture, popular culture, self-deprecation, sex, current events, religion |
| Notable works and roles | Comedy Central Roasts Patriot Act: A Jeffrey Ross Home Movie The Burn with Jeff Ross |
1. Starbucks. With more than 30,000 retail stores in 83 countries, Starbucks clearly is one of the leading, most prominent and popular coffee chain in the world.
Who is the best coffee roaster in Europe? ›Simply the Best: Matthew Algie recognised as Europe's Best Coffee Roaster.
What is the highest quality roast? ›The Rib-Eye Roast is the boneless center cut of the rib section. Very well-marbled, tender and flavorful, it is the most desirable and the most expensive of the roasts.
What roast has the best flavor? ›Simply put, the lighter the roast the more complex the flavor! Light roast offers multilayered complexity, revealing traces of sweetness, fruit tanginess, or even a subtle floral aroma. Light roasts are lighter in body because the coffee bean has not been roasted long enough to produce caramelized sugars or oil.
What is the best tasting roast? ›- Tenderloin Roast. The most tender beef roast that is well known for being lean and succulent. ...
- Tri-Tip Roast. Boneless and fairly tender with full flavor. ...
- Top Sirloin Petite Roast. ...
- Bottom Round Roast. ...
- Eye of Round Roast. ...
- Sirloin Tip Roast. ...
- Top Round Roast. ...
- Ribeye Roast.
U.S. Navy Blue Angels coffee is a precise blend of Costa Rican, Colombian and Sumatra coffee beans, perfect every day and to bring along to the next scheduled U.S. Navy Blue Angels air show. One sip of this delicious fresh roasted coffee, and you'll see why you'll want to keep refilling your navy coffee mug.
What is the most ordered coffee in America? ›Latte/Iced Latte
This beverage is more prevalent in America than other coffee drinks like cappuccinos because it contains less foam, making it smoother and gentler for those with sensitive palettes. And if you want to spice up your latte, add some flavouring syrup.
What is the most sold coffee in America? ›
- That's every day. (Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts, USAT photo) ...
- Maxwell House. (Getty) ...
- Eight O'Clock Coffee. (Eight O'Clock Coffee) ...
- Café Bustelo. (Café Bustelo) ...
- The Folger Coffee Company. (Food Business News) ...
- Caribou Coffee. ...
- Peet's Coffee. ...
- Dunkin Brands Group.
BRAZIL (2,680,515 METRIC TONS)
As a nation it's been topping the pops as the world's leading coffee producer for 150 years! Unsurprisingly, given the quantities of coffee Brazil produces, the climate is perfect for growing Arabica and Robusta beans.
True Kopi luwak coffee is widely considered as one the most expensive coffees in the world. Currently a cup of this specialty brew can cost anywhere from $35 to $100 per cup at an average coffee shop, if they stock this variety to sell on to their customers then the price is more like $100 to $800 per small bag.
Which country has best coffee? ›Colombia is probably the world's best-known coffee producer and ranks second worldwide in yearly production. A high standard of excellence is maintained with great pride and careful growing on thousands of small family farms across the country.
What coffee does Dunkin Donuts use? ›We use 100 percent Arabica coffee beans and have our own coffee specifications, which are recognized by the industry as a superior grade of coffee. Based on Dunkin' Quality (DDQ) specifications, coffee is milled and processed specifically for Dunkin'.
Who makes Costco's coffee? ›Several varieties of Kirkland Signature coffee are custom-roasted by Starbucks Coffee Company. In particular, they include the 2.5 pound Kirkland Signature Espresso Blend Coffee, Decaf House Blend Coffee, and Regular House Coffee. The price per pound for Kirkland's Signature House Blend Coffee is $6.20.
What brand coffee does Wendy's use? ›Wendy's® Redhead Roasters™ — Brand Now.
Which city has the best coffee in the world? ›- Reykjavik, Iceland.
- Melbourne, Australia.
- Thessaloniki, Greece.
- Vancouver, Canada.
- Paris, France.
- Santa Teresa, Costa Rica.
- Helsinki, Finland.
- Marrakesh, Morocco.
Light roast coffee
Light roast coffees are less bitter, more sweet, and often tea-like. They also often have the highest acidity.
Origin. The Sunday roast originated in the British Isles particularly Yorkshire as a meal to be eaten after the church service on Sunday. Eating a large meal following church services is common to most of Europe, but the Sunday roast variant developed unique to the British Isles.
What are the three types of roast? ›
Many types of beef roasts are available for different uses. Some of the most well-known kinds include the chuck roast, prime rib roast, and top round roast. Bottom round roast, coulotte roast, and beef brisket are additional types of beef roasts.
Who was the first to roast coffee? ›According to a story written down in 1671, coffee was first discovered by the 9th-century Ethiopian goat-herder Kaldi.
What is world's oldest dog? ›At 30 years and 266 days old, a Portuguese dog named Bobi was crowned the world's oldest dog ever on February 1, breaking an almost century-old record, per Guinness World Records (GWR).
Did a rooster ever lay an egg? ›No. Roosters cannot lay eggs. They simply do not have the same reproductive anatomy as a hen. While roosters have the ability to fertilize a hen's egg, their lack of ovaries and oviduct along with numerous other biological features make it impossible for your rooster to ever lay an egg.
At what age are roosters slaughtered? ›We know the roosters are ready to harvest when they start terrorizing the hens in the flock. This is a sure sign they are mature enough. These roosters were about five months old at the time of harvest.
How much does a professional coffee roaster cost? ›The largest expense, of course, is the commercial coffee roaster itself. Commercial roasters range anywhere from $20,000 to $150,000.
Who makes the best roasted coffee? ›- Water Avenue Coffee. Best Overall. Jump to details. ...
- Stone Street Coffee Company. Best Dark Roast. Jump to details. ...
- Cognoscenti Coffee. Best Light Roast. Jump to details. ...
- Peet's Coffee. Best Budget. ...
- Onyx Coffee Lab. Best for Espresso. ...
- Java Pura. Best Flavored Coffee. ...
- Intelligentsia. Best Variety. ...
- Stumptown Coffee. Best Whole Bean.
Starbucks is by far the most popular coffee chain in the world, with over 30,000 stores around the globe. One of the largest reasons for their success is tied to how they transformed coffee culture in major countries such as the United States.
Who serves the most coffee in the US? ›Starbucks, Dunkin' and Panera Bread are the largest coffee shops in the United States in 2023 based on the number of locations. Starbucks has the most number of locations with 15,842 locations across 52 states and territories. Dunkin' has 9,368 and Panera Bread has 2,160 locations in the US.
How profitable is coffee roasting? ›
Roast Your Own Coffee Beans For Lucrative Profits
Furthermore, having complete control over costs and the quality of your beans is one of the most appealing aspects of roasting your own. Coffee is clearly profitable, with an average profit margin of $60,000 to $160,000 and revenue of $70 billion per year.
The terms Roastmaster and Master Roaster have often been used interchangeably to describe any person who roasts coffee. But there are important differences between the title of Roastmaster and the designation of Master Roaster.
What is the profit margin on coffee? ›💸 The average profit for a cafe ranges between 2.5% (Chron estimate) and 6.8% (Specialty Coffee Association study), depending on where you're getting your data from.
What roast of coffee is the smoothest? ›Medium roasts typically make for the smoothest and most traditional tasting experience. The most preferred roasts in America fall into this range, and we recommend this roast if you are looking for a more conventional-tasting coffee.