Founded in 1996, this artisan coffee roaster now has three locations in the city, each featuring "small-batch roasting of Zoka coffees, homemade baked goods and hand-sourced teas." Its current best-selling bean is the "Espresso Paladino," with a "balance of creamy, honeyed body and fine acidity in the finish."
For more information: Zoka Coffee Roaster & Tea Co.
Opened in 2005, this Mission-district café almost overnight became a destination for those who were already coffee obsessed-and quickly made converts of everyone else. In addition to the standard espresso-drink variations, Ritual offers specialty drinks like the Gibraltar (not on the menu, but available by request), a harmonious balance of espresso and warm milk served up in a rocks glass.
For more information: Ritual Coffee Roasters
Owner Duane Sorenson scours the globe for "direct trade" with coffee growers. That is, he buys beans directly from farmers, rather than through brokers. The beans are brought home to roast in Portland, Oregon, and served at several Stumptown cafes throughout the city, as well as at numerous other independent coffee shops.
For more information: Stumptown Coffee Roasters
James Freeman has developed a cult following for his "artisan microroasted" beans, which are prepared in Oakland and sold from a tiny garage-front kiosk in San Francisco's Hayes Valley as well as at area farmers' markets and restaurants. When he started Blue Bottle, Freeman vowed to "only sell coffee less than 48 hours out of the roaster to my customers, so they may enjoy coffee at its peak of flavor [and] only use the finest organic, and pesticide-free, shade-grown beans." Freeman's followers are eagerly awaiting the opening of the Blue Bottle café in downtown San Francisco.
For more information: Blue Bottle Coffee
Gimme!'s "air-roasted" coffee has been winning accolades left and right since it opened its first espresso bar in Ithaca, N.Y. in 2000. There are now three more Ithaca-area Gimme! bars, and a Brooklyn outpost, which features an espresso machine from "Dutch master, Kees van der Westen" alongside '60s Mod black swivel chairs.
For more information: Gimme!
Flecha Roja. Dota Co-op. Terrazu. Costa Rica. Red Mountain. Waghi Valley. Papua New Guinea. These are a few of the choices you may have when you order a cup of coffee at Café Grumpy. Started in Brooklyn in 2005, Grumpy recently opened a branch in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood; it's a small, inviting brick-walled space that's perfect for enjoying a Grumpy specialty like the spicy cappuccino (a.k.a. the "hot 72").
For more information: Café Grumpy
Started in 1994, Alterra now has several Milwaukee-area locations. The company's mission statement has the representative flavor of the new indie coffee-roaster ethos: "We promote strong local communities, forge quality relationships with our growers and suppliers, maintain a strong financial bottom line, and foster the quality redevelopment of urban buildings. But it all starts with strong coffee."
For more information: Alterra Coffee Roasters
This Chicago based indie coffee-roaster powerhouse is at the vanguard of "direct trade" coffee movement: Buyer Geoff Watts travels extensively in Central and South America, Africa and Indonesia in search of the perfect bean, which is most likely to come from an environmentally and socially responsible farmer. Intelligentsia's newest location is in Los Angeles' Silverlake neighborhood.
For more information: Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea
This highly acclaimed Seattle operation's first café, on 15th Ave., features regular art and music shows; its Pike Street location, in an old 1920s auto-row building near Capitol Hill, showcases Victrola's roasting operation and holds regular "cuppings," or coffee tastings, to imbue the public with respect for the bean.
For more information: Victrola Coffee Roasters
"Albina Press is as close to coffee nirvana as you will come in Portland," writes a reviewer at the web site Portland Food and Drink. The Portland Mercury adds that Albina is a "gorgeous atmosphere and they always have some hot local artist showing off their work on the walls."
For more information: 503-282-5214