Last updated September 27, 2011
As Americans get pickier about their beans, small roasters
and shops are filling their cups.
Cult coffee brands are popping up all over the country. From single-origin batches to the microlots by which they are artfully, even obsessively, roasted, they pride themselves on their craftsmanship and small size. (Forget Starbucks: Even Blue Bottle strikes some of these outfits as too "corporate.") With the help of Ken Davids, editor of Coffee Review, Fortune has mapped some of the industry's most promising players.
Portland, Maine
One café; wholesale
The Bard brand can
be found across coastal Maine, while the wholesale-only Wicked Joe brand sells
to stores across northern New England.
Lee, Mass.
Wholesale
This
Berkshire-based roaster distributes to stores from Montreal to Grand Cayman.
Oakland
Six locations in
Oakland, San Francisco, and Brooklyn; seven carts or seasonal locations;
wholesale
James Freeman's
coffee empire has spread from its Bay Area base to New York City. Coming soon:
Blue Bottle in Rockefeller Center.
Brooklyn
Four locations in
NYC
Café Grumpy offers
home brewing and latte art classes, and also operates a bakery at its Lower
East Side branch.
San Diego
One retail store;
wholesale
A roaster-retailer,
Moto also has a thriving service business that fixes cranky San Diego espresso
machines.
Acton, Mass.
Wholesale
This
Massachusetts-based wholesaler sells the Terroir single-origin line and is run
by industry legend George Howell, the founder of Coffee Connection, a high-end
retail chain that Starbucks acquired in 1994.
Chicago
Nine locations in
Chicago and Los Angeles; one lab in New York
Intelligentsia's
coffee labs train baristas and avid customers; the company's wings logo has
become a popular symbol of the gourmet-coffee movement.
New York City
Seven locations in
New York
This metro New York
institution often sells out its espresso-making classes.
Madison, Wis.
Wholesale
This wholesaler
primarily serves Packers country, with customers in 15 Wisconsin towns and
cities, but its customer base ranges as far as New York City and Albuquerque.
Clayton, Mo.
Seven locations in
St. Louis area and Columbia; one lab in St. Louis
Founded in the St.
Louis suburbs, Kaldi's now has five stores and a roasting and training center
in St. Louis, and another location in Columbia, MO.
Upland, Calif.
Four locations in
Los Angeles
Klatch has won
numerous awards for its coffees and overall business, and boasts one of the two
coffee pros to be crowned U.S. Barista Champion in multiple years, along with
Intelligentsia.
Morrisville, N.C.
Wholesale
Many of Muddy Dog's
customers buy online, but the company also serves restaurants and cafes, and
offers a "private label" for customers who seek regular small batches
roasted to their own specifications.
Topeka
One retail
location; wholesale
PT's was founded in
1993 by award-winning photojournalist Jeff Taylor. The company sells wholesale
throughout the Midwest and is growing rapidly on the East Coast.
San Francisco
Two retail branches
and a lab in San Francisco; one location in Napa, Calif.
Ritual says that at
least 30 careful steps go into each shot of its espresso.
Portland, Ore.
Retail locations in
Portland, Seattle, and New York; wholesale
Stumptown recently
took on a new major investor and introduced the "cold brew stubbies,"
a purist's cold-brewed, bottled iced coffee.
Sacramento
Two retail
locations in Sacramento; wholesale
Temple boasts
Coffee Review's highest-rated coffee of 2010. The company sells wholesale
throughout the West Coast.
New York City
Four retail
locations in New York.
Like many others on
this list, Think vets and certifies its coffees as meeting fair-trade and
organic standards. In what might seem heretical to coffee diehards, Think
offers an extensive food menu at its cafés. But try the grilled cheese.
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