Twelve years of roasting for neighbors
We started with a 1 kg roaster in a garage on SE 26th Avenue. The roaster is bigger now. The rules are the same: buy from people we know, pay them well, and roast to order.
How it started
Two people, one garage, one rule
Mara Ellison spent six years buying green coffee for an importer. Theo Park ran the espresso bar next door. In 2014 they bought a tabletop roaster and started selling bags to neighbors from the garage door on Saturdays.
The rule came from Mara's importing days: if you would not tell a farmer what you paid for their coffee, you paid too little. So we publish it. Every bag lists the farm, the roast date and the price per pound we paid.
Today we roast about 900 kg a month for the café, 40 restaurants and 3,100 home subscribers. Still twice a week, still to order.
Three promises to every farm
- 01
We come back
Seven of our nine partners have sold to us for five harvests or more. Long relationships let farms plan, plant and invest.
- 02
We pay above the market
Our 2025 average was $4.52 per pound of green coffee. We set prices before harvest, so a market drop never lands on the farm.
- 03
We show our work
The table below lists every coffee we sell, what we paid, and how long we have bought from that farm.
| Coffee | Country | Partner since | Price paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guji Highlands | Ethiopia | 2018 | $4.85 |
| Kirinyaga AB | Kenya | 2020 | $5.60 |
| Huila Reserve | Colombia | 2016 | $4.20 |
| Santa Lucía | Honduras | 2025 | $4.10 |
| Gayo Mountain | Indonesia | 2019 | $4.40 |
| Sierra Decaf | Mexico | 2021 | $4.30 |
| Blend components | Brazil, Guatemala | 2015 | $3.75 to $3.90 |
From farm to roaster
About four months, tracked
Cherries are picked, processed and dried at origin. Green coffee travels by sea in lined bags, then rests in our warehouse until it is roasted. We cup every lot on arrival and reject anything that tastes flat or past its best.
Taste this year's coffeesTimeline
From garage to Division Street
- 2014
First roast
A 1 kg roaster, a garage on SE 26th, and 40 bags sold on the first Saturday.
- 2016
First direct partner
Mara visits Huila and starts buying from a 14-farm association near La Plata.
- 2018
The café opens
Roastery and café move to SE Division. Guji Highlands joins the lineup.
- 2021
Subscriptions launch
Built so people could skip or cancel without calling us. 600 subscribers in the first year.
- 2026
Nine partners, one 15 kg roaster
3,100 home subscribers, 40 restaurants, and the same two roast days.
Visit the café
Come watch us roast
Pull up a stool on Monday or Wednesday mornings and watch the roaster run. Every coffee on this site is on the bar, by the cup or by the bag.
- Address
- 2210 SE Division St, Portland, OR 97202
- Café
- Daily, 7 AM to 4 PM
- Roasting
- Monday and Wednesday, 6 AM to noon
- Phone
- (503) 555-0147