Even though the growing conditions and climate doesn’t permit the growing of coffee beans, it seems Vermont has become a coffee superpower.
Your passion for coffee will truly bring you to a place that you haven’t think of visiting before. Vermont’s coffee industry is joined by a diversity of coffee lovers who are in search of quality life. Some are skilled baristas, coffee testers, and experienced coffee roasters.
But what makes Vermont’s coffee scene amazing? Aside from being popular with great coffee shops and roasteries, coffee is engrained in the culture of Vermont. Those involved in the industry are committed to a higher appreciation for the quality of each cup.
In no particular order, here are some of the best Vermont Specialty Coffee Roasters to explore. Is your favorite Vermont coffee brand or café in this list? Let’s find out.
1. Vermont Coffee Company
Vermont Coffee Company started in 2001 with the simple desire to share great coffee with the best of friends. All these years later, and the big, bold flavor of their organic arabica blends continues to unite a tight-knit community of farmers, retailers and customers.
They offer excellent coffee that are ethically sourced and sustainably slow-roasted using 100% renewable energy. With that being said, in 2018, Vermont Coffee Company became one of the first coffee roasters in the nation to roast coffee with 100% renewable bio-energy.
They source high-quality, non-GMO, certified organic arabica beans from the great coffee regions of Colombia, Nicaragua, Peru, Indonesia, and Honduras. Then they slow-roast it to deliver a big, bold coffee flavor. This makes their coffee good for both people and the planet.
Location: Middlebury, VT
Coffee to Try: Organic Friend Blend Whole Bean Coffee
Whole or Ground: Both
Price Range: $8.95 – $12.95
Shop: Whole Bean Coffee | Vermont Coffee Company | Stonewall Kitchen
2. Vivid Coffee Roasters
Vivid Coffee Roasters roasting vibrant coffee from small farms since 2015. And from their humble beginnings, their flagship cafe opened in downtown Burlington, Vermont in November 2020. They serve a full coffee menu, including espresso drinks and rotating single-origin options.
Vivid Coffee Roasters is dedicated to providing exclusive coffees roasted by no one else. They are also committed to finding and roasting vibrant coffees that fuel your work – whether at home or in the office.
What makes their coffee worth buying is that they work to establish relationships with small farms and farming communities. In many cases, they are purchasing the entire harvest from producers year after year.
In the end, Vivid Coffee are always looking for that excellent coffee. Whether it’s a coffee with rich/bold notes like chocolate, or tasting notes of apricot jam and nougat, they roast coffees that stand out in their excellence and clarity.
Location: Burlington, VT
Coffee to Try: Rare and Unique – Yemen – Special Reserve Set
Whole or Ground: Whole Bean Coffee
Price Range: $11 – $44
Shop: Shop — Vivid Coffee Roasters
3. Ungrounded Coffee
Ungrounded Coffee Roasters is an excellent coffee shop where you can order drinks and also purchase bags of coffee. They specialize in a small operation, roasting fresh organic coffee daily.
It was born of a love for this beverage. Started as a little coffee bar you didn’t expect to find in the middle of nowhere. Ungrounded Coffee has organically grown with much love and support from their community.
The coffee is freshly roasted and excellent. All their organic coffees are roasted daily at their store. So, if you’re fun of going to coffee shops, this makes for a great smell that wakes you up instantly.
Location: South Londonderry, VT
Coffee to Try: Organic Ethiopia Yirgacheffe
Whole or Ground: Both
Price Range: $12 – $16
Shop: Freshly Roasted Coffee (ungroundedcoffee.com)
4. Little Seed Coffee Roasters
Little Seed Coffee Roasters is a coffee roastery and shop that is locally owned and operated in Middlebury, Vermont. It was created with the intention to engage people in a joyful experience drinking and sharing quality coffee.
While they roast high quality, great-tasting coffee, Little Seed Coffee Roasters also value culture, welcoming environment, and present approach to specialty coffee. And at the end of the day, they hope for bringing coffee that gives you joy and keeps you going.
They roast their coffee beans to bring out the best in each offering, as a unique part of who they are and what they do. Each of their coffees are selected and roasted to highlight the exciting, joyful, and complex flavors of the beans.
What makes Little Seed Coffee special is their commitment to supporting the communities of their coffee farmers. This goes beyond in ensuring that they only purchase coffee beans from buyers who are committed to better-than the typical fair-trade wages.
Location: Middlebury, VT
Coffee to Try: Seasonal Espresso
Whole or Ground: Both
Price Range: $17 – $21
Shop: shop | little seed COFFEE ROASTERS
5. Abracadabra Coffee
Abracadabra Coffee is a Vermont specialty coffee roaster focusing on single origin coffee, NITRO cold brew, CBD products. They are more operating out of Woodstock, VT.
Abracadabra starts with the highest quality coffee sourced seasonally from small coffee producers. Roasted and brewed to highlight the nuances of origin, natural sweetness, and depth of a clean, smooth, complex brew.
They pride themselves in providing the best quality and unique selection of single origin coffee to everyone.
Location: Woodstock, VT
Coffee to Try: COLOMBIA FINCA SANTA MARIA HONEY WUSH WUSH
Whole or Ground: Both
Price Range: $14 – $27
Shop: Shop — Abracadabra Coffee Co.
6. Big Gear Coffee
Big Gear Coffee Roasters is a small local roaster in Vermont. It was born out of a trip from a personal search. Paul immersed himself in the process of coffee roasting and started a small roastery of his own. This led him to the direction he wants to be.
Big Gear Coffee want you to know where your coffee comes from, so their coffee beans have a transparent history. Other than that, they source high-quality coffee beans from around the world. They search for coffee beans that are delicious and complex.
Most importantly, they aim to roast coffee beans that will provide you with a consistently great cup of coffee. Each batch of coffee is carefully roasted and packaged in their small central Vermont location. Over all, Big Gear Coffee pride themselves in getting their coffee to you when it is fresh.
Location: Berlin, VT
Coffee to Try: UPHILL GRIND (DARK) / COLOMBIA HUILA EXCELSO
Whole or Ground: Whole Bean Coffee
Price Range: $12.99
Shop: Shop — BIG GEAR COFFEE ROASTERS
7. Brown and Jenskin Coffee Roasters
Brown & Jenkins Coffee Roasters has been a family owned and operated Vermont Coffee Roaster since 1984. It was established by Ken Brown and Carol Jenkins, a Vermont couple with a passion for freshly roasted coffee and a desire to share their delight with other coffee lovers.
This coffee company is now owned by Vermont caterer Sandy Riggen, keeping the company family-owned and operated for over 30 years. The traditions and high standards established years ago by Ken Brown and Carol Jenkins continue.
Brown & Jenkins Coffee Roasters purchases only the highest quality Arabica beans from the most reputable coffee estates. Their coffee is hand roasted in small batches and shipped to their costumers the same day. This makes it truly the freshest roasted coffee you can buy.
Location: Jeffersonville, VT
Coffee to Try: ORGANIC FRENCH ROAST
Whole or Ground: Both
Price Range: $11.95 – $30
Shop: Shop — Collection – Brown & Jenkins Coffee Roasters
8. Carrier Roasting
Carrier Roasting is a coffee roaster located in a rural town of Northfield, Vermont. They were driven by a handful of core values: hospitality, quality, community, transparency, and a desire to improve.
Carrier Roasting came from the idea of a humble carrier pigeon, who always finds her way home from a distant place to deliver an important message. To them, the distant place may be Ethiopia or Peru, delivering the story and taste of a coffee as the message.
They value quality and transparency of supply. They focus on quality as well as transparency to ensure that long-term relationships founded on trust and respect, while importing quality beans.
When it comes to roasting, they take a data-driven approach and employ progressive techniques to achieve what they think are the best, most consistent results. And to ensure the quality of coffee you buy and the refinement of their craft, they taste every single batch they roast.
Location: Northfield, VT
Coffee to Try: COLOMBIA JOSÉ MARTINEZ PINK BOURBON
Whole or Ground: Whole Bean Coffee
Price Range: $16 – $22
Shop: Collections – Whole Bean Coffee – Carrier Roasting Co.
9. Earthback Coffee
Earthback Coffee Roasters is a business built on the love of small batch roasting located in South Burlington, Vermont. This company love their coffee so much and want to protect the quality they sell.
Earthback Coffee Roasters believe that a great brew begins with quality coffee beans. So, they source the finest coffee beans on the planet in order to produce the highest quality roast. Nearly all of their coffee roasts can boast of Rainforest Alliance, Fair Trade or USDA Organic certifications.
They are passionate about roasting exceptional coffee, and specialize in small batch roasts. So, their beans are small batch roasted and packaged while still warm. They make an exceptional effort for sealing aroma in specially designed foil lined coffee bags, insuring popping fresh coffee in your cup.
In the end, what makes their coffee beans the highest quality available is that they choose to import the very best coffee beans to use in their roasts. As they say, great ingredients result in excellent taste.
Location: South Burlington, VT
Coffee to Try: Sumatra Mandheling | Dark Roast
Whole or Ground: Whole Bean Coffee
Price Range: $13.50
Shop: Earthback Coffee Roasters | Order Online
10. Kestrel Coffee Roasters
Kestrel Coffee Roasters was founded by Charlotte & Johnny Steverson. It’s always their dream to open a coffee shop together. And only came into reality when they decided to move to Vermont and opened Kestrel Coffee Roasters in July of 2018.
They source and roast specialty coffees from all over the world, focusing on excellent, single origin coffees that are ethically sourced from small farms. You’ll find that their selection of single origin coffees changes every few months due to seasonality. But in the end, they’re always looking for the best tasting coffees that are both approachable and interesting.
They roast everything in relation to the coffee itself with their highly energy efficient roaster produced in Santa Barbara, California, the Loring S15. They want to make sure that whatever the origin, they bring out the best that coffee has to offer.
After all, with an intense love of food, and a deep appreciation of great service and hospitality, Charlotte & Johnny, and their dedicated team, are excited to make your coffee experience better.
Location: Burlington, VT
Coffee to Try: Dimtu, Guji, Ethiopia
Whole or Ground: Both
Price Range: $14.50 – $20
Shop: Shop – Products – Kestrel Coffee Roasters
Wrapping it Up!
Whether you want to taste light roast, dark roast, or single origins, all Vermont coffees are worth trying for. With all the varieties available, there is certainly a Vermont coffee for every coffee-loving individual.
Remember that there are many specialty coffee roasters and cafes in Vermont. And I’m sure I missed some good ones. If you want to visit this wonderful state, it’s a great idea to explore its coffee scene. In the end, you’ll be able to find the great coffee that matches your taste.
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