Texas Coffee Roasters Are Brewing Up a Storm

The conditions for growing coffee are very particular. The world’s best coffee crops grow in subtropical regions at high altitudes — between 1,800 and 3,600 feet — and rainy and dry seasons must be very well defined. While those conditions do not sound like any growing regions in Texas, a scientist at Texas A&M University has had some success introducing coffee crops to the Rio Grande Valley.

In 2015, Dr. Juan Anciso, a Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service fruit-and-vegetable specialist, began experimenting with planting around 200 coffee plants representative of many varietals of coffee grown around the world. The purpose of the experiment was to study a disease called coffee rust, which has been attacking some of the world’s coffee crops. What Anciso didn’t expect, however, was that the coffee crops would actually grow so well in Texas.

The conditions are important. Anciso’s plants are growing under shade cloth and are drip-irrigated, which helps mimic some of the conditions of the best coffee-growing regions.

The A&M scientist doesn’t believe his success with the plants will lead to a boom in commercial coffee growers in the Rio Grande Valley. But the plants are responding well enough that perhaps local nurseries could sell them to valley residents. If you are lucky enough to live in Texas’s subtropics, perhaps brewing a fresh cup of coffee with your very own roasted — and grown — coffee beans may soon become reality.

For the rest of us, there are plenty of truly exquisite Texas coffee roasters, flavors, blends, shops, and pours to delight us with a caffeine kick and a hot drink to chat over. Read on for more on Texas’s coffee scene.

A Texas Roast

Texas is in the midst of a coffee-roasting renaissance. Boutique coffee roasters are no longer limited to the state’s largest cities. Craft roasters are popping up in smaller cities, college towns, and remote West Texas acreage. With new roasters comes a greater variety of coffees and a deeper appreciation of what a fresh-brewed cup of coffee can be. These roasters aren’t brewing your granddad’s cup of joe. Expand your coffee palate by seeking out some of the best Lone Star roasters, wherever in Texas you are.

Cuvée Coffee, Austin
Mike McKim was an early pioneer in Texas’s coffee culture. When he decided he wanted to dedicate his life to crafting the perfect brew, he had to leave his home state and head to the U.S. coffee mecca — Seattle. There, McKim learned about every aspect of the roasting and brewing process. When he founded Cuvée in 1998, McKim wanted to create a coffee roast that could be enjoyed in any of the many ways people drink their coffee, from refined espresso to a simple, wholesome mug of black. Perhaps Cuvée’s most innovative — and certainly one of its most popular — brews is the nitro cold brew. Steeped at 36 degrees and carbonated with a burst of nitrogen that gives the product a milky finish, Cuvée’s cold brew takes iced coffee to new levels.
Where to buy: At select H-E-B groceries (and online)

Flat Track Coffee, Austin
Sterling Roberts and Matthew Bolick got their start in the coffee business opening a small coffee shop in 2012 in the back of Farewell Books in Austin. They began roasting their own beans and eventually broke out on their own, opening a much-loved local shop on Cesar Chavez. Their coffee is sought out for its lively flavor characteristics achieved with beans sourced from around the world.
Where to buy: Flat Track Coffee, 1619 East Cesar Chavez Street, Austin (and online)

Evocation Micro-Coffee Roastery, Amarillo
Twenty-something-year-old founders Roman and Amy Leal have quickly established themselves among the best of the best in coffee and as the forces behind Amarillo’s quiet coffee boom. In 2017, one of their roasters, Taylor Gresham, a Canyon native, took third place in a national roasting competition. That kind of quality comes from an obsession for every tiny detail that goes into creating the perfect cup, down to the fact that if you order a cup of coffee in their shop, you can be sure that the beans will have been roasted within the past 72 hours.
Where to buy: Evocation, 3300 South Coulter Street, Ste. 5, Amarillo (and online)

What’s the Buzz, College Station
Rodrigo Chavez, who opened College Station’s only specialty coffee roaster, knows a thing or two about good coffee. After all, he’s the project and training coordinator for Texas A&M’s Center for Coffee Research and Education. Chavez has also worked as a coffee grower in Guatemala. All that experience comes to bear in the quality of the roast offered by What’s the Buzz.
Where to buy: What’s the Buzz Coffee Co., 2151 Harvey Mitchell Parkway South, Ste. 326, College Station (and online and select vendors)

Cultivar Coffee, Dallas
Cultivar founders Jonathan Meadows and Nathan Shelton met at White Rock Coffee, an East Dallas establishment where Meadows worked. The pair loved coffeehouse culture, but it wasn’t until Meadows spent some time in Indiana that his desire to learn how to roast coffee was ignited. He reunited with Shelton in Dallas and launched one of the city’s first specialty roasters, which specializes in “slow coffee” — roasted blends that are carefully crafted for a total sensual experience.
Where to buy: Cultivar Coffee, 313 West Jefferson Boulevard and 1155 Peavy Road, Dallas (and online)

Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters, Dallas
The story behind Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters begins not in Texas but in the cafés of Italy. Founder Shannon Neffendorf’s corporate job required frequent travel to Milan, where he fell in love with the country’s famous coffee culture. Neffendorf was impressed with the attention to quality and detail displayed by baristas all over the city, and he noticed how that dedication resulted in a superior cup of coffee. He wanted to help bring that same experience to Texas, and he began by roasting his own beans at home. When friends began asking to buy his specialty roasts, Neffendorf realized he had a viable business on his hands. Today, Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters prides itself on careful attention to every part of the coffee-making process, beginning with sourcing sustainable beans from farmers in El Salvador.
Where to buy: Davis Street Espresso, 819 West Davis Street, Dallas (and online)

Amaya Roasters, Houston
In 2008, the founders of Amaya began seeking out coffees sourced directly from growers in Central America, Indonesia, Africa, and South America. Because they strive to accentuate the flavors in their beans, Amaya produces light and medium roasts that balance the natural sweetness and acidity of their coffees.
Where to buy: You can shop or subscribe online to get regular coffee shipments.

Greenway Coffee, Houston
David Buehrer and Ecky Prabanto began selling their boutique coffee roasts at the food court underneath Houston’s Greenway Plaza. Since then, the popular new brand has spread throughout the city, with coffee shops such as Blacksmith and donut shops such as Morningstar serving their unique varietals featuring milk chocolate and strawberry candy notes.
Where to buy: Greenway Coffee, 5 Greenway Plaza, Houston (and online and specialty vendors)

Gold Stripe Coffee, Lubbock
In 2012, Gold Stripe got its start as a mobile espresso bar servicing weddings and other events. The dream was to eventually open a brick-and-mortar shop, but along the way, the founders fell in love with the roasting process. Today, while they do run a couple of shops in Lubbock, Gold Stripe is best known for its specialty roasts made with beans sourced directly from growers around the world.
Where to buy: Gold Stripe, 2610 Salem Avenue, Ste. 5, Lubbock (and online)

Big Bend Coffee Roasters, Marfa
Joe Williams started his Marfa-based roasting company in 2008 as part of a search for a smooth, low-acid brew. Williams sources all of his fair-trade beans from growers specialized in shade-grown coffee. Careful roasting to meet the flavor profile of the beans completes the process of creating a coffee worth the drive.
Where to buy: At specialty shops throughout Texas (and online)

What’s Brewing? San Antonio Coffee Roasters, San Antonio
Roger Chbeir began selling his roasted beans back in 1981, and his coffee blends are now a staple at many of San Antonio’s top coffee shops and restaurants. Chbeir’s sons, Tony and Sami, continue their father’s legacy, roasting around 3,000 pounds of beans a week and running a front-of-house coffee shop that’s also a go-to spot for home roasters looking to stock up on gear.
Where to buy: 138 West Rhapsody Drive, San Antonio (and online)

Merit Coffee, San Antonio
Robby and Neesha Grubbs opened their first roasting operation in 2009 and in the decade since have managed a rapid expansion throughout the state. That model of growth is not surprising considering Robby got his start in the coffee business opening Texas’s first Starbucks in Plano in 1994. But don’t mistake Merit Coffee for everyday brew. Merit’s single-origin coffees are roasted from beans carefully sourced from growers around the world.
Where to buy: Merit Coffee, various locations in Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio (and online)

Meet the Roasters

Joe Williams, Founder of Big Bend Coffee Roasters, Marfa

“I emigrated to Australia in 1970 and made a partnership with a tree grower out of Singapore. We had coconut trees and coffee plants. That’s how I started in coffee. I came back to Texas in 1988 and took over my mother’s ranches. Twenty years later, I wanted to quit the mileage I was doing — 130,000 per year — running the Superior Livestock Auction, the largest livestock auction in the world. I wanted to start a business close to home.

At the time, there were some major roasters in Houston, San Antonio, and Austin, though not necessarily around Dallas. Most roasters had their own coffee shops, but I didn’t want a coffee shop. I’m a wholesale roaster for many people. We ship all over the U.S. now.

In 2008, everything fell out a bit, and it was a tough time for a lot of people. But living in Marfa, starting a business, we didn’t notice how difficult it was. At that time, I was a good roaster, but I was working on really good equipment. It took about two years to perfect the coffee. We’re a biz that shouldn’t be here and shouldn’t be successful, but it is.

I’ve been accused of giving my coffee away too cheap. We never have advertised. That’s getting ready to change somewhat. Blame it on Marfa being such a center-point for visitors. We get people from all over the world that come to Marfa every week. Basically, it is word-of-mouth.

Back in the bad old days, I did a lot of traveling — to Mexico, Central America, Sumatra, Indonesia, Africa. We bought from 14 different suppliers. Now we’ve narrowed it down to one supplier out of Seattle. He and I have the same taste buds.

I’ve got so many different taste profiles. The best example I can give you of my process is I have my supplier send me 400 pounds of coffee that they think is pretty good. I’ll buy it from them, but I will roast that coffee 10 different ways, with different temperatures, different timing, different ways of using my gas valves on my roasts. And in 10 different roasts, we can find if we’ve discovered the real character of those coffees — if you can find something you like, or if you can’t find it, or if it duplicates a taste I already have. And from 10 other roasts, I have 14 different origins if I want to play with the blending. We might spend two, three, four months tasting and doing different things with coffee.

I call this place a very large sandbox, because you get to play. And when it suits my taste buds and the taste buds of the people that I consider good tasters, we’ll do something with it. It’s a very joyful process.”

Magic Brews

1. Domingas by Amaya Roasters
Flavors: stone fruit, butterscotch, baking spice
Origin: Alajuela, Costa Rica
Variety: Caturra
Process: Honey

2. Tradewinds by Greenway Coffee
Flavors: dark chocolate, spices
Origins: Guatemala and Brazil
Ideal for: drip-coffee and dark-roast espressos

3. Hurango by Culivar Coffee
Flavors: milk chocolate, tangerine
Origins: Jaén, San Ignacio, and Cajamarca, Peru

4. Rosemont Crest by Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters
Flavors: brown sugar, ripe cherry, herbs
Origins: Honduras, Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia
Named for: the founders’ Oak Cliff neighborhood

5. Karmadillo by Cuvée Coffee
Flavors: milk chocolate, caramelized sugar
Origins: Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Ethiopia, Indonesia
Inspired by: the founders’ first trip to the Pacific Northwest

6. Nyeri Hill by Flat Track Coffee
Flavors: apricot, umami, bergamot
Origin: Nyeri County, Kenya
Harvested from: red volcanic soil

7. Red Sea by What’s Brewing? San Antonio Coffee Roasters
Flavors: dried fruit

8. La Papaya Typica by Merit Coffee
Flavors: honeysuckle, yuzu, banana
Origin: Loja, Ecuador
Varietal: Typica
Process: washed

9. Peru Cajamarca by Evocation Micro-Coffee Roastery
Flavors: caramel, butter, walnut, citrus, floral
Origins: Jaén and Cajamarca, Peru
Farmed by: 400 smallholder farmers

10. Spro Bot by Gold Stripe Coffee
Flavors: peanut butter, cocoa, grape jelly
Origins: Santa Isabel, Guatemala; El Jardín, Colombia; Risaralda, Colombia
Perfect for: cold-weather cups of white coffee; look for a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon spice

11. Brazil Natural Oberon by What’s the Buzz
Flavors: nutty and sweet
Origin: Cerrado, Brazil
Grown: at high altitudes in a temperate climate

12. West Texas Wildfire by Big Bend Coffee Roasters
Flavors: smoky
Dedicated to: the firefighters who fought the West Texas wildfires of 2011

The Perfect (Cold) Brew

Jazz up your winter morning with cold on cold.

1. Grind ¼ cup of coffee beans (yields about 1/3 cup of grounds) and steep in 1 ½ cups of cold, filtered water in a sealed jar overnight.
2. In the morning (up to 12 hours later), filter through a coffee filter or tea strainer until your brew is silt-free.
3. Dilute with water to double your volume.
4. Pour into two glasses filled with ice. Share with a friend and cheers.

Caffeine Fix

Sit, sip, and chat at these favorite shops across Texas.

Houndstooth Coffee 4200 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin
Buon Giorno Coffeehouse and Roastery 915 Florence Street, Fort Worth
Southside Espresso 904 Westheimer Road, Ste. C, Houston
Magnolias Sous Le Pont 2727 North Harwood Street, Dallas
Caffe Medici 1101 West Lynn Street, Austin
Do Your Thing 201 East Dallas Street, Marfa
Coffee Box 401 North Mesa Street, El Paso
Wake the Dead Coffee House 1432 Old Ranch Road 12, San Marcos
Gruene Coffee Haus 1720 Hunter Road, New Braunfels
Palace Coffee Company 420 15th Street, Canyon

For more on Texas’s food culture, check out our thoughts on the seafood revolution and our regional barbecue guide.

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