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Massachusetts coffee: roasters, towns and history

Where coffee is roasted in this state, region by region, with the dates to back it up.

Massachusetts coffee in brief

Massachusetts coffee is roasted in a lot more places than Boston. The Roast Local directory lists 110 roasters in the state pulled September 2026, spread across dozens of cities and towns from Williamstown to Nantucket.

The 20 roasters we profiled in depth as local favorites work in Acton, Boston, Bridgewater, Cambridge, Dedham, Greenfield, Hadley, Lee, Northampton, Northborough, Orange, Peabody, Plymouth, Salem, Sandwich, Upton, West Bridgewater, West Dennis and Worcester. Two of them, Armeno and Aero, share Northborough. Each has a page of its own on the Massachusetts roasters list, which also carries shorter profiles of 53 more roasters, 73 in all, and a listing does not mean the roaster is part of the club.

The styles cover the whole range. Broadsheet in Cambridge roasts from very light Nordic style to medium-dark. Armeno in Northborough keeps about 50 coffees on hand across four roast levels. Shelburne Falls sells flavored coffees such as Sugar Maple Nut, and Dean's Beans sells green coffee for people who roast at home.

This page is the map. Four towns have their own page, and every other town with a roaster is covered by one of seven region pages below.

The regions

Greater Boston

The towns around the city, from Newton and Somerville to Dedham, Brookline, Medford and Waltham. Newton gave George Howell his first cafe under his own name, and Fazenda roasts in Dedham. Greater Boston coffee roasters.

Salem and the North Shore

Jaho roasts and bakes on Canal Street in Salem, and Atomic roasts to order in Peabody. Amesbury, Haverhill, Beverly, Ipswich and Newburyport have roasters too. North Shore coffee roasters.

Plymouth and the South Shore

Speedwell in Plymouth, Equal Exchange headquartered in West Bridgewater, and Mike Shea's coffee bar and roastery in Bridgewater, with more roasters down to New Bedford. South Shore coffee roasters.

Worcester and Central Massachusetts

Acoustic Java in Worcester's Whittall Mills, Armeno in a Northborough mill that has worked since 1727, Aero on Northborough's Main Street, and Red Barn in Upton. Central Massachusetts coffee roasters.

MetroWest

George Howell Coffee's roastery in Acton, three roasters in Framingham, and more in Sudbury, Wellesley, Marlborough and Ayer. MetroWest coffee roasters.

Northampton and the Pioneer Valley

Indigo in Northampton, Esselon in Hadley, Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters with cafes up and down the valley, and Dean's Beans in Orange, plus Springfield, Westfield and Williamsburg. Pioneer Valley coffee roasters.

Cape Cod and the Islands

Snowy Owl roasts in Sandwich and Three Fins in West Dennis, and Roast Local lists roasters on Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket as well. Cape Cod coffee roasters.

The Berkshires

Barrington Coffee Roasting Company was founded in 1993 by Gregg Charbonneau and Barth Anderson, and roasts at 165 Quarry Hill Road in Lee. Roast Local also lists No. Six Depot Coffee Roasters in West Stockbridge and Tunnel City Coffee in Williamstown, and we now profile both: Six Depot Roastery and Cafe works out of what it calls the oldest train station in the Berkshires, and Tunnel City Coffee moved its roasting to North Adams in 2024. The Berkshires page covers all three, starting with Barrington's roaster page.

Town pages

  • Boston: Gracenote, George Howell's three city cafes, and a North End coffee shop on Salem Street since 1932.
  • Cambridge: Broadsheet near Harvard Yard, Barismo on Broadway, and the city where The Coffee Connection began.
  • Lowell: Brew'd Awakening downtown, Tiny Arms, which started in the city, and the roasters in the towns around it.

Massachusetts coffee history, in dates

Coffee in Massachusetts has a long record. The Boston page tells the story of the Boston Coffee Party of 1777, and the Cambridge page covers The Coffee Connection. The roasters working now have their own dates, taken from their own pages:

  • 1986: Equal Exchange is founded; it is headquartered in West Bridgewater today.
  • 1989: Indigo Coffee Roasters, Northampton.
  • 1990: Kathy Lytle and Curtis Rich sell their first drink on the Peaks Island ferry dock in Maine, the start of Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters.
  • 1993: Dean's Beans in Orange, and Barrington in the Berkshires.
  • 1994: Armeno Coffee Roasters opens in the Northborough mill.
  • 1997: Red Barn starts in a Hopkinton backyard barn.
  • 2004: George Howell Coffee begins roasting in Acton.
  • 2005: Jaho opens as a single cafe in Salem.
  • 2006: Esselon opens in Hadley.
  • 2008: Speedwell is founded in Plymouth.
  • 2015: Snowy Owl opens on Cape Cod.
  • 2017: Broadsheet is founded in Cambridge.
  • 2020: Aero opens in Northborough, in June.
  • 2023: Dean's Beans becomes fully worker-owned.

Why buy from a Massachusetts roaster

A bag from a Massachusetts roaster pays wages in a Massachusetts town. Dean's Beans is owned by the people who roast and ship its coffee in Orange. Aero plans to hand ownership to its lead employees. Mike Shea's supports the library and the police and fire departments in Bridgewater. Money spent with them stays close to home, and the coffee travels a shorter way to your cup.

That is the reason Bay State Coffee Club exists: every box is a bag from a different Massachusetts roaster, roasted to order and shipped in the roaster's own bag. The longer argument is on why Massachusetts roasters matter, and the details are on how it works.

Every region and city page

73 roasters in 59 towns, each on one region page, and a city page for the larger roasting towns (counted 2026-09-27).

Regions

Cities

Massachusetts coffee questions

How many coffee roasters are there in Massachusetts?

The Roast Local directory lists 110 coffee roasters in Massachusetts, pulled September 2026. The directory keeps adding roasters, so check it for the current number.

Which Massachusetts coffee roasters are worker-owned?

Dean's Beans in Orange has been 100 percent worker-owned since 2023, and Equal Exchange, headquartered in West Bridgewater, is a worker cooperative where each worker-owner has one vote.

Which Massachusetts roasteries can you visit?

Barrington in Lee welcomes drop-in visitors to watch production through its reception windows, Armeno's mill shop in Northborough is open to the public, Acoustic Java in Worcester holds a free tasting every Friday at 10 a.m., and Speedwell in Plymouth gives roastery tours. All pulled September 2026.

Where is coffee roasted on Cape Cod?

Snowy Owl roasts at its cafe on Route 6A in Sandwich, and Three Fins roasts at its coffeehouse on Main Street in West Dennis. Roast Local lists more roasters in Mashpee, Woods Hole, Eastham, Edgartown, Chilmark and Nantucket.

Sources

Updated September 2026.

By Joe McRose, Bay State Coffee Club. Updated .