Coffee in Cambridge
Cambridge coffee roasters have a head start: George Howell opened The Coffee Connection here in 1975, and Broadsheet was founded in the city in 2017 with a cafe near Harvard Yard. The Census puts Cambridge at 122,588 people in its July 2025 estimate, and Roast Local lists two roasters inside the city line with dozens more close by. Bay State Coffee Club sends a bag from a different one of the state's roasters in every box.
Cambridge's coffee story
George Howell founded The Coffee Connection in Cambridge in 1975. Starbucks bought the company in 1994 for $23 million. Howell went on to roast under his own name, and that roaster is one we list today.
Broadsheet Coffee Roasters was founded in Cambridge in 2017. Its cafe is at 100 Kirkland Street, and the roasting happens in Somerville.
Barismo moved into a space on Broadway in Mid-Cambridge in 2012. That room made best-of lists from Eater, Time Out and the Boston Globe Magazine.
Buying from the roasters working here now keeps the roasting jobs and cafe wages in Cambridge and Somerville. More on why that matters.
Roasters in and near Cambridge
We list these as local favorites. A listing does not mean the roaster is part of the club.
- Broadsheet Coffee Roasters, Cambridge. Every coffee is roasted on a Loring S-35 Kestrel, then destoned and color sorted. Bags carry color coded flavor families, and the range runs from very light Nordic style to medium-dark.
- Jaho Coffee Roaster, roasting in Salem, with a Cambridge cafe at Market Central in Central Square.
- George Howell Coffee, Acton. After the Coffee Connection sale, George Howell's work with the United Nations and the International Coffee Organization led to the Cup of Excellence program in 1999, the first international competition and internet auction for estate coffees.
- Fazenda Coffee Roasters, Dedham. Cambridge shoppers find its bags at Pemberton Farms.
Roast Local also lists Barismo Coffee in Cambridge and Yego Coffee next door in Somerville.
Cambridge coffee questions
Where was The Coffee Connection founded?
George Howell founded The Coffee Connection in Cambridge in 1975. Starbucks bought it in 1994 for $23 million.
Which roasters have a cafe in Cambridge?
Broadsheet has its cafe at 100 Kirkland Street and Jaho has one at Market Central in Central Square. Barismo moved into its Broadway space in Mid-Cambridge in 2012.
Where does Broadsheet roast its coffee?
Broadsheet roasts at its own roasting and training facility in Somerville, on a Loring S-35 Kestrel. The Cambridge address on Kirkland Street is the cafe.
How does Broadsheet make its decaf?
Broadsheet's two decafs, a Colombia and a natural process Ethiopia Hambela, are decaffeinated with sugarcane ethyl acetate, the method its own listings name as of September 27, 2026. It notes the Colombia decaf pulls well as espresso.
Where can I buy Fazenda coffee in Cambridge?
Fazenda names Pemberton Farms in Cambridge among the shops that sell its bags.
Getting Massachusetts coffee delivered in Cambridge
The club's roasters sit all over the state, from Salem to Sandwich to Lee, and most have no counter in Cambridge. Each box brings one of them to your door in Cambridge, roasted to order and packed in the roaster's own bag, with our slip naming the roaster and their shop.
It is $16.99 a bag, any roast, every 2 or 4 weeks, and the first bag is free: you pay only the shipping. Skip, pause or cancel online.
- Roasted and shipped within 3 days.
- Free replacement if a bag disappoints.
- A reminder email 3 days before each box.
- Your ratings steer the next bag.
Nearby
- Boston, from Polcari's in the North End to Downtown Crossing.
- Greater Boston, including Somerville and Newton.
- Lowell, on the Merrimack.
Sources
- The Coffee Connection and the Starbucks sale: Wikipedia, George Howell (entrepreneur).
- Population: US Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, July 1, 2025.
- Roasters in Cambridge and Somerville: Roast Local, Barismo Coffee, Roast Local, Broadsheet Coffee Roasters and Roast Local, Yego Coffee, pulled September 27, 2026.
- Barismo's Broadway space and Broadsheet's founding: each company's own story page, read September 27, 2026.
- Broadsheet, Jaho, George Howell Coffee and Fazenda: our roaster profiles, written from each roaster's public pages and checked September 27, 2026.
Updated September 2026.