At a glance
- Roasts inActon, MA
- Founded2004
- Founded byGeorge Howell
- CafesBoston and Newton
- VisitorsOpen to the public
George Howell Coffee is one of the beloved local roasters we follow in Massachusetts: an independent roaster based in Acton, founded in 2004. Here is what their own pages and public sources say about them, in our words.
Their story
George Howell ran The Coffee Connection in Massachusetts from 1974 to 1994, growing it to 24 company-owned stores across the Northeast before selling it to Starbucks in 1994. In 1996 the Specialty Coffee Association of America gave him its Lifetime Achievement Award for raising quality standards in specialty coffee. After the sale he worked on economic sustainability models for coffee farmers with the United Nations and the International Coffee Organization in 1997, work that led to the founding of the Cup of Excellence program in 1999, the first international competition and internet auction for estate coffees.
He started George Howell Coffee in 2004, a decade after the Coffee Connection sale, opening the roastery in Acton, about 45 minutes from downtown Boston. The company focuses on single estate coffees. The company says it buys under a direct trade policy, pays well above Fair Trade prices on a sliding scale tied to quality, and visits the farms it buys from. George and his daughter Jenny travel to farms to keep those relationships going. It freezes green coffee or stores it in GrainPro bags to hold the beans at peak freshness, and says it was the first roaster to vacuum pack green coffee. It also financed the Extract MoJo refractometer and software system used by baristas to measure extraction.
The first cafe under the George Howell name opened in Newtonville in February 2012, followed by a Boston Public Market stall in August 2015 and a flagship cafe in The Godfrey Hotel in Downtown Crossing in June 2016. The company marked George's 50 years in coffee with an anniversary page written by his daughter, who has worked alongside him for more than 20 years.
What they roast
Roast levels run light, medium and dark. House blends include Alchemy Espresso and Cold Brew Blend. Single origins on the list when we checked: Worka Chelbessa, Ethiopia, Hamasho Borena, Ethiopia, Gesha Village Estate lots, Ethiopia, Mamuto AA, AB and Peaberry, Kenya, Kanzu, Rwanda, Dota, Costa Rica, La Minita, Costa Rica, Daterra Sundrop, Brazil, El Meson, Colombia, Montecarlos, El Salvador, El Injerto Red Pacamara, Guatemala, Tenejapa, Mexico, Llaqta Pata, Peru, Yemen microlots such as Bani Murrah and Hejrat Al Ain and Kerehaklu Estate, India. Alchemy Espresso is described as a classic medium-dark espresso blending coffees from South America, Central America and Africa. Decaf Cadefihuila from a Huila, Colombia cooperative of about 3,500 small growers, decaffeinated in Colombia with ethyl acetate from sugarcane. Offered in two roast levels. Offerings change with the seasons, so this is what their own pages listed on 2026-09-27.
Where to drink it
The Acton roastery says visitors are welcome to stop by and pick up a fresh bag. Coffee bars run in Boston and Newtonville.
- George Howell Coffee at The Godfrey Hotel: 505 Washington Street, Boston
- George Howell Coffee, Boston Public Market: 100 Hanover Street, Boston
- George Howell Coffee, Newbury Street: 400 Newbury Street, Boston
- George Howell Coffee, Newtonville: 311 Walnut Street, Newton
Address
312 School Street, Acton, MA 01720
Roastery.
Why buying from George Howell Coffee matters here
The roastery has been in Acton since 2004, where the team roasts, cups, stores green coffee and fills orders. Its Boston Public Market stall sits among 35 plus New England food producers in a year-round indoor market at Haymarket. The Newtonville cafe serves pastry from Seven Stars Bakery, and the Godfrey Hotel flagship in Downtown Crossing is open every day of the year and hosts weekly public classes.
Every bag bought from a Acton roaster pays roasting and cafe wages in Massachusetts, and the coffee reaches you days after roasting instead of months. That is the reason the club exists. Why local roasters matter.
About this listing
Listed as a local favorite. A listing does not mean George Howell Coffee is part of the club.
Are you George Howell Coffee? Email roasters@baystatecoffeeclub.com to correct or remove this page.
More Massachusetts roasters
- Gracenote Coffee, Boston
- Broadsheet Coffee Roasters, Cambridge
- Shelburne Falls Coffee Roasters, Greenfield