Roasters that have lasted, and why
Equal Exchange, headquartered in West Bridgewater, was founded in 1986. Indigo in Northampton dates from 1989, Shelburne Falls Coffee from 1990, Dean's Beans in Orange and Barrington in Lee from 1993, Armeno in Northborough from 1994, Red Barn from 1997, when it started in an actual barn in a Hopkinton backyard. George Howell ran The Coffee Connection here from 1974 to 1994 and has roasted in Acton since 2004.
None of those businesses lasted by accident. They lasted because people in Massachusetts kept buying the bag. The Roast Local directory lists 102 independent roasters in the state, and every one of them is one purchase at a time away from the same story or the opposite one.
Where the wages go
Shelburne Falls Coffee runs six cafes across Western Massachusetts, from the Mohawk Trail to Greenfield, Hadley, Northampton, Easthampton and East Longmeadow, and its coffee is poured by wholesale accounts in more than 20 towns. Snowy Owl's team page lists managers for green buying, roasting, a bakery, wholesale and each of its three Cape Cod locations. Red Barn in Upton says it is hiring as it grows. Aero in Northborough plans to pass ownership to its lead employees so the business stays in local hands.
Those are Massachusetts paychecks. Three Fins in West Dennis buys the pastries it does not bake from local bakers and home chefs. Broadsheet in Cambridge gets its croissants from Praline down the road. A roaster with local suppliers keeps a second business open with the same purchase.
Fresher coffee, shorter trip
Coffee is best in the weeks after it is roasted. A bag roasted in Acton or Peabody and mailed to Worcester or the Cape arrives in days. A bag from a national brand may have waited in a distribution center before the truck. The club's first promise, roasted and shipped within 3 days, is written so the bag in your box is as fresh as one bought over the counter at the roastery.
Red Barn lets local customers pick up at the roastery on Walker Drive in Upton. Aero roasts, bakes and serves at one Main Street address in Northborough. Freshness is the local roaster's natural advantage, and buying from them is how you get it.
You know whose coffee it is
Speedwell in Plymouth gives behind-the-scenes roastery tours and runs a monthly espresso class for four students. Atomic hosts tours, tastings and barista workshops at its Peabody roastery. The Acton roastery of George Howell Coffee says visitors are welcome to stop by and pick up a fresh bag. Mike Shea's coffee bar at its Bridgewater roastery pitches itself as a spot for families and neighbors.
When the roaster has a door, the bag has an answer. George Howell Coffee says it buys under a direct trade policy and visits the farms it buys from. Equal Exchange is a worker cooperative built around fair trade. Ask a national brand who grew the coffee and you get a marketing page. Ask a local roaster and you get a person.
What they put back into their towns
Mike Shea's supports the Bridgewater Library, the Bridgewater police and fire departments and the Bridgewater-Raynham Educational Foundation, and gives a discount to active and retired military, police, firefighters and EMTs. Broadsheet donates surplus coffee to local charities including homeless shelters. Snowy Owl's Night Owl cafe in Brewster hosts live music, paint nights and tastings, and the company takes donation requests from local groups.
Atomic has made its Witch City Halloween coffee with Salem artist Georgia Wrenn every fall for seven years, and stocks it in shops around Salem through October. George Howell's Boston Public Market stall sits among 35 plus New England food producers. Each of these depends on Massachusetts people buying the coffee. The giving is what a roaster does with a good year.
How the club fits in
Bay State Coffee Club sends a 12 oz bag from a different independent Massachusetts roaster in every box, roasted to order and shipped in the roaster's own bag with our packing slip: the roaster, their shop, their story and what to taste for. Each roaster is paid for the coffee they roast, and over a year you meet a dozen of them from the Berkshires to the Cape.
The roasters shown on this site are listed because we like them, not as partners. If one becomes a favorite, buy the next bag from them directly.
Start with the roasters near you
Every Massachusetts roaster we follow has its own page: story, coffees, cafes and address. Boston, Cambridge, Acton, Peabody, Salem, Worcester, Northborough, Upton, Dedham, Bridgewater, West Bridgewater, Plymouth, Sandwich, West Dennis, Greenfield, Northampton, Hadley, Orange and Lee are all on the Massachusetts roasters list.