Our standards
How we choose coffees
Every coffee on Roasterland meets the same five rules. Here they are.
The rules
What every coffee has in common
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Independent US roasters
Every coffee is roasted in the United States by an independent, small-batch roaster. No national chains.
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Single origin, traceable
Each coffee is traceable at least to its country and region, and to the farm or producer when the roaster names them. No blends of unknown origin.
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Rare origins first
We look hardest for places that rarely reach US shelves — Yemen, Hawaiʻi, Yunnan, Myanmar, Timor-Leste and others — and list them first.
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Roasted to order
We only list roasters who roast to order and ship within a few days of roasting.
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Just coffee
Whole bean or ground coffee only. No flavored coffee, no pods, no capsules.
What “rare origin” means
Places that grow great coffee, in small amounts.
A rare origin is a country or region whose coffee seldom reaches the US: because it grows very little for export, because it is hard to get out, or because few roasters buy it.
Yemen is one of the oldest coffee origins in the world but exports very little. Hawaiʻi is one of the few places in the United States where coffee is grown commercially. Yunnan, Myanmar and Timor-Leste are newer to specialty coffee and still rare in American roasteries.
We mark these coffees Rare and list them first.
How we choose roasters
Small, independent and proud of their sourcing.
We look for roasters who say where their coffee comes from, roast in small batches and publish their roast days. Many are run by one or two people.
Each roaster has a page with where they roast, the origins they buy and every coffee we list from them.
Have a question?
Ask us about any coffee, origin or roaster.
We reply within one business day.