Colorado second in nation in coffee consumption as local roasters continue to percolate progress
With August and National Coffee Month both winding down like the last satisfying gurgles of your favorite coffeemaker, Colorado is riding a mile high on the fresh-roasted aroma of its second-in-the-nation coffee habit and the success of local roasters like Denver-based Boyer’s Coffee and Huckleberry Roasters.
That’s right, Colorado and its endless sunshine outpaces the cloudy, rain-soaked environs of the Emerald City of Seattle and surrounding Washington State in per-capita coffee consumption, according to 360 Magazine, at 852 million cups of java per year – just behind equally soggy Oregon (where a cup of joe is prerequisite to just getting out of bed in the morning).
What makes Colorado such a national leader? It’s all about the altitude, according to one local coffee expert.
“One of the really cool things about Denver, and this just isn’t Boyer’s, is that we kind of get to do something special at altitude,” Boyer’s spokesperson Manuela Mishler said in a phone interview. “Because we are at altitude, our water boils a little bit quicker, and … it actually really helps us in coffee roasting where we are able to get to that ideal temperature quicker within the roast, which actually gives Colorado coffee a very signature smooth taste.”
Another big boost for Boyer’s, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary in Denver this October, has been a partnership dating back more than a decade with Colorado Target stores featuring local roasters during National Coffee Month. New “Locally Roasted” signage for both Boyer’s and Huckleberry Roasters has greeted coffee consumers at Target this month.
“To get that visibility in a Target store, having them help support us with ‘Locally Roasted’ and any other programs that they have within the community, is so beneficial to the health of our brand and just really being able to grow,” Mishler said.
Family-owned Boyer’s is also well-positioned because of its relatively new (2021) roasting facility at 55th and Washington in Denver, making it the only roaster that delivers directly to Target shelves for fresher bags of beans. And every purchase supports Boyer’s School-to-Coffee program, which funds school construction in Honduras and Guatemala.
Mishler said Boyer’s sources much of its coffee from those two Central American countries, but also buys coffee beans from Columbia, Mexico, Brazil, Costa Rica, Peru, Sumatra and Ethiopia. Asked about the impacts of U.S. tariffs on Boyer’s and other Colorado coffee companies, Mishler said there are many factors impacting the “micro economy” of coffee pricing these days.
“So, it’s a really big thing right now in the coffee world to really see what the prices are doing,” Mishler said. “Weather has a huge effect on the crop itself, and, yes, we have seen that we are currently dealing with tariffs. Most of the coffee that we consume in the United States is imported and is being affected by the tariffs right now.”
Also featured in Target’s “Locally Roasted” program is another Denver favorite, Huckleberry Roasters, which is known for small-batch roasting and strong relationships with coffee producers around the world.
All Colorado roasters have a built-in height advantage over coastal coffee-consuming competitors, Mishler said, simply because of the quicker boil time with less oxygen at a mile high or higher.
“We’re not roasting as long so you get more of that smooth flavor and the taste of the bean from origin,” Mishler said. “Coffee is very similar to wine where wherever the grapes are grown, you can taste some of the pepper, some of the fruit notes in the wine itself. Each different origin picks up different flavors from the soil, the climate, and it’s very distinct to that area. What we are able to do at altitude, because we’re not roasting the beans as long, we’re able to stay more true to those flavors, which gives you more of those undertones in the coffee.”
And Mishler is a proponent of buying whole beans unless you intend to drink a bag of ground beans right away.
“What gets trapped inside the whole bean itself are different gases and different elements that actually help the coffee brew better,” Mishler said. “So when you’re grinding it right before you’re brewing it … those different chemical reactions are happening as you’re brewing it to really extract the best flavor. So, we do recommend that you do grind it to order.”
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