According to Bill Walsh (Pure Coffee Blog), Jordan Michelman (Sprudge.com), Brian Jones (Dear Coffee I Love You), Kelly Stewart (Roast Magazine), Chris Cusack (Down House), Sean Henry (Houndstooth), Sarah Allen (Barista Magazine), Joshua McNeilly (Black Black Coffee), and Greg Martin (Urban Bean).

The number one roaster in the nation is....

Counter Culture.

So there you go.

http://www.thrillist.com/drink/nation/b ... in-america

One of the better lists that I have seen, no roasters on there that you truly scratch your head and think, "how much did you pay to get on this list?"

This might actually get me to try MadCap since I have not bothered yet.

More and more I'm agreeing with this assessment, i.e., Counter Culture as the best out there right now. I am consistently amazed at how easy their coffees are to prepare and how good they are both at home and at their wholesale client locations.

I think these lists are just buzz ratings, personally. So if you're a passionate roaster putting out a high quality product, but aren't able to promote the hell out of your product like the massive marketing wing of some of these enormous companies, then you're not even showing up on the radar.

And Four Barrel making this list? Proves my point perfectly. Their coffee is mediocre at best.

Seems like the judges are looking at many factors other than the quality of the product itself...retail stores, education programs, ecological awareness, and so forth. 'Twould be interesting to see a ranking of roasters based on the beans, the whole beans, and nothing but the beans!

TomC wrote: Four Barrel making this list? Proves my point perfectly. Their coffee is mediocre at best.

I hear that. I am much more of a negative person and would really appreciate a list of the most over hyped and awful roasters out there.

TomC wrote:I think these lists are just buzz ratings, personally.

+1

There's probably about 30 to 50 very serious roasters in the US; and in terms of quality, any top ten list will be a fairly random selection. Short term factors like current buzz, sourcing a wonder coffee, etc will have as much or more influence than the long term fundamentals.

TomC wrote:... but aren't able to promote the hell out of your product like the massive marketing wing of some of these enormous companies ...

We need to keep in mind that the largest of these companies is still pretty small, and that none of their annual marketing budgets would support a single day of advertising by the major roasters.

TomC wrote:And Four Barrel making this list? Proves my point perfectly. Their coffee is mediocre at best.

Really?? I've only been a handful of times, and bought a bag or two, but "mediocre"?

Coffee is subjective; you can't expect everyone to agree. I don't see the point in getting offended when one's favorite doesn't make the cut or when something they don't fancy does make it. These kinds of lists are (sometimes) fun, but really, shouldn't be taken too seriously.

another_jim wrote:+1

There's probably about 30 to 50 very serious roasters in the US; and in terms of quality, any top ten list will be a fairly random selection. Short term factors like current buzz, sourcing a wonder coffee, etc will have as much or more influence than the long term fundamentals.

I'm sure if someone like George Howell glanced at this list, he wouldn't even blink. What then, is the relevance of such a list? 3rd wave coffee is like the entertainment industry i.e. "How many award shows can we make?"

jptvelo wrote:Really?? I've only been a handful of times, and bought a bag or two, but "mediocre"?

Coffee is subjective; you can't expect everyone to agree. I don't see the point in getting offended when one's favorite doesn't make the cut or when something they don't fancy does make it. These kinds of lists are (sometimes) fun, but really, shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Really.

The only thing worse than Friendo Blendo (from Four Barrel) is pretty much anything from Sightglass. I've had only 6 - 8 or so, different roasts from Four Barrel, served as drip, and have never thought they were much to get excited about. Sightglass isn't even worth the drive. These companies excel on having a cafe full of Twitter friendly youth, sipping tepid latte's while blogging for half the day.

I think all of this helps elevate the cafe concept of being a multi-roaster source. The dynamic of having a rotating assortment of just the great roasts out there, although expensive and difficult to manage, certainly is rewarding for us.

I'll bang on about this by talking about another roaster I've only recently learned about. Highwire Coffee Roasters in the east bay, probably wouldn't make a blip on any of these website's radar. However, between the walls of that roaster is 3 people with a combined 70+ years in fine coffee, with resumes that are just staggering. They narrow their focus to only a small selection of coffees, many from their self described favorite country of origin, Guatemala. Their sourcing, farm support, training, education, etc probably surpasses many of the companies listed in the article. Yet they cup an astronomical amount of coffees to narrow down what they're going to offer. They do all the same things as many if not all these roasters listed in the article, and likely, do it better.