Everyone could probably concur that the PNW's love affair with coffee started with the opening of the first Starbucks in Seattle in 1971 in Pike Place Market. But come to find out, Seattle's first commercial roasting operations actually started over 100 years ago. By the 1960s the coffeehouse scene had blossomed and with it a new appreciation for espresso drinks. Even the 1962 Seattle World's Fair boasted its own coffeehouse, the Sleeping Buddha, offering coffee drinks, folk singers and abstract art on display.
As the years rolled by the coffee bug crept its way into Portland and eventually the progressive, bustling burg of Bend and the surrounding area. Over the past several decades, new roasteries have put down roots in Central Oregon and Bend coffee is now becoming almost as famous as Bend beers!
Sisters Coffee Company, founded by Winfield and Joy Durham in 1989, was the first roastery in Central Oregon. They started out in a small wooden cabin roasting 5-pound batches. It would be 20 years before the business expanded beyond roasting. Today, Sisters Coffee Company roasts 500,000 pounds of coffee annually and has three local cafes.
Richard Steffensen and Rhonda Ealy were also pioneers on the local coffee roasting scene. The couple opened Strictly Organic Coffee Company in 1999 and have been a leader in the specialty coffee industry, as a local small business adopting sustainable business practices. Their focus, as their name implies, is roasting 100% organic and fair-trade coffee.
The mid-2000s welcomed local favorites that are still booming, including Thump Genuine Coffee, Backporch Coffee Roasters and Lone Pine Coffee Roasters — roasteries with unique origin stories that have continued to grow and thrive over the years, opening numerous locations, adding baked goods to their offerings and more.
This list continues, with each new year bringing more artisan roasters to town. Still Vibrato is one of the more recent roasters on the local roster, offering a distinctive selection of single origin coffees from around the world. There's also Bohemian Roastery, opened by the Akers family in 2017, which uses the ancient method of wood fire roasting. It's one of only a few roasters in the entire U.S. to roast coffee with hardwoods.
And since we're name-dropping here, there are many other coffee roasters in the area that must be mentioned. Brewed Awakenings, which started in 1989 in Vancouver, Washington, now has locations in Sunriver and Bend. Bend Roasting has been roasting for over two decades now, delivering fresh roasted coffee straight to your door.
There's also Smith Rock Coffee Roasters in Redmond, specializing in small batch roasting. Junction Roastery, located in the historic Patrick Building in Redmond, also promotes itself as a social club, a gathering place to meet up and enjoy a cup of your favorite coffee drink. And that brings us to Megaphone Coffee Co., which refers to itself as a hospitality company rooted in coffee roasting. Its coffee is served in restaurants throughout the area and is available in many local stores.
If you're looking for coffee with a cause, there's Coffee4Kids. Founded by Sean McDonell, C4K is a way to raise money to help fund the Mi Casa International family-run orphanage in El Salvador. And just like many breweries in the area that can trace their roots back to the first breweries in town, McDonell credits Backporch for supporting and helping him before he was able to get his own roaster.
Coffee enthusiasts can also delight in the numerous coffee shops and cafes in the area. While many of the roasters operate their own cafes, there are also independent coffee shops that serve locally roasted coffee and a plethora of espresso drinks, along with their baked goods and other food offerings.
