Always on the lookout for great roasters (I generally buy a bag of fresh roasted when I am visiting someplace). So who is your favorite local-ish (not necessarily around the corner, but at least within a reasonable driving distance) roaster?
For me:
Virginia (northern): Cafe Kreyol
Virginia (eastern shore): Eastern Shore Coastal Roasting Company
We're going on a cruise next year from Reykjavik to London, with ports in Alesund, Geiranger, and Bergen. I'll have to keep my eyes out for any of the above. Thanks!
We're from all over the world, here's mine for Bulgaria. The top 5 largest cities are about 4-5 hours away from each other by car so it's all "local".
Varna: Jasmin coffee. Three words: Yirgacheffe blueberry explosion!
Sofia: Martines coffee. They seem to like spicy coffee if that makes sense.
Sofia: Daboff. By fast the most popular in the country with a huge assortment. Too boogie for my tastes and their more affordable coffees didn't exactly make me go wow. BUT, I had a Costa Rican coffee at 20€/200g that smelled of cocoa and chocolate, extremely light bodied, almost like tea so they deserved a mention.
In Scotland that I've tried, Figment in Aberdeen, Glen Lyon in Aberfeldy, Roaring Stagg in Ballater, particularly love their Dark Lochnagar blend done to the second crack, great cup of coffee
I recommended Metropolis. I've never actually had their roasted coffee, but when I was roasting somewhere that did regional exclusives on certain lots they would frequently be the ones with a lot I had but in the Midwest. So I can say for certain they're at least buying really good coffee.
I've never been to Atlanta so I can't comment on the others, but I used to work with one of the East Pole founders back when I was roasting in Phoenix and I only have good things to say.
What a small world! The people at East Pole are super passionate about their coffee. Every time I go, I chat with the staff there and they always ask about my brewing setup, what ratios of coffee to water I’m using, etc. You can tell they all love what they do.
We head up via the Eastern Shore to Annapolis with our Motorhome all the time. I noticed they have two locations in Annapolis, and we'll be there for Labor Day Weekend - so I will definitely check them out!