Dawson Taylor Coffee Roasters is just what our name implies: a coffee roasting company. But what does that mean?

There are two primary categories of coffee shops. The first are coffee roasters with cafes attached. At these cafes, they both make beverages for customers and roast green coffee beans. Roasting means they import green coffee from other companies and then roast it themselves to choose the flavor profiles they like. Cafes attached to roasters have the freshest beans and the freedom to choose roast profiles they believe their customers will like.

The other category of coffee shops produce beverages for customers but purchase their beans from a roaster. Often small cafes or grassroots cafes handle their coffee this way. It means they have the freedom to choose coffee from whichever roaster they like, which may be someone local or from a national company. This means the outsource the work of roasting to someone else, and their product is not quite as fresh as a roaster-affiliated café. That said, they might be able to source coffee from multiple roasters, which can provide them with a fun rotating lineup to explore.

At Dawson Taylor, at our heart we are a coffee roasting company who believes in crafting quality roasted coffee. Our cafes are a place for us to showcase the beautiful beans we roast. We also provide coffee to a number of smaller cafes—like Mountain Timber Coffee and Goldy’s Corner—along with restaurants like The Griddle and The Riverside.

Some bakeries prepare all their goods in house, from scratch. That’s like a roaster with an attached café. Other bakeries purchase products from a wholesaler and then sell them at their store. That’s like a stand-alone café selling another roaster’s product.

We love being a roaster with cafes because it allows us to both prepare the green coffee to our liking, and to watch as it’s brewed and lovingly made into lattes and pour overs. We get to see the beans go from green seeds to a hot cup of coffee, and it never ceases to feel like magic.

Stop into our roasting facility on Lusk Street on a weekday, and you can see the roasters in action!