Edible Aspen
Specialty Coffee Roasters in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley
Photo by Shellay Glatz
An Aspen leaf adorns the foam of a latte at The Blend Coffee Company in Carbondale. Barista Shellay Glatz has been known to pour trees, teddy bears, and even portraits of customers into her drinks.
Photo by Corie Spruill
John Rose is the godfather of Roaring Fork Valley coffee roasting, a self-taught craftsman who learned the trade while working for the now-defunct Aspen Coffee Company and joined ink! Coffee in 1998. He’s roasted every single pound of ink! Coffee since. Over the years, Rose has made coffee pilgrimages to Africa, Costa Rica and Brazil. “My biggest passion is spending time with the families down there,” he says.
Photo by Corie Spruill
Jeff Hollenbaugh co-founded the Glenwood Springs–based Defiant Bean Roasters with his brother Brian five years ago, and recently the brothers have also brought on their dad, Gary, to help with bagging, labeling and other shop chores. The company started as an experiment with some green coffee beans and a kitchen skillet, but Defiant Coffee is now for sale at several Colorado Whole Foods Markets and in coffee shops throughout the Valley.
Photo by Corie Spruill
Wade Newsom, owner of The Blend Coffee Company in Carbondale, tends to several cups of coffee roasted by the Denver-based Novo Coffee. Newsom features a wide range of Novo’s specialty coffees in his shop, and strives to brew them in a way that highlights their subtle flavors. “When I was starting my shop, a lot of roasters were kind of pushy, telling me I should use their beans,” he recalls. “Novo invited me to Denver, just to see if we got along. I liked that approach.”
Photo by Corie Spruill
Jessica and Wade Droegemeier took over the Carbondale-based Back Alley Coffee from Jessica’s dad, Steve, in 2011. The couple roasts two days a week in their Main Street shop using a six-pound machine called the San Franciscan. Between the coffee company, their five kids and Wade’s full-time work as an electrician, the Droegemeiers say they sorely need the coffee they roast.
Photo by Corie Spruill
Heidi Johnson and Craig Fulmer founded the Carbondale-based Rock Canyon Coffee in 2012, shortly after relocating to Carbondale from Boston, where Craig had worked as a financial planner for an insurance company. “I got a small one-pound roaster and started sending batches out to family around the country,” Craig says. “When I got good feedback, I started thinking that maybe I could do this full time!”
Photo by Corie Spruill
Photo by Corie Spruill
Photo by Corie Spruill
Photo by Corie Spruill
