We love sharing great coffee with every one of you at home, and that's only possible by partnering with equally great coffee roasters. Trade brings together top, independent roasters from small towns across the USA—places you’d love if you lived nearby—and curates the best of the best for folks everywhere. 

Today we're chatting with the team at Utopian, the newest roaster on our roster. 

Ready to explore Utopian’s coffee? Jump in here.

At Trade, we’re all about origin stories. How did Utopian begin?

Utopian Coffee was started in 2006 by two cousins, one a craft coffee roaster and the other, a backpacker who fell in love with coffee-producing countries, cultures, and people. There were a lot of conversations around the dinner table and between late-night Mario Kart battles, but ultimately with $750 and a dream to use coffee to make the world better, what began as a side hustle has now developed into a crew of passionate folks committed to excellence in quality and sustainability. Traveling around the globe to build meaningful relationships and focus on high-impact social projects, Utopian is committed to using specialty coffee to make life better for producers, employees, and customers, and our community.

What’s your philosophy when it comes to sourcing and roasting coffee?

Adam (Roaster): "Our sourcing philosophy is simple, but not easy: Do good. Buy good coffee from farmers positively contributing in their own communities. Pay as much as we can, and make sure our purchases are helping to better the environment, both socially and ecologically. When it comes to roasting, we keep it as simple as possible. Simplicity creates repeatability and consistency."

Your visual identity really stands out. What inspired the branding and design behind Utopian?

Chloe (Customer Experience Rep): "The design actually comes from Brendon’s experience visiting a coffee farm in Peru. He noticed how alive the farm was, hummingbirds fluttering, butterflies drifting through, coffee blossoms and cherries growing side by side. Everything felt connected and in harmony, and that’s exactly what a healthy coffee farm should look like. The hummingbird on our bag is a way to invite people into that ecosystem, to imagine themselves there and see coffee as part of something bigger than just what’s in the cup."

We know the people who grow coffee are at the heart of what you do. How do they show up in your daily operations or long-term mission?

Brendon (Founder): "It can be difficult in the day-to-day to remember and prioritize the “why” behind what you do as a company. One of the ways we keep this front of mind for us is to regularly talk about the producers we’re working with, making sure that our team knows who the people are that are contributing to the great product we get to drink. So whether referencing Alva and how her harvest is going in Oaxaca, MX or checking in with Getu in Ethiopia to see how his farmer partners are doing to be able to report back, we are engaging in conversations to help keep the most important things top of mind. 

In terms of the long-term mission, we’re constantly trying to better understand what will make the most improvement and what farmer partners want from a partnership with Utopian. A lot of what we’ve discerned from being on the ground meeting with producers around the world is that they want consistency and commitment, as that will bring the most stability. And that also creates alignment, as that’s exactly what we need from them as well. So, we’re finding ways to truly have partnership, where we can do more together than we could alone and that is super exciting!"

Looking ahead, what’s exciting you most this year—new coffees, projects, collaborations, or goals?

Scott (Founder): "We've got a great roasting and fulfillment facility, a team of incredibly talented and capable people, and a clear vision for how we want to pursue our mission of making life better for farmers, coworkers, customers, and our community. I think I'm most excited about the opportunities we have to listen and learn about ways we can be better partners to producers, then rapidly apply those lessons to our business."

Nick (Roaster): "We've got such a great setup here at Utopian - the team, the relationships, the facilities, the vision - that I'm stoked to see how we spread our wings more than anything. We've got thought-out plans, of course, but running into obstacles is almost tantalizing to me. I'm especially excited for developing more around Regenerative Organic certified coffees, introducing Utopian Coffee to new people, and hosting education and events in our brand new swanky coffee lab."

Founder / Team Q&A

What are three things you love most about running a roasting business?

Scott: 

1. I get to expect (and react on the fly to) the unexpected. Things never get dull around here, and there are always unique problems to solve!

2. Being wise with resources is one of our core values, and I love that I have the opportunity and mandate to prototype low cost solutions MacGyver-style.

3. Coffee, as a beverage and a vehicle for caffeine, meets very basic human needs. That's important and beautiful in and of itself, but then there's a whole additional dimension of coffee where it can be a part of experiences much further up the hierarchy of needs. It can be the basis and fuel for conversations, connections, creativity, self-reflection, and inspiration. It's humbling and exciting for our daily work to be the creation of a product with such depth and breadth.

Brendon:

1. Visiting coffee producers and getting to know them and their families, seeing and experiencing (just a small piece of!) the incredible work that is done to help bring quality coffee to our roastery.

2. Getting to be alongside a diverse group of co-workers who care deeply about the product and process; Specifically the best part is when we carve out some time to go have fun together (duck pin bowling, afterwork snacks/drinks, etc) and just get to know one another on a personal level.

3. Trying to find new and creative ways to engage customers and bring them coffees that will allow them to better understand the coffee story all the way back to its origin.

We have to ask: how do you make coffee at home?

Nick: "I have a little Maxim "espresso+cappucinno" maker from the late 70's that I can trick into pulling some pretty decent 8-9TDS% shots, but for me it's usually immersion for cold brew! Heretical to a lot of the zeitgeist, I know I know, and I have a whole cadre of different manual drippers and things gathering dust to boot. I set small batches dosed between 60-80 grams in old glass pepperoncini jars anywhere from 1:6 to 1:11 ratios by mass, usually one a night after dinner with different coffees or playing with extraction variables, and then pour it through a paper chemex filter around 5am. It actually ends up being pretty minimal effort and allows me to have a plethora of options at my fingertips; I usually end up with 7 or 8 jars between my own fridge and the breakroom at Utopian."

Scott: "I brew with a french press if my wife or others will also be drinking or on an Aeropress if it's just for me!"

Adam: "Kalitta 185 pour over using filtered water for just myself. I'll bust out my large french press if I have friends over."

Chloe: "Most mornings I make a pour-over, it’s my favorite way to taste the details of what we roast. But I’ll switch it up with French press when I’m in the mood for something different. At the end of the day, I think the best way to make coffee at home is whatever makes you excited to drink it."

Brendon: "If it’s just me and my wife drinking, we’ll use a Palmpress (by Corkcicle) and if it’s a larger group, we use our Technivorm Moccamaster."

Explore Utopian’s coffee here.