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Boulder · United States

Boxcar Coffee Roasters

Since 2010 · Vajra Rich, Cara Rich

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Overview

Boxcar was founded in 2010 by husband-and-wife team Vajra and Cara Rich, who had moved from Vashon Island near Seattle to Boulder in 2006 — Cara from a Seattle barista career, Vajra from Songer & Associates' coffee quality lab — and spent four years working for a local wholesale roaster before buying it and rebranding it Boxcar (after the soapbox-derby tradition). The Pearl Street flagship opened in 2011, sharing the space with the Cured cheese-and-wine shop, and the company developed its own high-altitude brewing rig, the Boilermakr, to deal with Boulder's 5,430-foot boiling-point problem.

Known for

  • Boilermakr proprietary high-altitude brewing system
  • Modified vintage Probat drum roasters
  • Pearl Street cafe shared with Cured cheese & wine
  • Kees Van Der Westen espresso machines (recommended to wholesale accounts)
  • Stella house espresso blend

Why it matters

Boxcar is a serious specialty roaster that built its identity around solving for Boulder's altitude — the company stores green coffee in freezers, freeze-dries instant, and re-engineers espresso machines for the Front Range's lower boiling temperatures. It is one of the few American roasters whose technical innovation is a direct response to its geography.

Production

destoning
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head roaster
Charles (Head Roaster and Green Coffee Buyer, in coffee 13+ years; PNW background)
color sorting
null
roaster machine
Modified vintage Probat drum roasters
filter equipment
Boilermakr proprietary high-altitude immersion brewer (boils at 202°F)
cupping frequency
null
roastery location
Boulder, Colorado (dedicated roastery and training lab; production previously inside Pearl Street cafe until 2014)
espresso equipment
Kees Van Der Westen (in both cafes)
annual volume tonnes
null

Café

1825 B Pearl St, Boulder, CO 80302 (flagship + bakery); 637 S. Broadway Suite R, Boulder, CO 80305 (Mesa)

Sources

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