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Wilmington · United States

Brandywine Coffee Roasters

Since 2015 · Alisa Morkides

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Overview

Brandywine Coffee Roasters was founded in 2015 by Alisa Morkides as the dedicated roastery arm of Brew HaHa!, the nine-store northern Delaware cafe chain she had been building since the early 1990s after two decades of buying coffee from out-of-state suppliers. Centered on a Loring S15 Falcon at the Trolley Square Brew HaHa, the operation produces 4,000–7,000 pounds a week, ships nationally, and packages each release in screen-printed bags hand-illustrated by local Delaware artist Todd Purse.

Known for

  • Delaware's first dedicated specialty roastery (2015), supplying the Brew HaHa! chain Morkides has run since the early 1990s
  • Loring S15 Falcon production with a light-leaning roast profile
  • Hand screen-printed retail bags illustrated by Delaware artist Todd Purse
  • Best Coffee in Delaware — Food & Wine 'Best Coffee in Every State'
  • Sprudgie Award for Best Design/Packaging (2017)

Why it matters

Brandywine showed that a regional cafe operator could turn 20 years of accumulated supplier knowledge into a genuine specialty roastery rather than another house-blend program — and packaged it with enough graphic-design ambition to win Sprudgie design awards out of Wilmington.

Production

destoning
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head roaster
Vic Scutari (Head of Coffee)
color sorting
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roaster machine
Loring S15 Falcon (Smart Roaster, ~80% less natural gas than traditional drum)
filter equipment
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cupping frequency
Hundreds of coffees cupped per year
roastery location
Wilmington, Delaware (Trolley Square Brew HaHa)
espresso equipment
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annual volume tonnes
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Café

Sister-company Brew HaHa! operates 9-10 cafes across northern Delaware that all serve Brandywine coffee

Recognitions

  • Best Coffee in Every State (Delaware) — Food & Wine
  • Sprudgie Award — Best Design/Packaging (2017)

Sources

More roasters