Chicago · United States

Halfwit Coffee Roasters

Halfwit Coffee Roasters is one of 4 Chicago roasters tracked on day9, in Illinois.

Since 2012 · Travis Schaffner

Overview

Halfwit was launched in 2012 as the in-house roasting arm of Travis Schaffner's Wormhole Coffee — a Wicker Park cafe that opened in June 2010 and is itself best known for the working DeLorean parked inside it. The roastery initially shared space and staff with Gaslight Coffee Roasters, then in 2018 merged operations with Dan Weiss's Dollop Coffee Co. chain, taking over a 7,000 sq ft warehouse on Diversey to roast for both brands plus Wormhole and Fritz Pastry.

Known for

In-house roastery for The Wormhole (Wicker Park's Back to the Future-themed cafe)
2018 merger with Dollop Coffee Co. — joint Diversey roastery
Six-month barista training program before bar shifts
Triforce Espresso Blend and Moonbat Blend
Cold-War-themed cafe and roastery aesthetic

Why it matters

Halfwit has done two unusual things for a Chicago specialty roaster: held back from chasing growth as a defining metric, and merged operations with Dollop in 2018 to combine retail-cafe footprint with roasting — a structural model closer to the Onyx/Cuvée vertical-cafe approach than to most independent Chicago roasters.

Production

roastery location: 4200 W Diversey, Chicago, IL (7,000 sq ft warehouse, since 2018 Dollop merger; original roastery was 3431 W. Fullerton Ave., Logan Square)

Recognitions

Roasts for The Wormhole (Wicker Park), Dollop Coffee Co., Fritz Pastry

Sources

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