Denver · United States
Huckleberry Roasters
Huckleberry Roasters roasts in Denver, Colorado.
Since 2011 · Koan Goedman, Mark Mann
Overview
Huckleberry was founded in Denver in 2011 by Koan Goedman and Mark Mann, who met as customer and barista at a Denver coffee shop and bonded over The Shins, Sigur Rós, and a few beers. The first roasts came out of a backyard garage next to a chicken coop. The operation moved from Larimer Street to a Sunnyside flagship roastery-cafe at 4301 Pecos Street with a separate Coffee Workshop training space, and now distributes wholesale to cafes in Chicago, San Francisco, Portland and Nashville. Mark Mann eventually exited; current ownership is Koan Goedman and Jason Farrar. Goedman also co-owns the Bar Fausto cocktail bar across town.
Known for
- Founded 2011 by Koan Goedman and Mark Mann in a Denver backyard garage next to a chicken coop
- Phantom Limb (fruit-forward) and Blue Orchid blends are flagships
- Direct relationship with APROCAFE producers near Lake Atitlán, Guatemala
- Sunnyside flagship at Pecos Street with attached Coffee Workshop training space
- Wholesale distribution to cafes in Chicago, San Francisco, Portland and Nashville
Why it matters
Huckleberry is the Denver specialty operator that built a national reputation without trying to look like a Portland or San Francisco transplant. The operating philosophy — bike-to-work incentives, a 10-employee minimum tenure, in-house barista certification, the Coffee Workshop pop-up programming — is a small-business labor model worth studying, and the wholesale roster (Chicago, San Francisco, Portland, Nashville) shows the coffee earns the distribution.
Production
- head roaster
- Koan Goedman
- roastery location
- Sunnyside, Denver, CO
Café
4301 Pecos Street, Denver, CO 80211