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Jersey City · United States

Modcup Coffee Co.

Since 2013 · Travas Clifton, Justin Hicks

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Overview

Modcup was started in 2013 by Travas Clifton — a former art dealer to yacht owners and cruise lines who first encountered specialty coffee in Toronto — and Justin Hicks, whom he met at a Willem Boot course in San Francisco. The pair began with a hot dog cart by the Hudson River, graduated to a converted 1972 Citroën H bread truck, and opened their first brick-and-mortar cafe in Jersey City Heights in early 2014, building the Garden State's most decorated specialty coffee operation.

Known for

  • New Jersey's flagship specialty coffee roastery — bread-truck-to-Loring story
  • Ranked #12 'Best Coffee in the World' by Coffee Review
  • Light, delicate roast profile across mostly single-origin and limited releases
  • 1972 Citroën H Van mobile coffee unit, now-iconic in Jersey City
  • Distribution into NJ, NY, California, and Seoul (South Korea)

Why it matters

Modcup gave New Jersey a third-wave roaster of its own at a moment when serious coffee in the metro region still meant a PATH ride into Manhattan, and its bread-truck-to-Loring trajectory has become a textbook for how a regional specialty brand grows without losing its handmade aesthetic.

Production

destoning
true
head roaster
Travas Clifton (founder)
color sorting
null
roaster machine
35kg Loring (current downtown roastery cafe, 2026); previously airflow-modified Ambex YM-15
filter equipment
Mazzer grinders, Kyoto-style slow-drip tower, Hario pour-over devices, nitrogen cold brew keg
cupping frequency
Regular
roastery location
Jersey City, NJ
espresso equipment
La Marzocco Linea Classic
annual volume tonnes
null

Café

479 Palisade Ave, Jersey City, NJ 07307 (flagship Heights cafe); additional Jersey City locations including a downtown roastery cafe

Recognitions

  • Coffee Review Best Coffee in the World — #12

Sources

More roasters