Indianapolis · United States
Tinker Coffee Co.
Tinker Coffee Co. roasts in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Since 2014 · Stephen Hall, Jeff Johnson
Overview
Tinker was founded in early 2014 by brothers-in-law Stephen Hall and Jeff Johnson — Hall a wine industry veteran, Johnson a 10-year IBM technologist — who started in the historic Herron-Morton Place district with a 1991 Probat L-12 and rebuilt the company in 2018 around a Loring S35 Kestrel at 1125 W 16th Street. Eight Indianapolis locations now include the roastery (open to public), Butler-Tarkington, downtown Market Street (in a former Starbucks space), the AMP at 16 Tech, two cafes at Indianapolis International Airport, and IU Health University and Methodist hospital outposts.
Known for
- Indiana's defining specialty coffee roaster
- Brothers-in-law founders with complementary wine/tech backgrounds
- Loring S35 Kestrel roaster
- Best Coffee in Indiana — Food & Wine
- Open-roastery cupping classes
Why it matters
Tinker is the cleanest example of how a traditionally Probat-on-the-side roastery scales without losing its bones — the Hall/Johnson brothers-in-law model is Indianapolis's specialty backbone, and their 'naiveté' approach (Hall's word) of jumping in without coffee-industry backgrounds and learning at scale produced a roastery that now operates inside two of Indiana's most-trafficked airport terminals.
Production
- head roaster
- Jeff Johnson (analytical roasting focus per founder profile)
- roaster machine
- Loring S35 Kestrel (current); 1991 Probat L-12 (original 2014 roaster)
- roastery location
- 1125 W 16th Street, Indianapolis, IN (Riverside neighborhood)
Café
Roastery (1125 W 16th St); 5555 N Illinois St (Butler-Tarkington); 380 E Market St (downtown); The AMP @ 16 Tech (220 Waterway Blvd); 2 cafes Indianapolis International Airport; IU Health University Hospital; IU Health Methodist Hospital
Recognitions
- Best Coffee in Indiana — Food & Wine