Birch Coffee

Overview

Birch was founded in 2009 by Jeremy Lyman and Paul Schlader, who met in a 12-step program in 2005 and opened the first store with roughly $10,000 — much of it from Lyman cashing his bar mitzvah savings bond early. Schlader is a certified Q grader and runs sourcing and roasting; Lyman leads operations and design. The company opened on the assumption that hospitality matters more than coffee credentials, and the original shop's no-Wi-Fi policy and "Ignition Initiative" conversation cards have remained part of the brand identity through the company's growth to roughly a dozen New York shops plus a Long Island City roastery.

Known for

• Founders met in a 12-step program in 2005 and opened with $10K including Lyman's prematurely cashed bar mitzvah bond
• No-Wi-Fi policy across all stores to encourage conversation
• 4,000-square-foot roastery in Long Island City
• "Bully Blend" — 100% of profits go to pitbull rescue (Muddy Paws NYC and Angel City Pit Bulls LA)
• Filled the New York gap between Starbucks and pour-over destinations like Stumptown and Ninth Street Espresso

Why it matters

Built on the explicit thesis that everyday New Yorkers wanted good coffee without third-wave snobbery — and proved the gap between commodity and connoisseur was wider than the specialty industry assumed.

Production

destoning

null

head roaster

Paul Schlader

color sorting

null

roaster machine

null

filter equipment

null

cupping frequency

null

roastery location

Long Island City, NY (4,000 sq ft)

espresso equipment

null

annual volume tonnes

null

Café

This roaster operates a café.

Sources

• https://www.birchcoffee.com/pages/about
• https://forward.com/food/337150/birch-coffee-began-with-bar-mitzvah-money/
• https://freshcup.com/birch-coffee/
• https://www.cnbc.com/2016/05/19/from-bar-mitzvah-boy-to-coffee-kings-how-10000-turned-into-10-million-empire-commentary.html
• https://tribecacitizen.com/2023/04/29/birchcoffee/