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Denver · United States

Huckleberry Roasters

Since 2011 · Koan Goedman, Mark Mann

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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

destoning
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head roaster
Koan Goedman
color sorting
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roaster machine
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filter equipment
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cupping frequency
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roastery location
Sunnyside, Denver, CO
espresso equipment
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annual volume tonnes
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Café

4301 Pecos Street, Denver, CO 80211

Sources

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