Sump Coffee

Overview

Sump opened December 1, 2011 on South Jefferson Avenue in St. Louis, founded by former NYC patent attorney Scott Carey after his brother Jeff's death from cancer. Scott completed the build-out using Jeff's tools (each marked 'Gypsy', Jeff's nickname). Originally a multi-roaster cafe, Sump bought a 2.5kg Diedrich and began roasting in July 2012 (~60kg of practice coffee before going live), later upgrading to a 12kg Diedrich and most recently moving to a fluid airbed roaster.

Known for

• First wave of St. Louis third-wave coffee
• Patent attorney founder backstory
• Wine-bar approach to coffee menu (no year-round SKUs, no signature blends)
• Old North roastery
• Nashville expansion adjacent to Pastaria

Why it matters

St. Louis's foundational specialty roaster and a quietly influential operator in mid-American coffee. The wine-bar framing of seasonality and vintage at coffee's source has become more common since, but Sump was doing it on the Mississippi when most US Midwest cafes were still rebranding Counter Culture wholesale.

Production

destoning

null

head roaster

Scott Carey

color sorting

null

roaster machine

Fluid airbed roaster (current); previously 12kg Diedrich and 2.5kg Diedrich (over 13,000 roast hours since July 2012)

filter equipment

Pour-over (Hario V60); Kyoto cold drip brewer (4ft)

cupping frequency

null

roastery location

Old North St. Louis warehouse (separate from cafe; moved ~2024)

espresso equipment

Slayer; Faema

annual volume tonnes

null

Café

3700 S. Jefferson Ave, St. Louis, MO

Recognitions

• Feast 50 Runner Up Best Coffee Shop St. Louis (2015)

Sources

• https://www.stlpr.org/arts/2012-08-20/take-five-serious-brewing-with-sump-coffees-scott-carey
• https://www.stlpr.org/culture-history/2025-09-18/st-louis-coffee-culture-history
• https://sprudge.com/inside-the-fiercely-independent-world-of-sump-coffee-in-st-louis-68811.html
• https://genuine-origin.medium.com/roaster-life-sump-coffees-scott-carey-on-creativity-and-intention-66f7f4a0f1f3
• https://www.stlmag.com/dining/top-coffee-shops-in-st-louis/
• https://www.feastmagazine.com/feast-50/coffee-shop-sump-coffee/article_fc338ce0-268c-11e5-8f01-fb0f4219cb36.html
• https://saucemagazine.com/a/1673/a-second-shot-how-scott-carey-finally-found-his-calling-and-