Troubadour Coffee Roasters

Every coffee carries a story.

I approach coffee much like wine: shaped by where it grew, the people who produced it, and the decisions that carry its character from crop to cup.

Explore our coffees

I choose coffees because each one brings something distinctive. Then I roast to develop that character without covering up what made the coffee worth choosing.

Tony DiCorpo, founder of Troubadour Coffee Roasters

The coffee that changed the direction

A Kenya Nyeri sent me down the rabbit hole.

Troubadour has focused on origin rather than roastiness since 2012. Then, in 2013, I tasted a Kenya Nyeri that was clean, winey, and remarkably sweet, with grapefruit and cane sugar character. It showed me how clearly a coffee could express where it came from.

That coffee sent me down the rabbit hole. I have never looked back. By 2014, I was explicitly comparing coffee to wine and using that idea to explain why origin, variety, processing, body, acidity, and finish matter.

Coffee Like Wine is not a new campaign layered onto Troubadour. It is a clearer name for the idea that has guided the coffees I choose, how I roast them, and how I help people understand what is in the cup.

At the time, much of coffee still revolved around the finished menu drink. I wanted to keep the grower, the place, the genetics, the processing, and the decisions made from crop to cup inside the story—because they are inside the flavor.

From origin to understanding

The work is connected.

What happens at the farm affects what is possible at the roaster. What happens at the roaster affects what you taste. And what you understand about that cup changes how you brew the next one.

01

Meet the source

Learn how place, variety, growing conditions, harvest, and processing shape the coffee before roasting begins.

02

Choose what is distinctive

Select coffees for their final cup quality and the character they add to the current lineup—not simply to fill a spot on a menu.

03

Roast for the coffee

Develop each roast to reveal what is naturally present in the bean rather than burying it beneath roast flavor.

04

Share what we know

Turn experience into practical recommendations, brewing help, and hands-on classes for curious home and professional baristas.

Tony visiting Finca El Guayabo coffee farm in El Salvador — Tony visiting Finca El Guayabo in El Salvador.

Coffee is agricultural

The people and place matter.

A coffee’s flavor is the result of countless decisions at origin: what is planted, when cherries are picked, how they are processed, and how carefully the coffee is prepared for export.

Terroir is the way nature’s environment shapes the flavor and traits of a coffee bean. Elevation, climate, soil, variety, and growing conditions become part of what is possible in the cup.

We pay above fair price for our coffees and work directly with growers whenever possible so more of the value goes back to the farms. Quality, long-term relationships, and responsible farming matter more to us than the commodity market.

Those connections give us the context to roast more thoughtfully, speak honestly about each coffee, and connect the flavor in your cup with the work that produced it.

Tony roasting coffee at Troubadour Coffee Roasters

Roasted in small batches

Roasting reveals what makes each coffee worth choosing.

I begin with what I tasted in the sample roast and what the coffee’s origin and processing suggest. The first production roast is a starting point, not an automatic release.

I let the coffee rest, cup it, adjust the roast, and taste it again. A new coffee may spend roughly a week in that cycle before I am ready to offer it. Seconds of development, the age and moisture of the green coffee, and even conditions in the roastery can change the result.

Chosen for final cup quality and a distinctive place in the lineup
Roasted in small batches according to the coffee in front of me
Rested, cupped, adjusted, and tasted repeatedly before release
Described through the character I actually find in the cup

Roast for the coffee

We roast so the coffee still tastes like itself.

Every coffee arrives with a character shaped by its variety, where it grew, the people who grew it, and how it was processed. That is what makes a coffee worth choosing in the first place.

Roasting develops sweetness, aroma, body, and structure. As roasting goes further, perceived acidity and origin-specific flavors recede while roast-driven body and bitterness increase. Different coffees begin to taste more alike.

We stop before that point. Tony generally roasts light to light-plus, developing sweetness, richness, and balance while keeping the coffee’s identity present in the cup. We protect those origin flavors because they are why we sourced the coffee in the first place.

“I don’t want to choose a remarkable coffee and then roast away the reason I chose it.”
— Tony DiCorpo

Taste the coffee black first.

Black coffee gives the clearest view of the origin and the work of the roast. Milk and sugar can disguise both flaws in a lower-quality coffee and the distinctions that make an exceptional coffee worth choosing.

Begin with the fragrance released by grinding. In the first sip, notice body and acidity. Return to the cup as it cools, when sweetness, fruit, floral character, and other origin notes become easier to perceive. Then notice the finish: whether it is long or short, and how it leads into the next sip.

Coffee can be explored much like wine through place, aroma, sweetness, acidity, body, texture, flavor, and finish. The comparison is a useful language for preference, not a promise that a coffee will taste exactly like a particular wine.

Want to go deeper? Read why we don’t roast dark, our guide to choosing coffee like wine, or our guide to washed, honey, and natural coffees.

Usually drink dark roast?

There is nothing wrong with dark roast if that is what you prefer. Tell us what you enjoy about it—richness, body, deep roast notes, lower perceived acidity, or a coffee that holds up in milk. We can help you find a whole-bean coffee that fits, and perhaps one you will enjoy black. Really.

Explore our coffees

What customers remember

The care is visible in the cup.

“It is evident by both the quality of the coffee, and the pictures that they operate the business with genuine passion.”
William DrocktonGoogle review

“Not only do they custom pour over brew every order, but I also received great information about what makes their beans so unique and delicious.”
Justin EschmanGoogle review

Experience worth sharing

What we learn, we teach.

The same experience used to source, roast, brew, and run Troubadour shapes our classes and consulting. The goal is practical understanding you can use—at your kitchen counter, behind a professional bar, or while planning a coffee business.

Coffee Classes Explore current classes and learn how brewing choices change flavor in the cup. Home Espresso Dial in shots, texture milk, and replace guesswork with a routine you understand. Professional Barista Training Develop coffee fundamentals, commercial equipment skills, and practical bar workflow. Coffee Shop Consulting Apply Tony’s experience to planning, equipment, workflow, operations, and private training.

Taste what coffee can be

Start with a coffee. Stay curious.

Explore the coffees we are roasting now, or join us in Cleveland to taste, ask questions, and learn more.

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