Portage coffee roaster Ron Martin draws a familiar comparison for Kalamazoo locals when describing the role of his flagship coffee blends: “It’s like moving people from Bud Light to Oberon.”
Martin is one of many local roasters focused on emphasizing the distinct flavor profile of unique coffee beans, an approach referred to as “third wave” or “specialty” coffee. His single-origin selections are distinguished from more-classic coffee roasts by their lighter roast profiles, distinct regional flavors and unconventional bean extraction processes.
Two years ago a bag of Martin’s flagship Peloton blend was my introduction to local specialty coffee. Since then, I’ve been brewing unique coffee from roasters in Kalamazoo and beyond. Not only has it meant supporting local businesses, but it has meant enjoying coffee that’s actually fresh — whole-bean coffee starts going stale in about a month and ground coffee much quicker — and learning to enjoy my morning brew for its craft rather than its utility.
Choosing favorites is a challenge, but here are five local coffee roasters I can’t get enough of:
Kalamazoo Coffee Co.
When I was a student at Kalamazoo College, I first started drinking freshly ground, freshly roasted coffee. The on-campus cafe served beans roasted by Kalamazoo Coffee Co., marking the first time I drank coffee I liked enough to drink black.
It took only a year of buying large cups of the company’s flagship Backpacker’s Blend, a straightforward medium-roast blend with distinct sweet notes, before I got a job at the cafe, where I was able to drink all the free Kalamazoo Coffee Co. coffee I wanted.
The company is more production-centric than the other roasters on this list, offering its coffee at dozens of grocery stores from Elkhart to Jenison and even in coffee pods.
While specialty coffee fans may disagree, I insist there will always be a place for a classic cup o’ joe, and this roaster makes just that. This stuff has fueled more than a few pre-exam all-nighters and will always have a special place in my heart.
Ron’s Beans
Ron Martin has been roasting coffee beans for about 15 years. He purchased his current spot at 830 W. Centre in Portage in 2020 and introduced a cafe, or “tasting room,” three years ago. His approach emphasizes light to medium roasts made with coffee that’s highly rated by the Specialty Coffee Association, meaning it is handpicked, with few imperfections.
Many of Ron’s beans are natural-process beans extracted from sun-dried coffee cherries in which the beans were allowed to ferment. That process imparts bright, fruity and acidic flavors, and these beans are more lightly roasted to emphasize the delicate and sweet flavors. Martin says his roasting process is centered on finding the “sweet spot” for every bean.
A favorite of mine is his Ethiopian single-origin coffee Benti Neka. A medium roast, washed-process (not fermented) coffee, it has a balanced flavor — not too bitter, not too acidic — with sweet and floral notes. I like to brew this one in my French press.
Factory Coffee
I was admittedly trying to telegraph maturity when I first ordered an espresso at Factory Coffee, hoping my “refined palate” would downplay my youth while I grabbed coffee with people more than a decade older than I. I’d planned to grit my teeth through the bitter flavor but found that when a skilled barista brews fresh, well-roasted coffee beans as espresso, it tastes really good.
To keep up with demand as they’ve expanded, Factory Coffee has stopped roasting their coffee in-house, part-nering with Schuil Coffee Co. in Grand Rapids, which is able to replicate Factory’s roasting process. That makes them technically — at least for now — not a local roaster, but I kept them on this list because their varied selection is consistently great and because the option of ordering any of these unique coffees as a pour-over makes their four Kalamazoo-area cafes accessible starting points for locals dipping their toes into the world of specialty coffee.
My personal favorites are their natural-process Guji beans, a light roast from Ethiopia that is distinctly fruity and earthy, and the washed-process Burundi Turihamwe, a more floral roast.
Little Quiet Coffee
Lee Winkler fell in love with coffee in 2002 while working as a barista and has been in the industry in some form ever since. In 2019, he founded Little Quiet Coffee in Battle Creek, but relocated the company to Portage.
In the early days, customers ordered from Winkler via email, and he’d hand-deliver to their homes. He’s backed off from selling direct to consumers and now roasts for Fiddle Leaf Cafe, in Kalamazoo’s Edison neighborhood. Fiddle Leaf sells two of his roasts: The Solstice Blend, a mix of organic, washed-process Ethiopian and Guatemalan beans, is a batch-brew coffee, and the Equinox Blend, a Brazilian natural-process, is an espresso.
My favorite is the Solstice Blend. Its flavorful sweetness makes it a joy to drink black. Like Martin, Winkler roasts lighter.
“I roast in a lighter profile because I really want to highlight the growing region, the growers themselves and the quality of the coffee,” Winkler says.
V Roastery
My most unexpected favorite local coffee is a bourbon-barrel-aged dark roast from V Roastery, a small-batch roaster that sells at the Kalamazoo Farmers Market and online at vroastery.com. Nave Vlietstra ages raw coffee beans in an oak barrel previously used to age bourbon, imparting a flavor that complements but does not overwhelm the deep, roasty flavor of V’s Welcome to the Dark Side dark roast. Brewing this roast as espresso made for the most delicious, decadent morning latte of my life.
Unfortunately, I’m not the only local to notice how well this flavor infusion works — when it’s available, the flavor sells out fast. Fortunately, Vlietstra’s other roasts are also fantastic. I love the organic Ethiopian Yirgacheffe Chelchele, a natural-process light roast with distinct floral notes that I enjoyed as an unconventional iced Americano while writing this.
Unlike some specialty roasters, Vlietstra is more than happy to roast dark. He is careful to roast the right beans to the right levels, though, which is why he roasts Ethiopian beans lightly to preserve their tea-like flavors but is comfortable dark-roasting earthier beans from Sumatra.
