In a city known for its coffee, choosing a favourite coffee roaster feels like choosing a favourite child. And while Vancouver can often feel like a breeding ground for new Starbucks locations, it’s also home to many spots fit for the serious coffee aficionado. According to Destination Vancouver, we can attribute the latter to the European immigrants who settled in the city after the Second World War, who brought their “moka pots and espresso habits” with them.
From original coffee houses on Commercial Drive like Café Calabria and Joe’s Café to the original Caffe Artigiano on Hornby Street, there are so many amazing places that have helped shape the culture in Vancouver over the years. But before we get into those, it all starts with the beans. So here are 15 coffee roasters to check out in Metro Vancouver, and where you can drink their coffee.
Pallet Coffee Roasters
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We’ll start with some of the most well-known roasters on this list. Pallet is known for its extensive selection of beans, which range from espresso to sweet Ethiopian Geisha blends. The roaster got its start in East Van, born from the desire to make specialty coffee from around the world more accessible to all. Today, Pallet is a household name with seven locations across Metro Vancouver. But it all began in a humble 4,000-square-foot multi-purpose space in 2014.
- Pallet HQ & Roastery: 395 Alexander Street
- Pallet Semlin & Commissary: 323 Semlin Drive
- Pallet Kingsway: 1398 Kingsway
- Pallet Broadway: 2002 West Broadway
- Pallet Oak: 3820 Oak Street
- Pallet Howe: 980 Howe Street
- Palate Kitchen: 848 West Hastings Street
49th Parallel Coffee Roasters
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Another iconic spot – 49th Parallel is equal parts doughnut-centred as it is bean-focused. Launched in 2004, the roasting company is well-known for its nitrogen-blasted beans, which are roasted in small quantities daily and sourced from farmers in Ethiopia, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia, Kenya, and beyond. And in 2012, Lucky’s Doughnuts was born, adding another layer of deliciousness to its menu.
- Mount Pleasant: 2902 Main Street
- Downtown: 689 Thurlow Street
- Kitsilano: 2198 West 4th Avenue
House of Funk Roasting Company
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If you’re a spontaneous coffee drinker or enjoy an experimental flavour every now and again, House of Funk is the roaster for you. The company specializes in developing funky flavours that highlight the nuances of every origin. And they’ve started aging their coffee beans in whiskey barrels to further expand the limits of what coffee can taste like. They even have private Sample Roasting Classes you can book to learn about green coffee and how to roast 300 g of your choice yourself!
Location: 350 Esplanade East #101, North Vancouver
Coffee Roastery Modus
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Another roastery making waves in the local coffee scene is Modus, a key player in the game of roasting. For easy-to-drink blends like the Xinca-sourced “Dom” (dark toffee, candied lime, white chocolate) to the two-producer blend, the “Coast” (Brazil flan, trail mix, cacao nibs), Modus certainly knows how to intrigue all kinds of coffee drinkers. And they’re committed to
Location: 112 West Broadway
Milano Coffee Roasters
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With 13 different-origin coffees to choose from (and home to Vancouver’s only espresso-tasting bar), you can truly taste the “Italian soul” in each blend created by Milano Coffee Roasters. And rest assured, they’ve got dark, medium, fair, and decaf options for every type of coffee lover out there. Our pick? Definitely the medium-bodied blend “La Futura” with notes of vanilla, pistachio, and cardamom.
- Milano Coffee Roasters: 156 West 8th Avenue
- Milano Espresso Lounge: 36 Powell Street
Kafka’s Coffee Roasters
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For a “juicy” cup of coffee with greater flavour clarity, you can’t go wrong with Kafka’s. The roasting company boasts a special modified Synesso, a type of espresso brewed at variable rates for greater diversity in strength and boldness. Their specialty? Ethiopian blends.
- Kafka’s at the Park: 860 Richards Street
- Kafka’s Great Northern Way: 120-577 Great Northern Way
- Kafka’s Gastown: 151 West Hastings Street
Nemesis Coffee
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One of the newer names on this list, Nemesis Coffee has already garnered a reputation for its delicious light blends, which are directly traded with farms from countries like Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Costa Rica, and Honduras. Oh, and their bakeshop offers visitors a plethora of innovative pastries to pair with their coffee.
- Nemesis Gastown: 302 West Hastings Street
- Nemesis GNW: 555 Great Northern Way
- Nemesis Polygon: 101 Carrie Cates Court
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Prototype Coffee
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For some truly spectacular coffee with a focus on light roasts, Prototype Coffee produces an array of fruity and floral blends – and they’re not afraid of experimenting with new flavour profiles, either. With beans sourced from South America, Central America, Africa, and Asia/Pacific – odds are you’ll find at least a couple of flavours you like. Prototype currently offers 14 different coffees at any given time at their brew bar and several options for espresso as well. Looking for something to go with your cuppa joe? Check out their signature waffle donuts.
- Revolver: 325 Cambie Street
- Small Victory: 1088 Homer Street
J.J Bean Coffee Roasters
Both complex and drinkable, J.J Bean coffee beans are known across the city for their perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. This coffee roasting company offers seasonal single-origin coffees as well as dark roasts and espresso. All are fair trade, and three of their blends are certified organic (Eastside, Decaf, and Railtown).
- J.J Bean Alberni: 1188 Alberni Street
- J.J. Bean Burnaby Heights: 4299 Hastings Street
- J.J. Bean Cambie: 3399 Cambie Street
- J.J. Bean Commercial: 2206 Commercial Drive
- J.J. Bean False Creek: 188 West 1st Avenue
- J.J. Bean Granville Island: 1689 Johnston Street
- J.J. Bean Lonsdale: 125 East 17th Street, North Vancouver
- J.J. Bean Main Street: 3010 Main Street
- J.J. Bean UBC: 6005 University Boulevard
Foglifter Coffee Roasters
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After over 20 years in the retail coffee space at Bean Around the World, these coffee roasters decided to branch out into their own family-run business, offering weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly coffee delivery, and a mix of locally sourced beans from metro Vancouver, Calgary, Seattle, and Edmonton. In terms of up-and-coming roasters, this is definitely one to keep an eye on!
Locations: 3590 Main Street (flagship cafe)
Agro Coffee Roasters
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Boasting some of the best dark roasts in the city, Agro Coffee Roasters certainly knows how to pack a punch. The roastery and tasting cafe on Clark Drive opened in 2016, providing a space for the community to connect over specialty, organic coffee beans.
- 1359 Powell Street
- Caffe W: 3646 West Broadway
- L’ atelier Patisserie: 260 East 5th Avenue
- Livia Sweets: 1399 Commercial Drive
- Lumine Coffee: 1965 West 4th Avenue #103
- Mello: 223 East Pender Street
- The Garden Strathcona: 868 East Hastings Street
Nusa Coffee Company
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An importer of Indonesian coffee beans, Nusa has definitely carved out their own slice of Vancouver’s coffee scene. Their dedication to farm-to-cup is unparalleled, and they have plenty of diverse flavours to prove it. Their most popular blends include the Sumatra Gayo (earthy, cedar, dark chocolate), Sulawesi Toraja (earthy, nutty, spices, dark chocolate), and the Kerinci Honey (cinnamon, orange jam, grape).
Location: 310 West Cordova Street
Lüna Coffee
Light, bright, and delightful in every sip. Lüna Coffee is a smaller roasting company located in Golden Ears – but we couldn’t not include it on this list. They naturally roast their beans and offer coffee nerds two featured coffees per month when they subscribe. This tiny but mighty roaster is as committed to decolonizing the coffee trade as it is to providing customers with light, delicious coffee to sip on any occasion.
- Revolver: 325 Cambie Street
- Birds & The Beets: 55 Powell Street
- Their There: 2042 West 4th Avenue
- Fresh Press Coffee Bar: 4940 No. 3 Road #121, Richmond
Rocanini Coffee Roasters
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Nestled in the heart of Yaletown, this coffee roaster offers coffee enthusiasts a variety of pour-over options, cold. brews, espresso, hot chocolate, and even tea. As far as their beans go, folks can expect everything from Geisha blends to Bourban varietals like the
Burundi Muyinga Gashoho (Plum, Strawberry, Grapefruit, Jammy, Clean) – and some top-notch decaf options, too!
- 863 Beatty Street
- 115-3900 Moncton Street, Richmond
East Van Roasters
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Owned and operated by the PHS Community Services Society, East Van Roasters is the city’s only bean-to-bar chocolate maker and coffee roaster, and provides training and employment opportunities to disadvantaged women living in the DTES. Organic single-origin, fair trade cacao and coffee beans are roasted onsite, which make for some amazing hand-crafted chocolate drinks and treats.
Location: 319 Carrall Street
And that’s a wrap on some of the best coffee roasters in Vancouver. While it’s hard to pick favourites, we think these options offer some pretty amazing, diverse cups of coffee.
