I love coffee, and we have some incredible local roasters. I’m a big fan of buying the beans from Dogwood Coffee, Spyhouse Coffee, Bootstrap Coffee Roasters, and Peace Coffee. Those have been my top four. (I also loved Bull Run when it was around.) Incredible quality, integrity in sourcing, and wonderful people behind each operation.
I am price-sensitive on coffee, though…. OK—I’m a little cheap. I drink two cups a day, typically, and grind my own beans at work. (As you know, I’m up at 2:30 a.m. to be on WCCO-TV, so coffee is critical to my life.) Dogwood’s single-origin coffees are typically $18 for 12 ounces ($1.50/ounce). Same with Bootstrap. Spyhouse is $17–22 for 10 ounces ($1.70–$2.20/ounce), while Peace Coffee’s alchemy series is $14 for 12 ounces ($1.16/ounce).
Mike from Pizza Nea had been encouraging me to check out UP Coffee Roasters in Northeast Minneapolis, so I finally got out there, and holy buckets! It’s great coffee in an adorable setting, and it’s also really inexpensive! (For the record: The Cafe has breakfast and lunch, lovely panini sandwiches, and the service was great; the baristas can do anything you want.)
Here’s the big revelation, though: They sell all their beans to the public at wholesale prices. So, buying wholesale Costa Rica Red Honey beans (which have bright, beautiful cherry and sweet notes) is just $15 for a pound (94 cents/ounce). I also bought a pound of Ethiopia Natural Guji, with raspberry and chocolate notes, for only $13.50/pound (84 cents/ounce).
It’s tucked away in an industrial area off Hennepin, not far from the Como neighborhood by the University of Minnesota. But UP shouldn’t be a secret anymore. Get over there, and tell me what you think. @DeRushaEats
