Roast magazine
Roast is an American trade magazine for the specialty coffee industry, published six times a year out of Portland, Oregon, and founded in 2004 by Connie Blumhardt, who is still listed as its publisher.12
It describes itself as “a technical trade magazine dedicated to the success and growth of the specialty coffee industry,” covering “the art, science and business of coffee … with high-quality editorial focused on the technical aspects of coffee.”3 That word technical is the whole positioning. Where Sprudge reports the news of the trade and Perfect Daily Grind explains coffee to everyone along the chain, Roast writes for the person standing in front of the machine: airflow, charge temperature, moisture content, green contracts, packaging, payroll. Its readers are roasting companies, and its subject is running one.
Like the rest of Coffee media, it is not an official body. It sets no standards, certifies nobody and runs no green-coffee auctions. But it does something the other outlets do not — it hands out an award that the industry treats as a credential, which is why Roast turns up on so many roasters’ own about-pages, including several in this wiki.
What it publishes
| Founded | 2004, by Connie Blumhardt |
| Base | Portland, Oregon, USA |
| Frequency | Six issues per year (bimonthly) |
| Formats | Print (digital access included) or digital-only |
| Price | US 40/year print, 30/year digital-only; Canada 60, international 80 |
| News site | Daily Coffee News, online since 2012 |
| Event | Roast Summit |
| Award | Roaster of the Year, since 2005 |
The magazine reached issue 136 (July/August 2026).3 Subscriptions run one or two years; the two-year print rate is US 70, Canada 110, international 150, and digital-only 55, all shipping included.2
Daily Coffee News is the daily half of the operation — the free news site Roast has run since 2012, described on the magazine’s own site as “essential online reading for specialty coffee professionals.”3 It has its own masthead, with Nick Brown as editor and Howard Bryman as associate editor.1 For most readers this is the part they actually encounter: Daily Coffee News is one of the handful of outlets cited across this wiki for equipment launches, acquisitions and process explainers.
Roast also publishes books rather than only issues — The Book of Roast (volumes 1 and 2), Green Coffee: A Guide for Roasters and Buyers, Cheap Coffee: Behind the Curtain of the Global Coffee Trade, and Coffee Covered: A Photographic Journey of Farm to Cup.3 The Book of Roast in particular functions as a reference text for Coffee roasting rather than as a magazine spin-off.
Who makes it
The masthead listed on the magazine’s own site is small — nine people, counting the news site and events.1
| Name | Role |
|---|---|
| Connie Blumhardt | Publisher (and founder) |
| Lily Kubota | Editorial Director |
| Emily Puro | Editor |
| Jeremy Leff | Art Director |
| Wes MacDonald | Operations Manager |
| Nick Brown | Editor, Daily Coffee News |
| Howard Bryman | Associate Editor, Daily Coffee News |
| Juan José Sánchez Macías | Photographer |
| Stacy Woods | Event Manager |
Roaster of the Year
This is the part of Roast that outlives any single issue. The Roaster of the Year Award “recognizes the top roasters in the world,” and has been given annually since 2005.4
Two things make it unusual. First, it splits by size: a micro category for companies roasting less than 100,000 pounds a year and a macro category for those above it, so a ten-person roastery is not measured against a regional wholesaler.4 Second, it judges the company, not a coffee. The stated criteria are company mission, commitment to sustainable practices, employee and educational commitments, dedication to diversity, inclusion and equity, industry involvement, innovations in roasting, marketing and business — and, last on the list, coffee quality.4
The process runs in two stages: three finalists are chosen per category on those criteria, then each finalist submits three one-pound roasted samples. Entries are judged by Roast employees and representatives, with professionally trained cuppers evaluating the samples.4 It is an in-house award, not an independent audit — worth knowing when a roaster puts the badge on its bags.
One quirk trips people up constantly: the title is dated a year ahead of its announcement. The winner named in the November/December issue of one year is that magazine’s Roaster of the Year for the following year. Dragonfly Coffee Roasters’ 2019 micro title, for instance, was announced in Roast’s November/December 2018 issue — the same win, two different years depending on which document you are reading.
Winners, 2005–2026
Per the magazine’s own award archive.4 The first two years were awarded without size categories.
| Year | Micro | Macro | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2026 | Kafiex Roasters | Driftaway Coffee |
| 2 | 2025 | Dear Green | Wonderstate Coffee |
| 3 | 2024 | Bridge City Coffee | Verve Coffee Roasters |
| 4 | 2023 | Rabbit Hole Roasters | Cafe Kreyol |
| 5 | 2022 | Little Waves Coffee Roasters | Huckleberry Roasters |
| 6 | 2021 | Greater Goods Coffee Company | Tony’s Coffee |
| 7 | 2020 | Mostra Coffee | Coffee By Design |
| 8 | 2019 | Dragonfly Coffee Roasters | Peerless Coffee & Tea |
| 9 | 2018 | Amavida Coffee Roasters | Oughtred Coffee & Tea |
| 10 | 2017 | Mudhouse Coffee Roasters | Thanksgiving Coffee Company |
| 11 | 2016 | Propeller Coffee Co | Crimson Cup Coffee & Tea |
| 12 | 2015 | Portola Coffee Lab | Reunion Island Coffee Roasters |
| 13 | 2014 | Pilot Coffee Roasters | Coda Coffee Company |
| 14 | 2013 | Olympia Coffee Roasting Company | Gimme! Coffee |
| 15 | 2012 | Bird Rock Coffee Roasters | Portland Coffee Roasting |
| 16 | 2011 | Conscious Coffees | Dillanos Coffee Roasters |
| 17 | 2010 | Kickapoo Coffee | Equator Estates Coffee — now Equator Coffees |
| 18 | 2009 | Coffee Klatch — now Klatch Coffee | PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. |
| 19 | 2008 | Higher Ground Roasters | Zoka Coffee Roasters |
| 20 | 2007 | Metropolis Coffee Co. | Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea |
| 21 | 2006 | (single award) Stumptown Coffee Roasters — runners-up Intelligentsia Coffee and Tea, Dillanos Coffee Roasters | |
| 22 | 2005 | (single award) Counter Culture Coffee — runner-up Taylor Maid Farms |
Read as a list, it is a decent map of American specialty roasting over two decades: Counter Culture Coffee and Stumptown Coffee Roasters at the front, when third wave roasting was still a claim rather than a category; the Canadian names (Reunion Island, Propeller, Pilot) arriving mid-decade; and, by the 2020s, winners like Cafe Kreyol whose case rests as much on origin work as on roast profiles.
Roast Summit
Roast also runs a conference. Two editions are announced: Roast Summit Portland, on 1–2 October 2026, and Roast Summit Melbourne, on 2–3 March 2027.3 The Portland edition already appears on the industry calendar this wiki records in Coffee trade shows. Its Melbourne edition puts it in the same orbit as the Australian roasting scene documented here through Axil Coffee Roasters, Proud Mary Coffee and Australian café culture.
To verify
Ownership and legal entity. Connie Blumhardt is listed by the magazine as founder and publisher,1 but no corporate name (LLC, Inc., or parent company) appears anywhere on the site, and none was found in a corporate registry. Whether Roast is independently owned today, and by what legal entity, is not established. The research report behind this note reached the same dead end and declined to name an owner. Do not state a parent company for Roast until a masthead or registry filing says so.
To verify
Street address and phone numbers. The research report behind this note gives the mailing address as 1631 NE Broadway, No. 125, Portland, OR 97232-1425, with a telephone of +1 (503) 282-2399 and a fax of +1 (503) 282-2388, citing the magazine’s contact page and its LinkedIn company listing.56 Those pages were not re-fetched here, and the report itself records the ZIP in two forms (with and without the +4 extension). The Portland base is solid — the magazine’s own Roast Summit page confirms it.3 The exact suite, ZIP+4 and fax line are second-hand and not load-bearing.
To verify
Roast Summit’s history, and the 2026–2027 dates. The Portland and Melbourne dates above come from the magazine’s own homepage and are future events, so they may move.3 No source was found for when the first Roast Summit was held, how often it runs, or whether Melbourne 2027 is its first edition outside the United States. Nothing about the event’s history is asserted here.
To verify
Daily Coffee News’ launch and independence. The “Since 2012” date and the description of the site come from Roast’s own homepage.3 Daily Coffee News’ own about page returned an HTTP 403 error and could not be read, so its exact launch date, editorial policy and relationship to the print magazine’s advertising are unconfirmed.
Why this wiki cites it — and how far
Roast is a secondary source, and the caution set out in Coffee media applies here in full: a trade publication paid for by the trade it covers is excellent for method, context and access, and should not be the last word on a number. Where this wiki cites Daily Coffee News for a price, a score or a volume, that figure is only as good as the reporter’s own sourcing, and should be traced back to the auction house or the results sheet.
The one exception is the award. On Roaster of the Year, Roast is the primary source — it is the awarding body, and its archive is the record. That is why the winner claims on Klatch Coffee, Equator Coffees, Dragonfly Coffee Roasters and Cafe Kreyol are all checked against this magazine’s own list rather than against the roasters’ marketing.
Related
- Coffee media — the umbrella note on who covers specialty coffee and how far to trust them
- Sprudge · Perfect Daily Grind — the other two publications this wiki leans on, and how Roast differs from each
- Coffee roasting · Maillard reaction · Agtron scale — the technical subject matter Roast exists to cover
- Klatch Coffee · Equator Coffees · Dragonfly Coffee Roasters · Cafe Kreyol · Stumptown Coffee Roasters · Counter Culture Coffee — Roaster of the Year winners with notes here
- Connie Blumhardt · Nick Brown — the founder-publisher and the Daily Coffee News editor
- Coffee trade shows — the event circuit, including Roast Summit Portland
- World Coffee Roasting Championship — the competitive roasting title, judged on one coffee rather than a whole company
- Good Food Awards · Sprudgie Awards — the other roasted-product and media awards documented here
- Specialty coffee · Third wave coffee — the movement whose roasting trade this magazine was founded to serve
Official links
- Official site — Roast magazine
- Official award archive — Roast magazine Roaster of the Year
- Official site — Daily Coffee News
Footnotes
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About — Roast magazine — the magazine’s own about page; source of the 2004 founding by Connie Blumhardt, the “award-winning technical trade magazine” self-description, and the full masthead including Lily Kubota, Emily Puro, Jeremy Leff, Wes MacDonald, Nick Brown, Howard Bryman, Juan José Sánchez Macías and Stacy Woods — confirmed via WebFetch ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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Subscribe — Roast magazine — source of “The magazine is published six times per year”, the print/digital formats and all subscription prices — confirmed via WebFetch ↩ ↩2
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Roast magazine — homepage — source of the “technical trade magazine dedicated to the success and growth of the specialty coffee industry” statement, issue 136 (July/August 2026), Daily Coffee News “Since 2012”, the Roast Summit Portland (1–2 October 2026) and Melbourne (2–3 March 2027) dates, and the book list — confirmed via WebFetch ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8
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Roaster of the Year — Roast magazine award archive — the awarding body’s own record; source of every winner and year listed above, the micro/macro 100,000-pound split, the judging criteria and the finalist-and-samples process — confirmed via WebFetch ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5
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Contact — Roast magazine — cited in the research report behind this note for the Portland street address, telephone and fax; not re-fetched here ↩
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Roast Magazine — LinkedIn company profile — cited in the research report for the same Portland address; self-published by the company and not an independent confirmation ↩