Who is the best coffee roaster in Dallas?

Before we go any further, Runyon Coffee Company is the best coffee roaster in Dallas-Fort Worth and the surrounding areas. But, I wanted to make sure we highlighted a few of our favorites because there are so many other great roasters doing really good things in the DFW area. I'm also going to write this post in first person because it's just easier and more interesting that way.

Nearly every shop you go to has spent years figuring out exactly the type of coffee they want to feature, and here are the best coffee roasters they're buying from in Dallas, Fort Worth and the DFW metroplex.

A short note about how I'm picking these favorites:

• These may be primarily chosen based on their espresso or drip coffee. It's probably 50/50 on how I've sampled most of these roasters. My favorite thing to do is get a double shot at a local cafe when tasting a new coffee so I can really get what the roaster was going for.
• They're not really in any order, though it's likely that the first ones that come to mind will obviously be higher up. This isn't a scientific poll, mind you.

Cultivar Coffee Roasters - Dallas, TX

OK, I'm going to start this off by being very, very vulnerable. And what I mean is this: I really hadn't appreciated craft coffee like I should have until I had Cultivar Coffee back when they were stationed up in Good 2 Go Taco in east Dallas (the best damn breakfast tacos in Dallas, hands down, and I can't believe they had to close).

Before then, I'd been part of what you could call "second wave" coffee when I worked in a local cafe in Shreveport, LA. I knew how to pull shots, make all the drinks, etc... but I'll admit I didn't know a damn thing about coffee roasting, sourcing, etc. It was actually really pathetic, but hey, it was just the way it was decades ago.

Anyway, I've never had anything from Cultivar I didn't like. They apparently won best beans in Dallas at D Magazine's Best of Big D awards in 2013 (which is when I was drinking much more of their coffee), so they're doing something right. I haven't had their coffee in a while, so I'll have to make a purchase and relive the glory days with some homemade Honey Bear tacos.

Novel Coffee Roasters - Dallas, TX

Novel Coffee Roasters is one of the best coffee roasters in Dallas for several reasons. We first had their coffee at Roots in Fort Worth, which is cool because apparently Novel's head roaster started as a barista at Roots back in 2011. Also very cool: pretty sure we had an Ethiopian or Kenyan single-origin that they had on the espresso machine, which produced a fantastic bright shot.

They've got a roastery in Northeast Dallas, but they've also got their own brick-and-mortar over in Flower Mound, so we'll have to check that out here soon. They've also got a decidedly non-pompous attitude about their coffee, which is very cool to us. If you've met us at the Coppell Farmers Market, we may have talked about our mission to bring good coffee to people who might not otherwise be introduced, and do it in an especially unpretentious way. Any roaster who has the same philosophy is definitely cool in our book!

Eiland Coffee - Richardson, TX

Eiland makes the list because they have a Papua New Guinea washed process coffee that was the first time we'd ever had coffee from Papua New Guinea. They've been roasting out of Richardson since 1998, which was years before our coffee journey even began, so they have great historical cred. They also use a 1969 Probat roaster, which they consider "the best coffee roaster ever made."

The Papua New Guinea was really good. We don't mind mentioning it because it's highly unlikely that we'll ever do a single-origin from Papua New Guinea. When you find something good, real recognize real.

In addition to being a great roaster, they have a really good brew guide on their site that'll be super helpful until we put up a brew guide of our own.

Noble Coyote Coffee Roasters - Dallas, TX

We were first introduced to Noble Coyote Coffee Roasters back in 2016 or so when we bought some of their coffee from a farmers market in east Dallas. Hey, how fitting!

It's been a while since we've bought their coffee, but that first bag was memorable. So memorable that I was really happy to see they'd partnered with our friends at Cafe Momentum in downtown Dallas, which is a specialty restaurant that trains at-risk youth for careers in the restaurant industry. How awesome is that?

Another awesome thing about Noble Coyote is that they do cuppings so you can learn with the pros how to cup coffee and learn about different origins. According to the website, you can also book a private coffee class for a small group, so if you're wanting to learn a lot straight from the source, they'd be a great place to check out!

Runyon Coffee Company - Coppell, TX

I'm guessing you didn't think we'd go there, but we did.

It's time to put Coppell on the map as a coffee powerhouse. This "bedroom community" nestled between a few highways could be easily missed if you get confused by how Belt Line turns into Denton Tap or whatever (or is it the other way around?).

Runyon Coffee Company calls Coppell home and sells mostly exclusively at the Coppell Farmers Market, which is in itself a powerhouse of fresh vegetables, foods and other great goods from all around the area. Dare we say it's the best farmers market in the DFW area? Well, yes, because the people who run that market are awesome and they're extremely picky about who they let in, so you know you're only going to find pretty great stuff there.

Make it a priority on a Saturday to visit Runyon Coffee at the market, say hey, and try some of the best coffee you've never had. We have a custom built roaster and we're boostrapping our way to bigger things. And we're lucky to have all the support we've gotten from the Coppell community!

 

Got a coffee roaster in Dallas-Ft. Worth that we're missing? Email us and let us know who we forgot!