The city of Coeur d’Alene, situated on the northern tip of the Idaho panhandle, and surrounded by pine forests and pristine lakes, has so much to offer. Yes, Idaho is known for its potatoes, but when you experience Coeur d’Alene for yourself, you quickly realize its a city with a vibrant (and much more diverse than just potatoes) food culture.
It was a few years back while in Coeur d’Alene for a family vacation where I began to recognize that this city also had an incredible coffee culture. With a year-round population of just shy of 60,000 I was pleasantly surprised to find so many great cafes, and so many great coffee roasters.
This summer I found myself back again and after stopping by Union Roasters’ latest brick-and-mortar location that offered great coffee and also in-house made doughnuts I knew theirs was a story worth telling.
So here we go, without further ado, let me share with you the story of Union Roasters as our November Coffee Roaster of the Month.
So great to get the chance to connect with you Andy! Help our audience get to know you a bit better… What’s your personal backstory in coffee? How did you get started? What keeps you going in coffee?
My love for coffee started in Flagstaff, AZ around 2009 when I lived downtown near a small local roaster known as Late For The Train. Besides frequenting the roasting facility whenever I could the biotech I worked for also purchased their beans and I was now hooked on craft coffee. Fast forward to 2011 when my wife and I moved to Kellogg, ID and I found a lack of quality coffee. I was working for a water testing company and had just purchased a sub-par cup of coffee from a drive-thru when the dream was born to blend my chemistry background and my love for coffee into starting a roastery.
My first brand (SilverCup Coffee Roasters) has since merged with and continued as Union Coffee Roasters located in the beautiful city of Coeur d’Alene, ID. My passion continues to grow as we strive to support the farmers we’ve been working with for 13 years, grow within our community by providing a beautiful space and first-class product for clients, employ a vibrant and passionate group that enjoys working in the coffee industry, and always searching for that next great cup!
Before we go much further, share with our readers what you’re drinking/enjoying these days when it comes to coffee!
Currently in my consumption rotation is our espresso blend of Honduras Kingdom Growers/Mexico Rancho San Francisco (must have a solid Americano on hand!) and our SO Costa Rica from the Leon Estate.
I am always fascinated in the origin story of how a roaster/cafe selects their name/brand, so help our readers to get to know the story behind the choice of your name. Why Union Coffee Roasters? Is there a significance or symbolism about this for you?
Absolutely, Union was branded with a two-fold goal – the union of coffee and people – create an inviting space for people to meet face to face, and contribute to the well-being of people, including our growers, our staff and our clients.
So home for you is Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I supposed that readers would most associate Idaho with potatoes, but I know they’d be personally surprised to learn of the great coffee culture in your city/state. So can you share a bit more about what you love about the coffee culture where you call home
For starters this isn’t your typical potato chip growing locale. The Coeur d’Alene area boasts some of the most beautiful mountainous landscape in the northwest with numerous ski resorts within an hour’s drive from town, along with scenic lakes and resorts. But to your point we’ve seen that the coffee scene in the inland northwest has sure grown over the past ten years! Coeur d’Alene and the surrounding area boast an abundance of great roasters and local cafés. The culture is vibrant with shops frequently hosting coffee tastings or barista throw-downs where many gather to talk the craft and their favourite new offerings or beverages. I think we’re just lucky to live in such a beautiful area surrounded by people who love great coffee!
When I had the chance to visit a few of your locations this past summer, I noticed that you had the words “FOR THE PEOPLE” painted and plastered everywhere in your cafes. What does that mean to you? How are you living that out as a company?
Yeah, it’s a company creed for sure and I touched on it a bit earlier but to us it’s just a daily reminder to love people and respect their work and their love for coffee – from our growers to our employees to our customers. We intentionally work alongside growers who are giving back to their communities and fine tuning their farms, encourage our staff and grow them in their coffee knowledge and create an amazing space for our community to gather and talk face to face over a great cup of coffee.
Speaking of this past summer, when I stopped in at your new Flafship BLVD x UNION café that just opened I was thrilled to see not only you serving great coffee but also artisan crafted donuts. Can you share a bit more about what people can expect if they get the chance themselves to visit this location?
Yeah, welcome to BLVD Doughnuts x Union Coffee – our flagship store where we wanted to add in a fun vibe and something we felt CDA was lacking – an amazing craft doughnut! Made from scratch and fried nightly, you just can’t go wrong pairing them with a coffee. You’ll also find me there or one of our staff roasting nearly every day for our shops or clients – so please stop in and say hello. I’d be happy to show you around!
Thanks so much for sharing your story! Here’s your chance to say anything else you want to. Go for it. Is there anything else our readers need to know?
Thanks so much for the feature, Tyler. It was great to meet you in CDA over the summer and I’m already looking forward to your next visit! To everyone else, if you’re reading this, I can only assume your love for coffee runs as deep as mine; so follow along with us on our journey on IG or grab a bag of coffee on our website and be sure to stop in and see us and all the other great roasters in our city when you visit CDA – it’s a great vacation destination!
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Contact Info:
web: www.unionroasters.co
instagram: @unionroasters
email: unionroasters@gmail.com
Find their beans: If you’re looking to get your hands on some beans then definitely check out their web-store for what they’re currently roasting.
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I just wanted to say a huge thanks again to Andy at Union Roasters for being a huge contributor to the specialty coffee community in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Be sure to check out the Union Roasters website, and grab some coffee.
-Tyler
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