The Story
Black & White Coffee Roasters is the brainchild of two US Barista Champions. Founded in 2017, Kyle Ramage and Lem Butler were inspired by the coffee they experienced at the competitive level and wanted to make those coffees as widely available as possible. The partnership began during the highly competitive barista championship circuit, where Lem Butler won the United States Barista Championship in 2016, while Kyle competed in and won the US Barista Championship with coaching support from Lem in 2017. Both men went on to represent the United States at the World Barista Championship, with Lem placing 4th in Dublin, Ireland, and Kyle reaching the finals and placing 6th overall in Seoul, South Korea .
Later that year the collaboration between Lem and Kyle led them from the competition stage to coffee bar, when they opened Black & White Coffee Roasters after purchasing the two-location Back Alley Coffee Roasters in Wake Forest, North Carolina. The transition from championship competitors to business owners was motivated by their shared belief that exceptional coffee should be accessible to everyone, not just those with championship-level equipment and expertise. During his first year as a professor, a student named Mark introduced Tracy McKenzie to specialty roasted coffee—specifically, the savory notes of blueberry in a cup of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe , though this appears to reference the previous ownership of the location.
Their recent acquisition by FairWave Specialty Coffee Collective provides resources for expansion while maintaining their core values of service, community, and excellence. What began as a friendship forged through competition has evolved into a roasting company that operates multiple locations across North Carolina and ships coffee worldwide, all while maintaining the founders’ original vision of making championship-quality coffee approachable for everyone.
Sourcing & Relationships
Black & White’s sourcing philosophy stems directly from their championship experience, where Kyle has developed relationships with innovative producers united by a mutual commitment to excellence, a curiosity about processing innovation, and a desire to push the boundaries of flavor possibility. Through his title as US Barista Champion and cofounder of Black & White, Kyle has developed these relationships further, supporting the work of innovative producers by featuring their coffees on Black & White’s coffee menu. The company’s approach goes beyond traditional sourcing models, emphasizing direct relationships with producers who share their vision for exceptional coffee.
They are always in search of the most interesting and distinct coffee flavor profiles possible, which often leads them to source some rather outside the box coffees. Through the competitions they met some of the most advanced coffee producers in the world, and with their sourcing model they continue to meet some of the brightest minds in the coffee producing world. This connection to the global coffee community through competition has given Black & White unique access to experimental lots and innovative processing methods that might not otherwise reach the U.S. market.
Black & White’s commitment to producer partnerships ensures farmers receive fair compensation while customers enjoy traceable, ethically-sourced beans. The roastery’s transparency extends to their retail operations, where this approach honors the farmer’s unique takes on their coffees, but it presents novel coffees to consumers, sharing new flavor profiles and processing methods that might otherwise be out of reach for many coffee lovers. Their sourcing spans multiple continents, with particular focus on Colombian, Ethiopian, and Panamanian origins that offer the complex flavor profiles their championship background has trained them to appreciate and develop.
Roasting Philosophy
At Black & White Coffee we believe coffee should be simple and their philosophy is distilled into a simple mantra: “If It Tastes Good, It Is Good.” This approach represents a deliberate departure from overly complex third-wave coffee culture. Black & White operates on a simple philosophy: “If it tastes good, it is good.” While most roasters chase complexity, Black & White pursues perfection through simplicity. Unlike pretentious third-wave shops that require an engineering degree to order, Black & White serves “exceptional coffee kept simple.”
The roasting operation centers around a 15-kilo Loring at their facility, where the goal is to turn out sweet, clean and balanced coffees that are easy to extract. “I don’t want you to have to have an EK43 to be able to drink our coffees,” said the former EK43 salesman. This philosophy directly addresses a common criticism of specialty coffee—that exceptional results require expensive equipment and extensive knowledge. The artisan coffee roasting NC process focuses on creating coffees that taste incredible whether you’re using a $20 French press or a $3,000 espresso machine. “I don’t want you to have to have an EK43 to be able to drink our coffees,” Ramage explains.
We Roast Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday , ensuring fresh coffee while maintaining consistency. Ramage said that most decisions are “done by committee. I physically do all the roasting but we do QC together. Some things we do together, some things we do pretty separately,” allowing freedom for each of the principals to pursue their own passions in coffee. This collaborative approach to quality control ensures that every bag meets their championship standards while remaining approachable to home brewers.
What to Try
B&W’s accessible, simple signature blends exemplify their approach to roasting. Check out the Original for a taste of B&W’s core profile. The Natural will give you their take on natural process beans. The Traditional provides some classic coffee flavors, and finally, the Future provides a look towards some of B&W’s more complex, experimental ideas. The Original blend represents their foundational approach to coffee, while The Traditional offers an excellent look at a carefully roasted dark roast coffee.
The most innovative offering is their Future series, which showcases a new processing method call “co -fermentation” where the green coffee seeds are fermented with other fruits. The most recent is called Grape Soda, and utilizes a grape conferment along with other coffees to present a flavor profile that is both nostalgic and compelling. Other profiles include Strawberry Daiquiri, fruit punch, blackberry lemonade, Pina Colada . The idea of focusing on flavor profile, and nostalgia has proven to be a huge hit with our customers, and a lovely marketing exercise.
For single-origin selections, their seasonal menu features coffees like Colombian Geisha with notes of mandarin sorbet, orange blossom, and caramelized sugar and Colombian Pink Bourbon, with notes of passion fruit, lychee, and lemon candy. Ethiopian offerings typically showcase pulped-natural Ethiopian profile, with notes of citrus, honey, and berry alongside fruit-layered washed Ethiopian coffee, with notes of blackberry and chocolate.
Each month they highlight a different coffee from speciality blends, seasonal offerings, and coffees that they are just flat out excited about from some of their favorite producers , ensuring there’s always something new to discover from this championship pedigree roastery.