The Story
Olympia Coffee’s humble beginnings started 2005 in an unmarked warehouse in downtown Olympia . Olympia Coffee Roasting was founded in 2005 and sold five years later to Oliver Stormshak and Sam Schroeder in 2010 . Oliver met Sam as a colleague in coffee; he and I worked in the same community but never together. He previously had partnered with the founders of Olympia Coffee, but exited the company. When I realized I needed a partner after purchasing Olympia Coffee, the first person I thought of was Sam, so I asked him to come back as my partner in 2010 .
The company began with a 12-kilo Diedrich roaster and Sam Schroeder was the first employee to do production and make deliveries; he’s now a co-owner with Oliver Stormshak . Opening their doors in 2005 in an unmarked warehouse in Olympia as a wholesale coffee roaster, they would eventually move two blocks from their original location in 2007 to open a coffee bar hidden away on a side street . In the past five years they have built up their business by investing in the quality of their coffee, increasing their staff to 30 people and expanding their business by over 100% . Today, they operate seven cafés and Moonrise Bakery—each one an extension of our craft and community—in Seattle, Tacoma, and Olympia .
Sourcing & Relationships
At the heart of Olympia Coffee’s philosophy lies our pioneering Fair For All sourcing model . In 2010, Olympia Coffee became an early-adopter of this model, developing our own standards to ensure that farmers were rewarded for high-quality coffee. Currently all of our farmers are paid more than double the Fair Trade rate according to our own Direct Trade standards . The Fair For All program emerged because Simply put, no Direct Trade system has ever ensured a minimum wage or safe working conditions for coffee pickers, processors, or other laborers within the farm itself. So, in 2018 we are leading our industry by ensuring that our coffee is Fair for All .
We pay more than double the Fair Trade rate for all of our coffees. In 2023 our average (F.O.B.) was $4.54 per pound. As a comparison, the C Market closed in 2023 at $1.73/lb and the median FOB for Arabica Natural in the specialty industry was $3.51/lb . The company’s transparency commitment is exemplified by publishing the precise quantities and prices paid for all coffees in their annual transparency report , showing each coffee purchased throughout the year, along with the price paid to the producer, FOB price, FOT price, volume purchased, and names of facilitating importers and exporters.
From our home in the Pacific Northwest, we partner directly with coffee farmers across nine countries in East Africa, South America, and Central America—building lasting relationships rooted in fairness, transparency, and respect . Their sourcing reaches from nine countries: United States, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Burundi , with Colombia is the world’s third-largest producer of coffee, and each year we procure more coffee from Colombia than from any other country .
Roasting Philosophy
My college degree is in food science. I realized quickly that all roasting was to that point was craft and very little science. Nobody actually knew what they were doing to develop flavors. I spent a couple of years in a lab looking at coffee roasting and chemical changes that take place , explains co-founder Oliver Stormshak. I realized that one of the things I really valued was the elongation of the proteins in coffee which allows for the fructose and sucrose to become soluble very easily in brewing. Our caramelization roast allows for a roast profile that is noticeable sweet in comparison to other coffee roasters .
Every coffee we roast is made to order, daily, in our downtown Olympia roastery . We roast to order Monday through Friday. Our coffee ships on the same day it’s roasted to make sure you’re enjoying it as fresh as possible . The company maintains strict quality standards, sourcing only coffees with quality standards of 84 points or higher, according to SCA cupping standards for specialty coffee . Their roasting approach emphasizes seasonality and adaptability, particularly evident in their approach to blending where they strive to buy smaller lots in their prime to keep the blend as fresh as possible. The ingredients of the blend change based upon seasonality, but you can bet the flavor profile for Big Truck remains the same year-round .
What to Try
Olympia Coffee’s original flagship blend. Carefully, ethically sourced lots from Colombia and Ethiopia combine to create a coffee perfect for all brew methods , Big Truck remains their most celebrated offering. 15 years ago, this was Olympia Coffee’s first blend. We devote constant attention to Big Truck and think it might be the best espresso blend you can find . This delicious organic espresso has a dense, velvety body with notes of sweet chocolate and ripe berries , and has earned recognition including a third place title in America’s Best Espresso Competition .
Sweetheart Single Origin represents their innovation in sourcing middle-tier specialty coffees that previously fell between micro-lots and commodity grades. We obsess and perfect Sweetheart’s roast profile, and the result is this sweet, balanced coffee with perfect flavor clarity - the best-tasting single origin espresso sourced with the highest ethical standards. The Sweetheart Roast Profile is roasted just a little bit darker with a more developed body . Little Buddy Blend carries personal significance— We named the car Little Buddy. When we opened our Tacoma location in 2018, it made perfect sense to me to name a blend after that car. Little Buddy the car helped me explore and grow and learn, yet safely. Little Buddy does the same thing with your senses .
Single origins showcase the company’s direct relationships, with standouts like Ethiopia Gola. Desta Gola is a single farmer in Wenago Yirgacheffee, and we met him more than ten years ago when he served on the board of the Adame Garbota Cooperative. A couple of years ago, he reached out to let me know he was striking out on his own and building a tiny wet mill to process his coffee. Today, Olympia Coffee is the exclusive world buyer for his coffee . Their seasonal offerings reflect deep producer relationships and processing innovation, with recent highlights including anaerobic naturals from Ethiopia and experimental lots developed in collaboration with farmers.