At a glance
- Roasts inPortland, OR
- Founded2008
- Founded byMatt Higgins
- CafesPortland
- VisitorsOpen to the public
Coava Coffee Roasters is one of the beloved local roasters we follow in Oregon: an independent roaster based in Portland, founded in 2008. Here is what their own pages and public sources say about them, in our words.
Their story
Coava started in 2008 in Matt Higgins's garage in North Portland. Higgins was already a seasoned barista and roaster, and he kept the young company going by fixing motorcycles on the side. The company takes its name from an old word for green, unroasted coffee. Higgins wanted to roast coffee that would excite working baristas and still feel welcoming to everyday drinkers, and he treated sourcing great green coffee as the base everything else would rest on. To get there he studied agriculture, farming practices and sustainable business, looked for growers focused on quality, and paid particular attention to regions that few buyers were sourcing from. Many of the farm partnerships Coava still has began in those lean early years.
The first Coava cafe, on SE Grand Ave, opened in 2010 and at first also held all of the roasting. Production later moved into a 13,000 square foot roastery that includes a brew bar open to the public. Coava describes a sourcing model built on long-term producer relationships, with an agronomy audit carried out at each farm it buys from so it can judge whether the farm can deliver the quality it wants year after year. In 2018 the U.S. Small Business Administration named Matt Higgins its Oregon Small Business Person of the Year, and the shop was featured on Jerry Seinfeld's web series Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.
What they roast
Roast levels run drip roast profile and espresso roast profile. House blends include S.O. Blend and Pacific Wonderland. Single origins on the list when we checked: Kenya David Mburu (washed), El Salvador Enrique Posada (washed), Guatemala Nayo Ovalle (washed), Nicaragua La Llamarada (natural), Brazil Araponga (pulped natural), Ethiopia Meaza (washed), Ethiopia Kilenso (washed) and Colombia Robinson Figueroa (washed). Most coffees can be ordered in either a drip or an espresso roast profile. Decaf ASPROTimana, a washed Colombian decaf from the ASPROTimana cooperative in Huila; the decaf method is not stated. Offerings change with the seasons, so this is what their own pages listed on 2026-09-27.
Where to drink it
The roastery on SE Main St has a public brew bar (open Wednesday to Friday when checked) and hosts weekend cupping and brewing classes. Two more cafes are open daily.
- Coava Flagship: 1300 SE Grand Ave, Portland
- Coava Espresso Bar: 2631 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland
- Cafe and Roastery (Public Brew Bar): 1015 SE Main St, Portland
Address
1015 SE Main St, Portland, OR
Roastery with a public brew bar.
Why buying from Coava Coffee Roasters matters here
The cafes stock local partners: pastries from Bakeshop and Gluten Free Gem, syrups from The Commissary, chocolate from Woodblock Chocolate, tea from Smith Tea and chai from Tanglewood Chai. The Portland roastery runs weekend classes open to the public, including cuppings and espresso, milk steaming and pour-over workshops. The Hawthorne espresso bar is pitched as a neighborhood spot, with a couch and a fireplace for rainy days. Willamette Week readers voted Coava a winner in the 2017 Best of Portland poll.
Every bag bought from a Portland roaster pays roasting and cafe wages in Oregon, and the coffee reaches you days after roasting instead of months. That is the reason the club exists. Why local roasters matter.
About this listing
Listed as a local favorite. A listing does not mean Coava Coffee Roasters is part of the club.
Are you Coava Coffee Roasters? Email roasters@multnomahcoffeeclub.com to correct or remove this page.
More Oregon roasters
- Sterling Coffee Roasters, Portland
- Nossa Familia Coffee, Portland
- Portland Coffee Roasters, Portland