We roast in small batches a few feet from the bar, on a 12kg Loring, profiling each origin by hand. Here’s how a bean gets from a farm we know to the mug in your hands.
Foglifter opened in 2014 as a six-stool espresso bar with a borrowed grinder and a lot of opinions about water temperature. In 2017 we put a 12-kilo roaster in the back, and the café became a roastery you can sit inside of. A decade in, we still buy green coffee from importers we can call by name, roast in small batches we taste through every morning, and chalk the day’s offering on the same board we started with.
We buy from importers and a handful of farms we can call by name — paying transparent, above-market prices and tasting every lot before it ships.
Green coffee arrives, rests, and gets cupped blind. We score it, write tasting notes, and decide which lots earn a spot on the board.
Small batches on our Loring Smart Roast, profiled by hand. Each origin gets a curve built around its sugars — light enough to taste the farm, developed enough to drink black.
Fresh-roasted coffee needs to degas. We rest beans before they hit the bar or the bag, so what you brew is at its peak, not its loudest.
Pulled to order at the bar, or bagged within days of roast and shipped to your door. Roast date on every bag — never a “best by.”
Every bean is roasted in small batches a few feet from the bar — never older than it should be.
We buy from importers and farms we can call by name and pay transparent, above-market prices.
Every bag is stamped with the day it was roasted. Coffee is fresh food; we treat it that way.
Oat, almond, soy — always free. Good coffee shouldn’t come with a surcharge for how you take it.
We pay a living wage, share tips fairly, and train baristas who actually want to be here.
Free wifi, real chairs, outlets you can find, and a patio your dog is welcome on. Stay a while.
Sourcing. Sourcing note: we buy green coffee through direct-trade and specialty importer relationships, paying transparent prices above Fair Trade and commodity benchmarks. Where a coffee is certified organic or Fair Trade, it’s labeled on the bag. Roast dates are printed, never “best by.”
Four methods, four recipes. Dial these in with fresh beans and you’ll get café-quality coffee at home.
A clean, bright cup. Great for our washed Kenyans and Ethiopians.
Forgiving and fast. The travel brewer we keep in our bags.
Full-bodied and rich. Our Lowlight blend loves this.
Espresso-adjacent and cozy. Try it with a darker single origin.
LimitedElectric and juicy — the Kenyan that converts people to filter coffee.
PopularA natural Ethiopian that tastes like a basket of blueberries.
Pink Bourbon from a single farm — apple, caramel, and a floral lift.
Classic, comforting Antigua — chocolate and spice, no surprises in the best way.
Earthy, low-acid, and full-bodied — the dark-roast lover’s single origin.
LimitedA rotating, numbered micro-lot — the most special green we can get our hands on.
We’re on SE Belmont, roasting in the back and open seven days. Come in for a cortado and a window seat — or start a subscription and we’ll ship fresh beans to your door.