Coffee Roasters in Houston: 10 Local Roasters Worth Knowing
Date Published
Houston has at least ten independent coffee roasters who roast their own beans in the city. The most decorated is Three Keys Coffee on the South Side, named Food & Wine's best coffee roaster in Texas in 2022. The oldest commercial player is Katz Coffee, which has been roasting at its Karbach Street facility since 2003. Most sell retail bags online or at their own cafés, and a handful offer roastery tours, weekly cuppings, or classes.
Here's the list we'd hand anyone who wants to skip the national-brand shelf and drink something roasted in Houston.
The quick list
- Best decorated: Three Keys Coffee (South Side) — Food & Wine's best in Texas, 2022
- Oldest roaster: Katz Coffee (Northwest Houston, roasting since 2003)
- Book a tour: Three Keys Coffee — roastery tours and cuppings are bookable online
- Watch a live roast: Cleo Roasting Co. (West University) — glass-window viewing while you drink
- Most unusual story: Blendin Coffee Club — founder won the 2024 US Brewers Cup with a decaf
- At the grocery store: Three Keys Coffee — bags on the shelf at Houston Trader Joe's and Whole Foods
- No café needed: District Roasters — farmers markets and online only, no storefront
- Origin focus: XELA Coffee Roasters (Montrose) — rooted in Guatemalan coffee since 2014
How we chose
We included only roasters that roast their own beans in or near Houston, not cafés that buy from others. Each one had an active website or verified presence as of October 2026 and sells retail bags. For touring and cuppings, we only noted what the roaster publishes on its own site. Hours and events change, so treat all schedules below as typically and check the official site before you go.
The Heights and Northwest Houston
Boomtown Coffee
The Heights, 242 W 19th St · roastery and café · open daily
Boomtown is one of the Heights' most established cafés with its own roasting operation on-site. The 19th Street location is where the roasting happens, and the bag menu is organized by roast profile. Look for the Sonora (Costa Rican, chocolate and toffee notes), Beachside Cold Brew Blend and Spindletop House Blend. Two other Houston locations are at the Understory in the Downtown skywalk and Memorial Park.
Best for: a morning stop in The Heights that doubles as a bag purchase.
Katz Coffee
Northwest Houston, 2400 Karbach St · roastery and office · Mon–Fri
Katz has been roasting in Houston since 2003, making it one of the city's longest-running specialty roasters. The Karbach Street address is a working roastery and office rather than a walk-in café, but it hosts Eureka Coffee's weekly pour-over tastings on Tuesdays and offers roastery tours by arrangement. The catalog runs more than 100 products: single-origins from a dozen countries, signature blends, an Eureka micro-lot line and the Cause Coffee series, which directs proceeds to organizations including Camp Hope and Rice University.
Best for: mail-order exploration and a serious cupping session.
Tenfold Coffee
The Heights, 101 Aurora St · café daily 7 AM–6 PM
Tenfold's roasting happens at a dedicated facility on Garrow Street in EaDo (not open to the public), but the Heights café at 101 Aurora is the most accessible place to taste the results and pick up a bag. Weekly coffee classes in Tenfold's on-site training lab are worth booking if you want to go deeper. The Full Stop Espresso Blend is the café's workhorse. A second location sits at 1550 Lamar St near Discovery Green in downtown Houston.
Best for: a weekday espresso, a bag to take home and coffee classes for the curious.
South Side Houston
Three Keys Coffee
South Side, Houston · roastery and café
This is the most decorated roaster on this list, and the one we'd send any first-timer to. Food & Wine named Three Keys the best coffee roaster in Texas in 2022. Founders Tio and Kenzel Fallen have been Roast Magazine Micro Roaster of the Year finalists in 2024, 2025 and 2026 — three consecutive years. Kenzel was recognized in the global Sprudge 20 Class of 2022.
The brand's identity is built entirely on music: every blend is named for a musical concept and the tasting notes reference artists. The 33-1/3 LP is the signature filter blend; Round Midnight is the espresso blend. Bags are available in the online shop, at Houston Trader Joe's and Whole Foods locations, and at the café — which means you can find Houston-roasted coffee on your regular grocery run.
The roastery hosts bookable tours and cuppings. Among all Houston roasters, Three Keys publishes the most accessible public roastery program.
Best for: the best introduction to Houston's coffee-roasting scene. Start here.
Montrose and Upper Kirby
XELA Coffee Roasters
Montrose, 1617 Richmond Ave · Tue–Sun from 8 AM
XELA (pronounced "shay-la") takes its name from the local shorthand for Quetzaltenango, Guatemala — the hometown of co-founder Benji Aguilar's parents. Founded in 2014, the roastery was on White Oak Drive in the Heights for years. The original location closed in January 2026 and XELA reopened at 1617 Richmond Ave in Montrose in June 2026. The operation is Quality Grader Certified with in-house cupping and evaluation, specializing in Guatemalan and other Central American origins.
Note: The Heights address is permanently closed. The current address is 1617 Richmond Ave, Montrose.
Cleo Roasting Co. — and Cavo Coffee
West University, 2617 Bissonnet St #101 · Mon–Sat 9 AM–6 PM, Sun 9 AM–5 PM
Cleo Roasting and its café arm, Cavo Coffee, share a building at the corner of Bissonnet and Kirby. The café is the front; the roastery is visible through a glass window. Watching a live roast is free if you happen to be there when one is running. The flagship bag is the Fawn Espresso Blend, built for milk drinks; the Ethiopia Hirut Berhanu single-origin is named for the farmer who grew it. Packaging is eco-friendly, with a $1 return incentive on glass bottles.
Best for: watching a live roast through the glass window while drinking your espresso.
Blendin Coffee Club
Upper Kirby / Allen Pkwy, 3201 Allen Pkwy Suite 170 · Mon–Fri 7 AM–3 PM
Here's the fact that stops most people cold: Blendin founder Weihong Zhang won the 2024 US Brewers Cup — America's most prestigious coffee brewing competition — using a fully decaffeinated coffee. That combination of "won the national championship" and "with a decaf" almost never appears in the same sentence. Zhang has judged the Best of Panama auction for years.
The menu reflects that level of obsession. Geisha lots from Honduras, Colombia and Panama regularly appear. Hacienda La Esmeralda lots from Panama — these sell for hundreds of dollars per pound at auction — have appeared on the bar. A second Blendin location is in Sugar Land at 8410 US-90 ALT, open daily until 5:30 PM.
Best for: the most serious cup on this list, poured by one of the most credentialed palates in the country.
East End and EaDo
Greenway Coffee & Tea
East End roastery, 1302 Telephone Rd · Mon–Fri 7 AM–5:30 PM, Sat 8 AM–4 PM · café at 5 E Greenway Plz (weekdays only)
Founded in 2009 by David Buehrer, Ecky Prabanto and Niken Prabanto, Greenway is majority minority-owned and majority women-owned. The East End warehouse is a working roastery open to retail visitors on its posted hours; the Greenway Plaza café handles the weekday crowd. The roaster is a Loring Kestrel, a machine the specialty coffee industry uses specifically for its low emissions and energy efficiency. Blends are named for design movements (Mid-Century, Modern, Contemporary), and the micro-lot subscription rotates auction and specialty lots monthly.
Best for: a Saturday morning bag pickup at the roastery, or the micro-lot subscription if you want the rarest coffees they roast.
Amaya Coffee Roasters
EaDo roastery · available online · try at Catalina Coffee, 2201 Washington Ave
Amaya no longer operates a walk-in café, but the roastery continues operating and the online store remains active. The beans are named for the farmers who grew them: Ana Nolasco, Saul Reina and Fito Montiel are recurring lots, each a direct-trade single-origin priced $19–$27 per bag. The best café address to taste the beans in person is Catalina Coffee at 2201 Washington Ave in the Sixth Ward, which pours Amaya espresso.
Best for: buying a bag online and tasting a cup at Catalina Coffee on Washington Ave.
Online and at the farmers markets
District Roasters
No storefront · Tomball Farmers Market (Sat) · Rice Village and The Heights (alternating Sundays)
District Roasters has been roasting in Houston since 2014 with no brick-and-mortar café, selling instead at Houston farmers markets and through its online store (free shipping over $60). The model is rare in a city where most roasters eventually open a café. Look for the Whiskey Whisper aged coffee ($25, often sold out) and the Totally Righteous House Blend. The company describes itself as a social enterprise, sourcing direct from farmers to address economic need at origin.
Best for: a conversation with the roaster at the market booth, bag in hand.
Where cafés pour Houston-roasted beans
If you want to try a local roaster's beans before buying a bag, these cafés are the right stops:
- Catalina Coffee (2201 Washington Ave, Sixth Ward) — pours Amaya Coffee espresso and single-origins.
- Retrospect Coffee Bar (3709 La Branch St, Midtown, inside a restored 1921 Gulf gas station building) — a multi-roaster café that rotates Amaya, Three Keys and others; single-origin bags change biweekly.
- Cavo Coffee (2617 Bissonnet, West University) — pours Cleo Roasting Co. exclusively.
- Tenfold Coffee (101 Aurora, Heights; 1550 Lamar, Downtown) — pours Tenfold's own roasts only.
For the full list of coffee shops in Houston, including cafés that don't roast their own beans, see the companion guide.
Save this: a Houston roastery morning
One practical route for a morning built around local roasters. Use a rideshare or designate a driver — never drive between stops after drinking coffee.
- Start at Three Keys Coffee on the South Side. Book a roastery tour or cupping on their website before you go. Pick up a bag of the 33-1/3 LP for the road.
- Head to Blendin Coffee Club on Allen Parkway for a single-origin pour-over. Ask what's on the brew bar that day.
- Finish at Cleo Roasting / Cavo Coffee on Bissonnet, where you can watch the next roast through the glass window and pick up a bag of Fawn Espresso Blend.
More coffee in Houston
For neighborhood cafés that don't roast but source well, start with the best coffee shops in Houston. Heights-specific picks are at best coffee shops in the Heights, Montrose picks at best coffee shops in Montrose. For espresso in a cocktail, see best espresso martinis and coffee cocktails in Houston. For pairing a great cup with the best brunch in Houston, the Heights and Montrose neighborhoods have both within walking distance.
Last verified: October 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best coffee roaster in Houston?
Three Keys Coffee on the South Side is the most decorated local roaster: Food & Wine named it the best coffee roaster in Texas in 2022, and it has been a Roast Magazine Micro Roaster of the Year finalist in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Blendin Coffee Club on Allen Parkway is also exceptional — its founder won the 2024 US Brewers Cup national competition.
Can you tour a coffee roastery in Houston?
Yes. Three Keys Coffee publishes bookable roastery tours and cuppings on its website. Katz Coffee offers tours by arrangement and hosts weekly pour-over tastings in its lobby on Tuesdays. Cleo Roasting Co. on Bissonnet has a glass-window viewing area where you can watch roasting happen during your visit.
Where can I buy locally roasted coffee in Houston?
All ten roasters on this list sell retail bags online. Three Keys Coffee is also available at Trader Joe's and Whole Foods locations across Houston. District Roasters sells at the Tomball Farmers Market on Saturdays and alternates between Rice Village and the Heights on Sundays.
Who roasts the coffee at Catalina Coffee in Houston?
Catalina Coffee at 2201 Washington Ave in the Sixth Ward pours Amaya Coffee Roasters beans. Amaya is an EaDo-based roaster that sources direct-trade single-origins named for the individual farmers who grew them.
What is the oldest coffee roaster in Houston?
Katz Coffee has been roasting in Houston since 2003 at its Karbach Street facility in Northwest Houston, making it one of the city's longest-operating specialty roasters.
Does Houston have specialty coffee roasters?
Yes. Houston has at least ten active independent roasters. Three Keys Coffee won Food & Wine's Best Coffee Roaster in Texas award in 2022 and has been a Roast Magazine Micro Roaster of the Year finalist for three consecutive years. Blendin Coffee Club's founder won the 2024 US Brewers Cup national competition.