Fourteener Coffee Club
What is single origin coffee?
Single origin coffee is coffee grown in one known place and sold without mixing in coffee from anywhere else. That place ranges from a whole country down to one field on one farm, picked on one day. The label tells you where the coffee grew, and the cup shows how that place tastes.
How narrow a single origin goes
Wikipedia's article on single-origin coffee describes three levels, from widest to smallest. Colorado roasters we list sell all three, as their shops showed on September 27, 2026.
| Level | What it means | A Colorado example |
|---|---|---|
| Country or region | Coffee from one producing country, or one region within it | Conscious Coffees' Ethiopia Yirgacheffe and Sumatra Gayo |
| Estate | Coffee from one farm, from a few acres to a large plantation | Kaladi's Costa Rica Tarrazu Hacienda La Minita; Loyal's Kenya Malaki Estate |
| Micro-lot | Coffee from a single field, a small band of altitude and a particular day of harvest | Huckleberry's Guatemala Don Zabala Microlot; the micro-lot especial category at Durango Coffee Company |
Many bags sit between the levels. A cooperative lot, such as Conscious Coffees' Colombia Cauca from the COSURCA cooperative, comes from many small farms in one area. A washing station lot, such as the Ethiopia Danche that appears at Huckleberry, Novo and Sweet Bloom, comes from the farmers who deliver cherries to one mill.
Wikipedia also notes there are no universal rules or governing body for coffee labels. "Single origin" means what the roaster says it means, so the most useful bags name the farm, the producer or the station.
What single origin coffee tastes like
A single origin tastes like its place and its processing, for better and for worse. The same farm tastes different from one harvest to the next, which is the point for the people who love it. Wikipedia's single-origin article says coffee shops use single origins to highlight the producer and the coffee's origin, and its roasting article says a light roast is the level that shows origin character most fully. That is why so many single origins are sold light.
Processing shows too. Wikipedia's Geisha article describes washed coffees as cleaner and brighter and natural coffees, dried inside the fruit, as fuller bodied and fruitier. See natural process coffee.
Single origin vs blend
| Single origin | Blend | |
|---|---|---|
| Source | One country, region, farm or lot | Two or more origins |
| Goal | Show a place | Hit a taste the roaster designed |
| From bag to bag | Changes with harvest and lot | Kept steady |
| Availability | Seasonal; lots sell out | Year-round, apart from seasonal blends |
| Best brewed | Black: pour over, Chemex, drip | Anything, and a common choice for espresso and milk drinks |
The full picture of the other side is on the coffee blend page.
Single origins from Colorado roasters
Almost every roaster we list sells single origins. A few details from their own shops, checked September 27, 2026. These are local favorites, and a listing does not mean the roaster is part of the club.
- OZO in Boulder sells a Guatemala lot from Andres Recinos Perez that won the 2026 CODECH competition.
- Sweet Bloom in Lakewood expects each small lot to taste its best for about one to three months, so its list turns over quickly.
- Color in Eagle sells experimental single origins in its Artist Reserve line, such as a honey processed co-ferment from Colombian producer Andres Martinez.
- Peregrine in Westcliffe has bought from the same Burundi farmer for eight years.
A single origin from a Colorado roaster tells you two places at once: the farm where it grew and the town where it was roasted. Buying it here pays the roaster who went looking for that lot. Why local roasters matter.
How to get single origin coffee in the club
In the plan builder, set the style to single origin. Each box then brings a single origin from a different independent Colorado roaster, 12 oz, $16.99 a bag, with the first bag free and $7.99 shipping on that first box. The single origin subscription page explains the plan. Choose two bags and make the second a blend, for mornings when you want the familiar cup.
Sources and related terms
- Microlot, washing station, cooperative, direct trade
- Ethiopian coffee and Kenya coffee, two origins Colorado roasters sell as single origins
Sources:
- Wikipedia, Single-origin coffee (definition, the three levels, labeling rules, use in coffee shops)
- Wikipedia, Coffee roasting (light roast and origin character)
- Wikipedia, Geisha (coffee) (washed and natural cups)
- Colorado roaster facts: the roasters' own pages as summarized on our roaster profiles, checked 2026-09-27.
By Joe McRose, Fourteener Coffee Club. Updated .