Fourteener Coffee Club
At a glance
- Roasts inPaonia, CO
- Founded2017
- Founded byJay Bagley
- VisitorsOpen to the public
Bower Coffee is one of the beloved local roasters we follow in Colorado: an independent roaster based in Paonia, founded in 2017. Here is what their own pages and public sources say about them, in our words.
Their story
The business was Rubicon Coffee, founded by Jay Bagley. His son-in-law Jacob Bower apprenticed there from 2020 and bought it in April 2024. In July 2025 Rubicon was renamed Bower Coffee. Beans come from small organic farmer co-ops. The roastery opened in 2017 as Rubicon Roasting, was renamed Rubicon Coffee in 2021 and took the Bower name in 2025.
Founder Jay Bagley first got to know Colorado in 1972 during an Air Force posting to Colorado Springs, and settled in Paonia after years of work travel and time in Alaska. Jacob Bower came from a long restaurant career and became head roaster; by the time he bought the company, its coffee was carried at more than 50 local and regional outlets. Wholesale buyers range from restaurants, hotels and specialty grocers to gas stations, and the roastery can produce private label coffee with custom packaging.
Its Honduras is a micro lot grown by Ludwing Aguilar on the El Alto farm in Ocotepeque, and many of the cafes it supplies pull it as espresso.
What they roast
Roast levels run light, medium, dark and Italian. House blends include Landsend Blend, Lamborn Blend, Dark Skies Blend, Top of the Rockies Blend and Midway Half-Caff Blend. Single origins on the list when we checked: Honduras, Peru, Colombia, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Mexico and Brazil. Decaf: Mexico Decaf. Offerings change with the seasons, so this is what their own pages listed on 2026-09-28.
Where to drink it
The Paonia shop is open Tuesday to Saturday.
Address
77 Highway 133, Paonia, CO 81428
Roastery and shop.
Why buying from Bower Coffee matters here
Dark Skies, once called the Rubicon Espresso Blend, was renamed for the dark night skies over the North Fork Valley and mixes organic Sumatra with organic Guatemala.
Every bag bought from a Paonia roaster pays roasting and cafe wages in Colorado, 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 Bower Coffee is part of the club.
Are you Bower Coffee? Email coffee@fourteenercoffeeclub.com to correct or remove this page.
More Colorado roasters
- Convict Coffee Company, Parker
- 3 Birds Coffee Co., Pueblo
- Mane Brew Coffee, Pueblo
By Joe McRose, Fourteener Coffee Club. Updated . Facts from Bower Coffee's own pages and public sources, read 2026-09-28.