EDGEWATER — Coda Coffee Co. is getting into the coffee shop game after 10 years of supplying its beans wholesale to cafes and restaurants nationwide.
Brothers Tommy and Tim Thwaites officially opened their flagship brick-and-mortar retail store this week, in the former Edgewater Coffee Co. storefront at 5224 W. 25th Ave. near Sloan’s Lake. A grand opening celebration is planned for Sept. 18.
“The wholesale business has been great. We ship coast to coast, and we even do some international business. But we really wanted a venue where we could show our best to the public,” said co-founder Tommy Thwaites.
“Any new high-end coffee we have, new methods, anything we just came up with, we can throw in our own cafe and get to the public,” he said. “When you’re just a wholesale company, you don’t have that ability.”
Founded in 2005, the socially and environmentally conscious coffee roaster, named 2014 Macro Roaster of the Year by Roast Magazine, enters a booming craft coffee scene in Denver.
Over the past five years, small coffee roasters and boutique cafes have popped up at a rate seemingly exceeded only by craft breweries — Sweet Bloom in Lakewood, Huckleberry in Denver’s Sunnyside, Corvus on South Broadway and more.
Denver today rivals any major coffee city in the U.S., said Miguel Vicuna, who sits on the executive council of the Barista Guild of America and works as director of coffee education at Metropolis Coffee Denver.
“Seattle and Portland, there’s really great quality coffee shops in every neighborhood,” Vicuna said. “Denver is now at that point.”
Coda’s first-ever shop should help to bridge the gap between corporate chains and the tiniest craft roasters, he said.
“It’s going to be super exciting to see what Coda can bring to the table, especially on higher-end coffee,” Vicuna said.
Thwaites said he is not worried about the competition. A certified public benefit corporation, or B corp, Coda will continue to roast at its 18,500-square-foot facility in Adams County and sell beans wholesale.
“We’re one of those larger wholesale roasters, but we feel our quality is as good or better than any of the little guys,” Thwaites said. “We’re in a sweet spot — we’re not huge where we can’t source really good coffees, but we’re big enough that we’ve got some influence and leverage with the farmers and can take their best stuff.”
The new shop will serve rotational coffee and experiment with new brewing methods and drinks. Bulk coffee and classes will be available.
Coda also brags a one-of-a-kind cold coffee maker that Thwaites designed in their lab.
More science experiment than espresso machine, hot coffee goes into a funnel at the top and slowly spirals down the glass tube of a Graham condenser. Extra-cold saltwater outside the tube gradually chills the coffee as it flows by. Ninety seconds later, the coffee is at the bottom, cold and ready to be served.
Traditional cold brews, on the other hand, take 15 to 16 hours to brew, and coffee shops typically make them in large, single-variety batches.
“You can take any coffee we have — we can brew it on demand in a cone brewer — and you’ve got iced coffee. It’s smooth,” Thwaites said.
Emilie Rusch: 303-954-2457, erusch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/emilierusch