Best Independent Coffee Roasters in Saint Paul, Minnesota (2026)
Saint Paul's roasters sit in two corridors: Randolph Avenue and Saint Clair Avenue in the Macalester-Groveland area, and the Midway and Saint Anthony Park industrial blocks near the Minneapolis line. Stated founding years on the roster run from 2001 to 2026. This guide covers Saint Paul only; Minneapolis has its own guide.
We've mapped the active independent coffee roasters inside Saint Paul as of September 2026. Every fact below comes from the roaster's own website, with at most one press source per roaster cited inline. Where a site does not state something (a founding year, a roasting machine, an address), this guide does not state it either. One listed roaster, Kopplin's, closed its cafe in 2025 and now sells online and wholesale only; it is included on that basis. The orbit section covers roasters within about 20 kilometers that Roast Local lists under a neighboring city.
Randolph Avenue and Saint Clair Avenue
JS Bean Factory
JS Bean Factory, which its site also calls The Bean Factory, is at 1518 Randolph Avenue. The site states it was established in 2001 as an independently owned coffee shop and roastery. Roasting happens on the premises on a 25 kilo Probat, after starting on a 6 pound roaster. The shop serves three brewed coffees daily, two regular and one decaf, and sells single origins and blends, including a house blend named Steve's Smokey Double Dark, in the cafe and through an online shop. Seating is inside, on a patio, and in a backyard.
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
Stepwise Coffee
Stepwise Coffee runs a cafe at 893 Randolph Avenue that its site lists as open on Saturday and Sunday. The About page says the business started as a roasting project. The catalog is washed single-origin lots from Burundi, Ethiopia, and Colombia in 10.5 ounce bags, with repeat purchases from the same washing stations year over year (the site notes a third year buying Ethiopia Suke Quto). Stepwise sells online, takes wholesale inquiries, and also sells a hand grinder of its own design, the STP-1 mini.
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
Roots Roasting
Roots Roasting is at 1552 Saint Clair Avenue, a few blocks from Randolph. The site describes a traditional roasting approach at a middle roast level, with most green coffee sourced through a local importer and every coffee cupped with Saint Paul tap water. Roots opened in 2018 on a 5 kilo US Roaster Corp machine (per Daily Coffee News). Coffee is sold at the roastery, online with flat-rate shipping in 12 ounce and 5 pound bags, on bi-weekly and monthly subscriptions, and wholesale to accounts the site names, including Brake Bread, J. Selby's, Kowalski's Grand Avenue Market, and Lost Fox.
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
Midway and Saint Anthony Park
SK Coffee
SK Coffee was founded in 2017 by Sam Kjellberg and Nate Broadbridge, per its About page, and began by roasting one bag at a time for online subscribers. The Saint Paul location is the Vandalia Tower coffee bar at 550 Vandalia Street, which opened in 2021 beside a 1,200 square foot roastery running a San Franciscan SF-25 (per Daily Coffee News). The catalog is exclusively single origin, roasted to order, with a Rarities line of microlots. SK operates three cafes (the other two are in Minneapolis), a wholesale program, subscriptions, local delivery in Minnesota, and international shipping.
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
True Stone Coffee Roasters
True Stone was founded by Bruce and Charlene Olson in 2003, per its site, originally as a cafe on Cleveland Avenue. The roastery is now at 755 Prior Avenue North, Suite 113, in a converted canning factory the site places in the Midway neighborhood, with a bottling line and an SCA-accredited training lab. Roasting runs three to five days a week in batches of 60 pounds or less, on Cropster software; the equipment is a 30 kilo US Roaster Corp drum roaster and a 1 kilo San Franciscan (per Daily Coffee News). True Stone sells wholesale to cafes, restaurants, and breweries, online with subscriptions, and by pickup at the roastery. Named blends include Blueprint Blend, Euro Blend, and True Stone Blend.
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
Tact Coffee
Tact Coffee, short for Tea And Coffee Thoughtfully, opened in February 2026 at 2386 Territorial Road in the former Roundtable Coffee Works space in south Saint Anthony Park (per the Park Bugle). The cafe sells whole-bean coffee under its own name, including single-producer Colombian lots sourced through a Huila exporter and two named blends, BUDS for espresso and Dewdrop for cold brew, with monthly subscriptions in 12 ounce and 5 pound sizes. The site does not state where the coffee is roasted. Bicycle delivery is offered for local online orders (per the Park Bugle).
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
Online and wholesale only
Kopplin's
Kopplin's was founded in 2006 as a cafe in Saint Paul, per its site, opening in Highland Park and moving to Marshall Avenue in 2011 (per the Pioneer Press). The cafe closed in October 2025 after 19 and a half years; the site states that roasting continues off-site and that beans and subscriptions ship throughout the continental US, with wholesale partners and neighborhood delivery. There is no public address. The site describes the roasting as rooted in European-style coffee traditions.
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
The Saint Paul orbit: West Side, Oakdale, Lake Elmo
These roasters are listed on Roast Local under a neighboring city and sit within about 20 kilometers of downtown Saint Paul.
Backstory Coffee Roasters
Backstory describes itself as a Saint Paul roasting company established in 2014. Its site gives the roastery and original coffee bar as 432 Wabasha Street South, on the West Side of Saint Paul, opened in June 2019; a second bar opened in the Minneapolis North Loop in October 2022 and a third at Bloomington Central Station in August 2024. Named organic blends are Narrator and Wayfinder, sold online with subscriptions. Roast Local currently lists Backstory under West St. Paul.
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
Ember and Bean Roasting Co
Ember and Bean runs an espresso bar at 7600 2nd Street North in Oakdale, beneath an apartment building. The site states that all of its roasting happens at its Hudson, Wisconsin location, and dates the origin of the business to a 2017 trip to Peru.
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
Sunshine Coffee Co.
Sunshine Coffee describes itself as an independent coffee shop and roastery in downtown Lake Elmo with house-roasted, small-batch beans and a bean store. The site gives a mailing address on Lake Elmo Avenue North and no founding year.
See their full profile on Roast Local | Visit their website
What makes Saint Paul's roasting scene distinctive
The roster spans 25 years of stated founding dates. JS Bean Factory (2001), True Stone (2003), and Kopplin's (2006) all state founding years in the 2000s; SK Coffee (2017) and Roots (2018) opened in the late 2010s; Tact opened in February 2026. Two of the 2000s operators have changed shape since: True Stone moved from a Cleveland Avenue cafe to a Prior Avenue roastery, and Kopplin's closed its cafe in 2025 and kept roasting.
Two corridors hold the addresses. Randolph Avenue and Saint Clair Avenue carry JS Bean Factory, Stepwise, and Roots within a few blocks of each other. The Midway and Saint Anthony Park blocks along the Minneapolis line carry SK Coffee on Vandalia Street, True Stone on Prior Avenue, and Tact on Territorial Road.
Roasting equipment is stated for most of the roster. JS Bean Factory names a 25 kilo Probat; True Stone a 30 kilo US Roaster Corp and a 1 kilo San Franciscan; Roots a 5 kilo US Roaster Corp; SK a San Franciscan SF-25. Stepwise and Tact do not name a machine on their sites.
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many independent coffee roasters are in Saint Paul?
We've mapped 8 active independent coffee roasters inside Saint Paul: JS Bean Factory and Stepwise on Randolph Avenue, Roots Roasting on Saint Clair Avenue, SK Coffee on Vandalia Street, True Stone on Prior Avenue, Tact in Saint Anthony Park, and Kopplin's, which now sells online and wholesale only. Minneapolis is counted separately and has its own guide.
What is Saint Paul's oldest coffee roaster?
By stated founding year, JS Bean Factory at 1518 Randolph Avenue, which its site says was established in 2001 and roasts on the premises on a 25 kilo Probat. True Stone states a 2003 founding and Kopplin's 2006.
Which Saint Paul coffee roasters ship?
Kopplin's ships beans and subscriptions throughout the continental US. SK Coffee ships internationally and offers local delivery in Minnesota. Roots Roasting ships in 12 ounce and 5 pound bags at a flat rate, and True Stone sells online with subscriptions and pickup at its Prior Avenue roastery. Stepwise and Tact both run online shops.
Is Minneapolis covered in this guide?
No. This guide is Saint Paul only. SK Coffee's two other cafes are in Minneapolis, and Backstory's second bar is in the North Loop, but Minneapolis roasters are covered in the Minneapolis guide.
Last updated: September 2026