UPWard Coffee

At UPWard Coffee, everything starts with one single-sourced organic bean, whether it's from the rich soils of Honduras, the highlands of Ethiopia, the volcanic terrain of Guatemala or a new hotspot for amazing coffee. We craft roast each batch with care right here in Houghton, Michigan, ensuring every cup delivers bold flavor, local pride, and a commitment to quality from farm to mug. We use only one organic bean per season, roasted in the same small batch size, to ensure the most consistent fresh roasted beans possible. My name is Darin Ward, and I have been the owner and head roaster at UPWard Coffee since 2022. Roasting organic coffee beans has been a passion of mine since 2010, when I got my first 1lb air roaster. There's nothing like the smell of freshly roasted coffee that is freshly ground, and there's nothing like the rich flavor fresh roasted, freshly ground beans create in the cup! My 1lb roaster died in 2020 and I decided to up my roasting game with a 3.5kg machine, which finally arrived in the winter of 2021. That led me to roasting with computer data collection, and roasting one bean at one batch size to five different roast levels: light, medium, full city, dark and espresso, to eliminate variables and achieve consistency roast after roast. I started giving away bags of beans to new patients at UPWard Orthodontics, and then folks wanted to buy more, and it has taken off from there! Over the past 3+ years, UPWard Coffee has grown exponentially, resulting in two successful Copper Country Jr. Hockey fundraisers, our beans being sold in multiple locations across the Keweenaw Peninsula, and most recently the addition of "Big Yo", our 15kg gas roaster, which has increased our capacity to over 100lbs/hour. We have also added Organic Swiss Water Processed Decaf to our single-source bean lineup. I hope you enjoy brewing and drinking UPWard Coffee as much as I enjoy creating it. UPWard and On-ward, and LOVE the Grind! Darin J. Ward, Owner and Roaster at UPWard Coffee