Top 4 San Jose Specialty Coffee Roasters
San Jose is home to many unique coffee roasters that offer a wide range of coffee choices.
Even the pickiest coffee lover with the most refined palate will be able to find something that suits their preferences perfectly.
To get the best coffee experience money can buy, you must first get acquainted with the best coffee roasters in San Jose, so you can pick what’s right for you.
The best-rated coffee company in San Jose is Chromatic Coffee. Other companies with excellent reviews and amazing coffee are Academic Coffee, Voltaire Coffee Roasters, and Voyager Craft Coffee.
If you’re stopping by in San Jose or looking for an enhanced coffee experience as a resident of the city, this guide will help you find the right coffee place for you.
We’ll examine some of the best roasters in the city, see what they offer, and why you should visit them.
1. Chromatic Coffee
Chromatic Coffee is one of the most praised coffee roasters in San Jose. They offer an amazing choice of beans, roasts, flavors, and aromas.
Their coffee comes in different bag sizes, and the staff is always friendly and welcoming, so you’ll feel like you’re right at home when you visit.
The company was founded in 2012, when it consisted of a roastery in a tin shack and a small cafe in Santa Clara.
They have only grown since then, and the company has moved around a few times, eventually settling on Lincoln Avenue in San Jose.
They focus on providing their customers with the highest-quality coffee possible, with black and hand-poured coffee being their specialties.
They also offer different seasonal blends and single-origin coffees, so there’s always something for everyone’s taste.
The number of different coffee types you can order from Chromatic Coffee is hard to rival.
There are regional coffees, such as Latin American or Indo-Pacific coffee.
They offer several different blends, including decaf coffee, so you can enjoy their amazing roasts even if you are sensitive to caffeine.
They also like experimenting with their coffee and creating interesting combinations of flavors.
One type of coffee they particularly push forward is yeast-fermented coffee.
They use different types of yeast, so you can find coffee fermented with champagne or Bourgogne yeast, just to name a few.
Such combinations open up completely new taste dimensions and may change the way you see coffee forever.
Of course, if such exotic aromas are not your thing, you can also choose more traditional roasts and enjoy those.
Chromatic’s coffee is packaged in different bags. There are usually three options:
- 8 ounces (226.8 g)
- 2 lbs (0.9 kg)
- 5 lbs (2.27 kg)
This may vary from coffee to coffee, but you can generally expect these quantities. You can also choose between different grind sizes.
You can pick one of the following:
- Whole bean
- Drip
- Espresso
- Aeropress
- Press
Another great option they offer is their subscription service. You can pick the type of coffee you want, how much of it you want, and when you want it.
You also get a discount on every bag, and the company takes care of everything.
You can quit anytime, so it’s an amazing option if you want high-quality coffee delivered right to your doorstep whenever it’s convenient for you.
Their coffee shop also offers some food, such as savory hand pies and sweet potato pies.
Thus, in addition to amazing coffee, you can have a quick bite while you kick back and relax in the lovely atmosphere of the coffee shop.
2. Academic Coffee
Academic Coffee is a coffee shop, roastery, and bakery that offers a wide range of coffee drinks, teas, coffee bags, and pastries.
It is very well loved by its regular customers and constantly attracts new ones.
Since there is so much to choose from, it’s impossible not to find something you like there, both in terms of food and drinks.
They have a reasonably wide range of roasts that will satisfy most people.
Unlike Chromatic Coffee, they seem to stick to more traditional flavors and don’t experiment much.
While this makes their range less broad, there are still plenty of roasts to try, and it’s a bit easier to choose since there aren’t as many options to choose from.
One drawback is that their roasts only come in 12 oz (340.19 g) bags. This means it’s more difficult to customize your orders and get exactly the amount you need.
However, for the average consumer, 12 oz (340.19 g) should be more than enough for one order, and you can always order multiple bags.
Currently, they offer six different coffee bags, and they’re as follows:
- Rose Garden Blend: This blend got its name after one of the most beautiful parks in San Jose. It’s good enough on its own, but it can also be enjoyed with milk. It has notes of caramel, apple, and berries.
- Alum Rock Blend: This blend comes from Brazil and Colombia and tastes of caramel, chocolate, and plum. It’s a dark roast, and it’s a great choice if you want a morning boost.
- Guadalupe House Espresso Blend: This is a great blend consisting of coffee from Guatemala and Ethiopia. You can use it on its own or with milk; it’s great either way.
- Decaf Inza Colombia: Even though it’s decaf, this medium roast tastes great. It has light citrus and milk chocolate notes and can satisfy most coffee drinkers.
- Ethiopia Guji: As the name suggests, this coffee comes from the Guji region of Ethiopia. It has subtle aromas of berry and cocoa and can be used for espresso or other brewing methods.
- Guatemala Huehuetenango: This medium roast has a great combination of chocolate, walnut, and toffee. It can be used for all sorts of coffee drinks and won’t leave anyone disappointed.
All the coffee bags you get from Academic are compostable, making them quite an eco-friendly choice.
In addition to the coffee, they also offer premium matcha for passionate tea lovers.
There is also a wide range of growlers, cans, chocolates, and brewing equipment on offer.
However, one of their biggest selling points is their choice of pastries.
You can find many different croissants and donuts to fulfill your coffee-enjoying experience and get the most bang for your buck when visiting the coffee shop.
Unfortunately, Academic doesn’t offer a subscription service. If you like the convenience of getting coffee straight to your doorstep, you might be deterred from using this company.
However, their focus is on the coffee shop and the experience you can get there, so you should feel encouraged to go and visit them.
3. Voltaire Coffee Roasters
The Voltaire Coffee Roasters company was founded with a lot of passion for high-quality specialty coffee and a love for the city of San Jose.
The company’s name is an homage to the great 18th-century philosopher Voltaire, who was a massive fan of coffee and allegedly had more than 50 cups a day.
The coffee shop is located in downtown San Jose, which situates it in a great location from which it helps many people of Silicon Valley to start their day.
You’ll love Voltaire and its amazing blends if you’re a fan of exotic coffee choices.
Right now, they offer six different blends of coffee. While that number is not particularly high, all the choices are exotic, delicious, and unique, so everyone can find something for themselves.
You’re almost guaranteed to keep coming back once you try their coffee.
Every blend comes in a 12 oz (340.19 g) bag, which should be enough coffee for most people.
Some may find it to be too much to buy at once, but thankfully, coffee doesn’t spoil easily if you store it properly, so you’ll have a nice stock of high-quality coffee at an affordable price.
Here are the coffees they offer.
- Brazil, Cerrado Mineiro: This coffee comes from Brazil, which is one of the biggest producers of coffee and is synonymous with high quality. It has notes of hazelnut, cherry, cacao, and roasted peanuts, which is an amazing, yummy combination bound to appeal to almost everyone.
- Indonesia Blue Dragon: This is a well-loved type of coffee that appeals to many because of its natural sweetness and unique taste. With its notes of tobacco, grapefruit, and blueberry, you’d have to try really hard not to like it.
- 360 Espresso Blend: As the name suggests, this blend was created specifically for espresso. It is a combination of coffees from Brazil, Indonesia, El Salvador, and Ethiopia. It has chocolate and nutty tones, with nice fruity undertones.
- El Salvador, Ilamatepec: This is an amazing coffee from El Salvador, which takes pride in naturally producing high-quality coffee. It has interesting notes of chestnut, milk chocolate, cedar, and licorice, which make it a great treat.
- Ethiopia, Yirgacheffe: Ethiopia is home to some of the best coffee in the world, and this pick from Voltaire is well worth that description. It has a slightly acidic taste with notes of toffee, jasmine, and candied lemon.
- Kenya, AA: This Kenyan coffee is grown in volcanic soil by small farmers who guarantee the quality of their coffee. This coffee has nice complex aromas of pineapple, citrus, brown sugar, vanilla, and bergamot.
Voltaire Roasters also offers a decent selection of high-quality tea, and you can also have a quick bite in their coffee shop.
However, you shouldn’t go there expecting a feast because the food choice is limited, so you might not find something that suits you.
One big drawback is that you can’t choose the ground size, so you’ll have to make do with what they send you.
If you want to fine-tune your orders, you might be deterred from this company.
However, if this is not a problem for you, you’ll enjoy their products very much.
4. Voyager Craft Coffee
Voyager Craft Coffee is present in several locations in San Jose, Santa Clara, and Cupertino.
This makes it very accessible, so you can enjoy your favorite coffee on the go.
Their diverse and passionate team aims to create intense and original coffee flavors, and it’s safe to say that they’re more than successful at this.
They started with just two people and a coffee cart in 2016 but have greatly expanded their business since.
The amount of effort and attention they invest in their coffee explains why they’ve managed to grow so much in such a short time.
The high quality of their coffee ensures old customers keep returning and helps them attract new ones.
Voyager mostly focuses on coffee and tea drinks, and it has an immense choice of both, so there’s something for everybody’s palate.
They also have a few sweet and savory pastries to go along with your coffee.
Their range of freshly-roasted coffee is limited to only two types, but they’re extremely high-quality.
You can also customize your order somewhat to tailor it to your needs.
The two roasts they offer are:
- Cascade Blend: This is a well-loved blend that includes Ethiopian and Brazilian coffees and has distinct chocolate and berry notes, which leaves you wanting more. You can choose the ground size and the bag size, so you can get it exactly how you like to have it.
- Ethiopia Kolla Bolcha: This coffee is not customizable, as it only comes in 250-gram (8.8-oz) bags, and you can’t choose the ground size. However, it has an amazing fruity flavor with notes of papaya, pomegranate, and cream.
There is no subscription service here, but you can order your coffee and pick it up at their nearest location.
Since they have a couple of locations, it probably won’t be hard to go and get your desired roast.
The company also offers different coffee makers, filters, and grinders, which will help you get the most bang for the buck from their roasted coffee.
You can also get their signature straws, headbands, and bags to show your support for Voyager.
Voyager Coffee Roasters are also vocal supporters of Black Lives Matter and try to educate their patrons on the issues of racism.
Therefore, supporting the company can also help activists fight for a good cause.
