Every business has a beginning. Ours started with a dream, a little curiosity, and a lot of figuring things out along the way.
Today, Garden Coffee Roasters is a woman-led, Honduran-rooted coffee business roasting fresh coffee in Littleton, Colorado. But before the farmers markets, the coffee bags, and the roasting space we have today, there was simply an idea.
And that idea started with a grandmother.
he Garden Coffee Roasters Story: A Dream That Started It All
In 2013, after losing her grandmother, Garden Coffee’s founder, a woman originally from Honduras, found herself wondering what she should do with her life. Then one night, she had a dream about her grandmother.
In that dream, her grandmother appeared and told her to start a coffee business.
There was no business plan, no roasting equipment, and no guarantee that the idea would work. But the dream stayed with her.
When she shared it with her husband, he thought coffee sounded like a good idea, too.
So they decided to give it a try.
Getting to Know the People Behind the Coffee
They started researching coffee and reaching out to small coffee farmers, including producers across the border.
Some farmers were kind enough to send complimentary samples so they could taste the coffee and learn more about what they were growing.
For a woman from Honduras building a life in the United States, coffee also offered a connection to her roots.
But finding good coffee was only the beginning. They still needed to figure out how to roast it.
Our First Coffee Roaster Came From Craigslist
At first, they contacted roasting businesses around the city, hoping to find someone who could help them get started.
Unfortunately, the prices were more than they could afford. Buying expensive roasting equipment wasn’t an option, either.
Then they found a coffee roaster for sale on Craigslist. Instead of paying the entire amount in cash, they worked out a deal involving cash and coffee.
Yes, they actually traded coffee as part of the deal!
It wasn’t exactly a traditional business investment, but it gave them a chance to get started.
With their first roaster secured, they made some space in their yard and created a small area where they could begin roasting coffee.
No fancy facility. No big team. Just a small roasting setup, a lot of learning, and the determination to make something work.
The Farmers Market Visit That Changed Things
One day in July, they visited a farmers market for a completely different reason.
They were there to buy knives.
But before leaving home, they decided to bring some of their coffee along, just to see what people thought about it.
They weren’t planning a big launch or expecting anything special. They simply wanted honest opinions.
That small decision became an important moment in Garden Coffee’s story.
It gave them the opportunity to introduce their coffee to people, hear their reactions, and begin understanding what customers enjoyed.
Over time, farmers markets became an important part of the business, allowing Garden Coffee to build relationships with customers and become part of the local community.
Learning That Not Every Business Idea Works
The journey wasn’t always easy.
At one point, they decided to open a coffee shop. It was an exciting opportunity, but running the shop required more investment than they could sustain.
Eventually, they made the difficult decision to sell it.
There were other unexpected turns, too.
Garden Coffee was invited to participate in a Latino event connected to University Hills. Unfortunately, the opportunity didn’t work out as they had hoped.
But that wasn’t the end of their connection to the area.
They later began selling at the farmers market, finding another way to introduce their coffee to the community.
Looking back, those experiences became part of the learning process.
Some ideas worked. Others didn’t. And sometimes the opportunities that didn’t go as planned helped them discover a better direction.
From a Backyard Roaster to Littleton, Colorado
Eventually, Garden Coffee moved into a better space with a barn, giving them more room to roast coffee and continue growing the business.
It was a big change from the small setup in the yard where everything had started.
Today, Garden Coffee Roasters operates in Littleton, Colorado, roasting specialty coffee and connecting with customers through local farmers markets and online orders.
Our Honduran roots remain an important part of who we are, and we take pride in sharing coffee that reflects the work of the farmers behind every harvest.
We believe good coffee should be about more than what’s in the cup. It should also be about the people, the relationships, and the care that goes into producing it.
More Than Just a Bag of Coffee
When you buy a bag of Garden Coffee, you’re supporting a small business that didn’t start with a perfect plan or unlimited resources.
It started with a grandmother’s message in a dream.
A Honduran woman willing to try something new.
A husband who believed in the idea.
Farmers who shared their coffee.
A roaster found on Craigslist.
A little space in the yard.
And an unexpected trip to a farmers market.
There have been challenges, changes, and plenty of lessons since then. And we’re still learning.
But what started as a dream in 2013 has become something we’re proud to share with our community.
Thank you for being part of Garden Coffee’s story.
Whether you’ve been buying our coffee for years, stopped by our booth at a farmers market, or are just discovering us, your support means more than you know.
From our roaster to your home, thank you for supporting a small, Honduran-rooted business in Colorado.
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The Garden Coffee Roasters story reminds us that sometimes the most unexpected beginnings can lead to something meaningful.