Named Metro's best new coffee roaster in 2013, Thrillist's top coffee company of the Bay Area in 2015, consistently praised and featured on Sprudge and highly rated by Coffee Review, with 514 5-star ratings and an average 4 star rating on Yelp, Chromatic Coffee can be found in a variety of cafes and specialty grocery shops across the wider Bay Area and Pacific Northwest, and proudly fueling innovation behind the scenes at many of the top tech companies in the world.
Our aesthetic leans light and lively, with roasting profiles carefully designed to showcase the natural beauty and complexity in each variety and cultivar we select. The team culture is plucky, inclusive, and DIY. We source carefully and locally when possible (sadly the local California climate is ill suited to coffee cultivation). We hot-stamp and pack our own bags and maintain our own machines. We constantly seek new innovations (notably, our Radio series, fine-tuned to the specific makeup of the local water supplies) and ways to contribute to our community (Throwdown Thursdays were a regular part of our early years, hopefully returning soon; we are pleased to be in partnership with Kartma and Recovery Cafe).
We're proud of the relationships we've built and continue to build with our producers in Central and South America, Yemen, Ethiopia, and elsewhere. We value everyone along our supply chain and everyone involved in bringing this beautiful artisanal treasure to our community. We show this through our purchase prices, and seek to continue to raise the wages of all employees to better accommodate the high local cost of living.
We seek to create a more just world through trade, not aid. We seek to honor, promote and elevate those voices that go unheard and unrecognized. We seek to collaborate with the entire coffee community worldwide to raise the public's standards of how coffee is produced, traded, and consumed.
LOCATION:
460 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose CA 95126
EMAIL (EASIER TO REACH US):
orders@chromaticcoffee.com
PHONE NUMBER:
(408) 753-1135
CHROMATIC'S TIMELINE OF GROWTH
In 2011, a small group of friends began conspiring in basements to build the coffee company of their dreams, starting out with little more than a sample roaster and a ticket to El Salvador.
In October of 2012, after much trial and error, grueling and unpaid labor, blood, sweat, and tears, Chromatic Coffee Company opened its doors for the first time: a roastery in a tin shack warehouse on Sunol Street, and a beautiful little cafe in Santa Clara.
In 2013, the roastery moved from Sunol Street to 19 North 2nd Street.
In 2017, a second cafe opened on 2nd Street.
In January 2018, the roastery moved to 460 Lincoln Street. (Back to Midtown where it all began!)