Erie Coffee Roasters, LLC is a veteran-owned microroaster and cafe established in 2015 and located in Frederick, Colorado. Founded as a family-owned and operated business, Erie Coffee Roasters operates out of a unique venue - an airplane hangar at the Erie Airport, bringing a distinctive character to their roasting operations. The company is led by Head-Roaster Nate Zautke and Lisa Zautke, who handles business operations and marketing.
The company specializes in craft-roasted, direct trade, single origin coffee beans of the highest quality, with a particular focus on promoting Puerto Rican coffees to the mainland United States. Their commitment to direct trade and farmer relationships ensures that coffee growers receive fair compensation while providing customers with exceptional specialty grade coffee. Each coffee is carefully roasted on-site in small batches to express the best qualities of the bean.
Erie Coffee Roasters offers a comprehensive range of products and services including signature coffees, roaster's reserve selections, coffee blends for non-profits, subscriptions, loose leaf teas (including cascara), brewing supplies, merchandise, and 100% recyclable single-serve coffee pods. They operate their own ECR Cafe, which serves espresso-based drinks, drip coffee, pour-overs, and local baked goods, providing a welcoming atmosphere with free wifi for the community.
The company demonstrates strong environmental consciousness through their "reduce, reuse, recycle" philosophy, accepting back clips, cold brew bottles, and jars for sanitization and reuse. They donate spent coffee grounds, chaff from roasting, and hops from cold brew processing to gardeners, composters, farmers, and vermiculturalists. Additionally, they repurpose jute bags and pallets for community use.
Erie Coffee Roasters is FDA-registered and Colorado Health Department compliant, serving both wholesale and retail markets. They partner with numerous local businesses across the Front Range, including hotels, cafes, markets, and restaurants in Denver, Boulder, Broomfield, Lafayette, Loveland, Fort Collins, and Keensburg. The company also collaborates with non-profit organizations for fundraising opportunities and has created special coffee collections such as the Birds of Prey Foundation Raptor Collection.
Their ECR Cafe operates Monday through Friday from 7am to noon and Saturday from 8am to 1pm, offering custom hours for special events. The roastery ships orders twice weekly and prides itself on fresh roasting to order, typically providing 2-3 day turnaround time for roasting, packaging, and shipping preparation.