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Highwire Coffee Roasters is an East Bay owned and operated coffee roasting and tea company founded in 2011 by three longtime friends: Robert Myers, Rich Avella, and a third founding partner. The founders first connected in the mid-1990s and shared an approach to coffee they call "approachable excellence," with a combined 50+ years of coffee experience between them. The company began with a simple goal of buying, roasting, and blending coffees that they love and sharing these with the community. Highwire believed that a coffee company could be a force for good, creating spaces where everyone felt welcome and where connecting over coffee was more important than talking about coffee. Highwire roasts at their Emeryville facility Monday through Friday and operates multiple retail locations throughout the East Bay, including shops in Oakland (Rockridge, Broadway, Montclair Village, Prescott Market Hall), Berkeley, Albany (Flowerland), Alameda, and Walnut Creek. Their roasting philosophy centers on balance, seeking to capture both the special qualities that come from coffee origins—the characteristic aromatics, brightness, and fruit sweetness cultivated by farmers—while adding the signature of the roaster to emphasize body, density, and caramelly sweetness. The company offers a spectrum of coffees from lighter, bright single origins to deeper, chocolatey body-forward coffees typical of darker roasts, though they avoid being fully dark with most offerings. Their flagship espresso blend "The Core" has been their everyday espresso since the beginning, featuring big red ripe fruit acidity and caramel notes. Other signature offerings include "Tightrope" for fans of lighter, brighter, approachable coffees, and "Shadow Play" which represents where "a lot of interesting things happen" without being fully dark. In addition to coffee, Highwire has developed their "4 Track Tea" line, focusing on highest quality teas with traditional hand-made styles, emphasizing seasonality and freshness. Their tea offerings include blends like "East Bay Breakfast," "Just Like Honey" (a blend of Honey Orchid and rare Yunnan), and "Gone Green Sencha" (organic Japanese Sencha from Shizuoka). The company is committed to social and environmental responsibility, paying approximately twice the Fair Trade price to farmers and often sourcing single-origin coffees from smaller family farms. They have made efforts toward more sustainable packaging and raised coffee prices to ensure good wages for Bay Area workers. Highwire's spaces are designed to be welcoming environments where the community connects around shared enthusiasm for coffee, community, and music. Their philosophy emphasizes creating a force for good in the coffee industry while maintaining their local, independent identity as a roughly 40-person operation rooted in Oakland's coffee culture.
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Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$24.00 · $2.00/oz
Sweet • Syrupy • Dry Cocoa
After Hours Decaf is Highwire's late-day blend for when you want coffee without the caffeine. Sweet, syrupy, and dry cocoa, preferred from water-processed or sugar-cane decaf lots roasted in Emeryville.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$22.00 · $2.01/oz
Sweet • Syrupy • Dry Cocoa
After Hours Decaf Whole Bean Coffee is Highwire's caffeine-free blend for mellow late-day cups. Sweet, syrupy dry cocoa from water or sugar-cane processed decaf, roasted gently in Emeryville.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$21.75 · $1.99/oz
Smooth • Robust • Smokey • Dark Chocolate
Bauhaus is Highwire's darkest blend—the answer when customers ask for the darkest one. Smooth, robust, and smokey with sweet roasted notes, full body, and dark chocolate from the Emeryville roaster.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$23.75 · $1.98/oz
Smooth • Robust • Smokey • Dark Chocolate
Bauhaus is Highwire's darkest blend, named after the goth band when customers asked for the darkest one. Smooth, robust, and smokey with sweet roast notes, full body, and dark chocolate.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$115.00 · $1.44/oz
Carrier Wave is a Highwire house blend roasted in Emeryville for East Bay cafés and home brewing. An everyday coffee from the Oakland specialty roaster behind Rockridge Market Hall and neighborhood shops.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$26.80 · $2.23/oz
Cifuentes Family Mexico is Highwire's single origin from the Cifuentes family farms in Bella Vista, Chiapas. Rosalba Cifuentes Tovia keeps the lot traceable from small plots to the Emeryville roaster.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$22.00 · $2.01/oz
Seasonal • Fresh
Conscientious Objector Organic is Highwire's certified-organic seasonal blend, a tribute to customers who demanded responsible coffee. Fresh and exploratory, it showcases the best organic coffee they find each season.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$24.00 · $2.00/oz
Seasonal • Fresh
Conscientious Objector Organic is Highwire's rotating certified-organic blend, named for customers who pushed roasters toward responsible coffee. Seasonal and fresh, it highlights the best organic lot they find each season.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$115.00 · $1.44/oz
DARKROOM is a Highwire blend roasted in Emeryville for East Bay cafés and home brewing. Part of the Oakland specialty lineup that also stocks cafés across Berkeley, Alameda, and nearby towns.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$22.00 · $2.01/oz
Grocery Single Origin / Fingerprints - Guatemala is Highwire's Guatemala single origin for everyday brewing. A clean Central American cup from the Emeryville roaster that stocks East Bay shops and grocery partners.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$21.75 · $1.99/oz
Chocolate
Market Hall Blend celebrates Highwire's first shop at Rockridge Market Hall in 2011. Fuller-bodied with chocolate notes, smooth enough for cream and sugar, and built for cooler days or anytime drip.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$26.80 · $2.23/oz
Mayan Harvest Women's Group is Highwire's Mexican single origin from 168 family farms around Bella Vista, Chiapas, exported by Rosalba Cifuentes Tovia. Traceable coffee that returns better premiums to women producers, roasted in Emeryville.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$24.00 · $2.00/oz
Santa Maria de Dota is Highwire's Costa Rican single origin from a historic cooperative known for sustainable farming. Clean regional character from a carbon-neutral, hydro-powered mill, roasted in Emeryville.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$22.25 · $2.03/oz
Santa Maria de Dota Single-Origin Coffee is Highwire's Costa Rican lot from a historic cooperative committed to ecological farming. Milled in a carbon-neutral, hydro-powered plant for a clean regional cup, roasted in Emeryville.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$21.75 · $1.99/oz
Heavy • Chocolaty • Brown Sugar
Shadow Play is Highwire's more developed house blend opposite Tightrope—not fully dark, but richer. Heavy, chocolaty brown-sugar sweetness for drinkers who want roast depth without going all the way dark.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$23.75 · $1.98/oz
Heavy • Chocolaty • Brown Sugar
Shadow Play is Highwire's deeper house blend, the flipside of Tightrope with a more developed roast that stops short of truly dark. Heavy, chocolaty, and brown sugar in a satisfying everyday cup.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$21.50 · $1.97/oz
Ripe • Big • Caramel
The Core is the heart of Highwire—an everyday espresso blend with ripe fruit acidity and caramel through the finish. Built for espresso yet just as tasty as pour over or French press.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$23.50 · $1.96/oz
Ripe • Big • Caramel
The Core is Highwire's signature everyday espresso and house blend, big with ripe fruit acidity and caramel through the mid-palate. Equally at home as espresso, pour over, or French press from Emeryville.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$21.50 · $1.97/oz
Crisp • Sweet • Clean
Tightrope is one of Highwire's two house blends for lighter, brighter drinkers. Seasonal washed coffees with crisp, sweet, clean flavors that balance lively origin character and satisfying body.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$23.50 · $1.96/oz
Crisp • Sweet • Clean
Tightrope is one of Highwire's two house blends, aimed at fans of lighter, brighter cups. Seasonal washed coffees with crisp, sweet, clean flavors that balance origin sparkle and roast character.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$25.75 · $2.35/oz
Tulise Natura is Highwire's Ethiopian natural from Hirut Gute's Tulise washing station near Yirgacheffe, where cherries dry on raised beds. A fruit-forward East African single origin roasted in Emeryville.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$27.75 · $2.31/oz
Tulise Natural is Highwire's Ethiopian natural from Hirut Gute's Tulise washing station near Yirgacheffe, where cherries dry on raised beds. A fruit-forward East African single origin roasted in Emeryville for the Bay Area.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$27.00 · $2.25/oz
Worka Chelbessa is Highwire's washed Ethiopian from Gedeb in the Gedeo region, processed at SNAP's Worka Chelbessa station. Expect the floral, citric Yirgacheffe character that made washed Ethiopia famous, roasted in Emeryville.
Highwire Coffee Roasters • Emeryville, CA
$25.00 · $2.29/oz
Worka Chelbessa is Highwire's washed Ethiopian from Gedeb in Gedeo, fermented and dried at SNAP's Worka Chelbessa station. Floral and citric in the classic Yirgacheffe washed style, roasted in Emeryville.
2011