In this guide
Maine has a population smaller than Brooklyn, but a serious specialty coffee culture has taken root from Portland to Stonington. The reasons aren't complicated: small batches, hands-on roasters, a customer base that's both year-round local and summer-tourist generous, and a tight community of roasters who genuinely root for each other. The result is a state where you can sign up for a monthly subscription from a roaster on a 9-square-mile island, or stop into a Portland café where the beans were roasted three blocks away.
Below, ten Maine coffee roasters worth a subscription — sorted by how they got that way.
The standard-bearer. Tandem — founded by Will and Kathleen Pratt in 2013 — is the roaster that put Portland on the specialty coffee map and has been raising the bar ever since. The Congress Street and Anderson Street cafés are pilgrimage stops. Sign up for the subscription if you want a default house bag arriving every couple weeks.
Bard opened in 2008 in the Old Port and has been quietly serious about single-origin and meticulous brewing ever since. The roastery sources direct from farms in Ethiopia, Colombia, and Guatemala. Especially worth ordering if you brew pour-over at home.
Maine's longest-running specialty roaster — Coffee By Design opened on Congress Street in 1994 and now operates four cafés (three Portland, one Freeport) plus a wholesale roastery serving 600+ accounts globally. They're a B Corp and an early signer of the Maine Climate Action Now pledge. The classic Casco Bay blend is a perfect daily drinker.
Speckled Ax roasts every bean over Maine hardwood — yes, like a barbecue — and the result is a smoky depth you won't get from any gas roaster. Owner Matt Bolinder has been at it since 2010 and the technique has aged into something genuinely distinctive. The bags ship beautifully.
One of Portland's newer roasters, Lay Day focuses on small-batch micro-lots and rotating single-origin offerings. Best for the coffee-curious who want to taste a different farm every month.
On Deer Isle in the Penobscot Bay, 44 North is named for the latitude line that runs through Stonington. They've been roasting on the island since 2009. Order the subscription and you'll get a box of beans that traveled by ferry to your front door — possibly the most Maine coffee experience available.
Carrabassett has been roasting in Maine's western mountains since 1992, named for the river that runs through Sugarloaf country. The blends lean toward what coffee people call "approachable" — full-bodied, balanced, easy to drink without thinking too hard. Their Sugarloaf and Saddleback blends are the go-tos.
Wicked Joe roasts certified-organic and Fair Trade beans out of Topsham. Fully solar-powered roastery; they'll happily ship anywhere. The Wicked Dark Roast is the household-name product, but their lighter single-origins are quietly excellent.
Vacationland is the youngest roaster on this list — owner Chris Romero opened the original Southwest Harbor café in 2023, added Bar Harbor in 2024, and just opened a third location at The Wharf at Lyman-Morse in Camden. The vibe is "coffee pub" — 100% Arabica, canned nitro lattes, breakfast tacos. The retail bags are excellent.
Lark roasts in Belfast on the Midcoast, sources from small farms, and runs one of the more aesthetically considered cafés on Route 1. The Honduras single-origin is a reliable favorite.
If you want one default house bag, Tandem or Coffee By Design will not steer you wrong. If you want to taste different farms each month, Bard, Lay Day, or 44 North all rotate offerings constantly. If you favor dark roasts, Wicked Joe, Carrabassett, or Speckled Ax cover that territory. And if you want a coffee that physically traveled by ferry to reach you, 44 North is the only correct answer.
For more Maine makers, explore the full Grocery & Food category on Maine Open Online.
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