Single-origin roasts
We buy in small lots from growers in Ethiopia, Colombia, and Guatemala, then roast each origin on its own so the flavor of the farm — not just the roast — comes through in the cup.
Copper Kettle Coffee is a hand-built roastery and café tucked into the hills above downtown Asheville. We roast in short runs, brew with intention, and keep the porch rockers warm for anyone who wants to stay a while. Come for a cup, leave with a bag of beans, or just sit and watch the fog roll off the ridgeline.
Every part of Copper Kettle is built around one idea: coffee tastes better when someone cared about every step that got it into your cup. Here's how that plays out day to day.
We buy in small lots from growers in Ethiopia, Colombia, and Guatemala, then roast each origin on its own so the flavor of the farm — not just the roast — comes through in the cup.
Our baristas pull and taste every new bag before it goes on the espresso menu, dialing in grind and dose until the shot tastes the way the roaster intended.
Pull up a stool at the slow bar for a guided pour-over flight. We'll walk you through three origins side by side, so you can taste the differences for yourself.
We roast custom house blends for a growing list of Asheville restaurants, offices, and hotels, with delivery routes running twice a week around the county.
Our seasonal menu follows the mountains: maple oat lattes in the fall, chestnut mochas in winter, and a cold-brew tonic that shows up the first warm week of spring.
Long communal tables, a covered porch, and rotating art from local makers turn the café into a gathering spot for study groups, first dates, and regulars alike.
Copper Kettle Coffee began the way a lot of Asheville businesses do: with two people, a rented garage, and more curiosity than money. Founders Marla and Desmond Ruiz started roasting on a secondhand two-pound drum roaster in 2013, selling bags out of the back of a hatchback at the tailgate market on Saturdays. What kept people coming back wasn't marketing — it was the beans, roasted in tiny batches and dialed in by hand, cup after cup, until the profile was right.
A decade later, the drum is bigger but the philosophy hasn't changed. We still buy direct from growers whenever we can, still cup every new lot before it's approved for the menu, and still roast in small runs so nothing sits in a bag going stale on a shelf. The café that grew up around the roastery keeps that same unhurried, made-by-hand feeling — it's meant to be a place you can slow down in, not just pass through.
Figures above are approximate and shared for illustrative purposes as part of this sample business profile.
"I moved to Asheville for the mountains and stayed partly because of this coffee shop. The pour-over flight changed how I think about coffee entirely."
— Priya N., regular customer
"We switched our office to Copper Kettle's wholesale beans two years ago and the whole team noticed the difference by the second week."
— Owen T., local business owner
"The porch on a slow Sunday morning with a chestnut mocha is genuinely one of my favorite things about living here."
— Faith A., neighborhood resident
We handle wholesale accounts, office coffee service, and drip or espresso catering for meetings, weddings, and everything in between around Buncombe County.
Ask about wholesale & cateringStop by the roastery and café any day of the week, call ahead for a wholesale quote, or send a note using the form and someone from the team will get back to you within a day or two.