By Michelle M. Sharp, Founder and Content Creator of Meet the Minnesota Makers
| WHO: | Nicole Bolea and Zach Whitney of Coffeewomple Roasters | ||
| WHAT: | Electric Roasted Coffee | ||
| SIGNATURE PRODUCTS: | Full Menu of Premium Roasted Coffee: Light through Dark and Decaf too. | ||
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WHERE: IN-PERSON: WEBSITE: |
NE Minneapolis Abundant Kitchen, Eastside Food Co-Op, Graze Food Co-op, and Seasoned Specialty Food Market www.coffeewomple.com |
Coffeewomple: derived from Coddiwomple [verb] to travel purposefully to an unknown destination.
Based in NE Minneapolis, Nicole Bolea and Zach Whitney are the cofounders of Coffeewomple Roastery, the United State’s first electric roaster of directly-
sourced coffee beans. Their roastery commits every day to making the more sustainable choice regardless of cost. These choices include their personal connection with their farmers around the world, their roasting process itself and their compostable packaging and shipping materials. Nicole shares that, “We love coffee and wanted to do it with purpose. We wanted to leverage our backgrounds to roast and package more sustainably.”
Every time I talk with Nicole and Zach I learn something new about the science of roasting, the nuance of coffee’s flavor profiles or what they, as roasters and coffee aficionados, look for to create the desired flavor profile from each batch of beans.
An Origin Story
Nicole and Zach met in college during a physics class that was a requirement for both of their engineering degrees. Zach worked on campus as a barista after having worked at a Caribou in high school. Nicole always liked coffee. When their student budgets were tight, whole bean coffee was always a top budget priority. “This is when we started to drink our coffee black,” muses Nicole. “We could not afford to buy milk as well as coffee. We knew we were becoming coffee snobs. Choosing good beans always mattered.”
While working on her MBA, Nicole proposed a coffee roasting business for her group’s capstone project. Her group embraced the proposal and Coffeewomple began to take shape. Their first roaster was a table top home roaster with a capacity of two pounds of coffee. Stirring and packaging each (very) small batch by hand, Nicole and Zach prepared for weekly farmers market appearances to test their concept as a cottage food business.
After a year of testing they made the major leap into their Northeast Minneapolis roastery. This move gave them the freedom to pursue retail opportunities, which now include the Abundant Kitchen, Eastside Food Co-Op, Graze Food Co-op, and Seasoned Specialty Food Market. Both bagged beans and bulk section tubes are an option at some locations.
Bringing Out The Best of Their Beans
Coffeewomple fans notice how Nicole and Zach’s process highlights the natural flavors of the beans in nuanced ways. “You can make good coffee just by 
starting out with a good bean. That will get you 90% of the way there,” explains Zach. “That final 10% requires a lot of testing. The palette is huge. One thing you learn early on is that you can’t add a flavor that’s not there. If it’s not in that green bean to start, you’re not going to find it.”
In order to test the beans, Zach sample roasts every batch. Roasting the beans very lightly allows him and Nicole to taste for defects and see what sort of flavors the beans hold. This testing process provides the map to develop the “full spread” menu full of delightful signature roasts. Coffeewomple’s flavors range from a fun light roast to really strong dark roasts. They also prepare decaffeinated blends. Each roast is available as a whole bean or ground for espresso, drip or french press/cold brew.
The search for a high quality, durable and yet compostable coffee bag was an intentional choice, even though it increases their supply costs. “I wish there were regulations that restricted the use of single use plastics,” shares Nicole. “Living in Minnesota where we have access to really good commercial composting, we choose to support that infrastructure. We want to show that reducing the negative environmental impact of coffee can be done. It has to be done if we’re going to still have a viable coffee crop for the next generation of farmers.”
Gathering at the Roastery
Nicole and Zach love to invite people into their space. It’s an opportunity to share what they’ve learned about the process and product of coffee. Nicole laughs, “We relish any chance to nerd out about coffee. It is truly our favorite.” They’ve hosted events for Yelp, the Women’s Environmental Network MN and Women Who Really Cook. The roastery has also been the site of tasting events, yoga classes and workshops.
Nicole and Zach shared what it’s been like to merge their personal and professional lives. “I think it’s a testament to our strength as partners that 
we like spending this much time together,” states Nicole. “We have worked through other challenging parts of our lives together. I think we’re good at managing the challenges and having fun too.”
“For me, I think we’ve learned that a disagreement in business choice doesn’t mean a personal disagreement,” shares Zach. “We have to play that back and forth since we are both the owner and creator. I’m proud of how we’ve navigated that learning curve.”
You might be wondering how the founders of Coffeewomple take their coffee now that their undergrad budget restrictions have eased up some?
Their default is still to take their coffee black–though now they’ll occasionally opt for a latte.
Get In Touch
Find Coffeewomple at the Northeast Winters Market
Coffeewomple was a featured presenter at the November 2025 Taste Makers “Holiday Edition” class at the MN Landscape Arboretum. Their coffee gift boxes and delectable roasts are a part of the “Shop Minnesota” gift guide by Meet the Minnesota Makers.
Shop, meet their bright orange electric roaster and check out future events at the Coffeewomple webpage. Follow Coffeewomple on Ambit Media, Facebook and Instagram.
Visit meettheminnesotamakers.com or follow @meettheminnesotamakers on Facebook and Instagram to discover the farmers and innovators working to strengthen Minnesota’s local food networks. Meet the Minnesota Makers is a news site that connects you to the local food, farms, artists and artisans that make Minnesota thrive.
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![Coffeewomple: derived from Coddiwomple [verb] to travel purposefully to an unknown destination.
Based in NE Minneapolis, Nicole Bolea and Zach Whitney are the cofounders of Coffeewomple Roastery, the United State’s first electric roaster of directly-sourced coffee beans. Their roastery commits every day to making the more sustainable choice regardless of cost. These choices include their personal connection with their farmers around the world, their roasting process itself and their compostable packaging and shipping materials.
Nicole shares that, “We love coffee and wanted to do it with purpose. We wanted to leverage our backgrounds to roast and package more sustainably.”
Every time I talk with Nicole and Zach I learn something new about the science of roasting, the nuance of coffee’s flavor profiles or what they, as roasters and coffee aficionados, look for to create the desired flavor profile from each batch of beans.
Coffeewomple fans notice how Nicole and Zach’s process highlights the natural flavors of the beans in nuanced ways. “You can make good coffee just by starting out with a good bean. That will get you 90% of the way there,” explains Zach. “That final 10% requires a lot of testing. The palette is huge. One thing you learn early on is that you can’t add a flavor that’s not there. If it’s not in that green bean to start, you’re not going to find it.”
The search for a high quality, durable and yet compostable coffee bag was an intentional choice, even though it increases their supply costs. “Living in Minnesota where we have access to really good commercial composting, we choose to support that infrastructure. We want to show that reducing the negative environmental impact of coffee can be done. It has to be done if we’re going to still have a viable coffee crop for the next generation of farmers.”
Nicole and Zach love to invite people into their space. It’s an opportunity to share what they’ve learned about the process and product of coffee. Nicole laughs, “We relish any chance to nerd out about coffee. It is truly our favorite.”
Find Coffeewomple at the @ne_fm this winter.
Full feature at meettheminnesotamakers.com](https://meettheminnesotamakers.com/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)