One tram depot, one roaster, every price public.
Larkspan started roasting in 2011 in an old tram depot on the Richmond riverfront with one idea: that coffee could be better if the people growing it were paid properly and the people serving it were trained properly. The first brew lab opened in the depot's ticket hall, and there are eight of them now.
From the first harvest we listed what we paid for every coffee in an open price ledger. We have kept it up every harvest since. It is the page we are proudest of.
We are still independently owned and still roast in Richmond, with a second roastery in Sacramento, California so the west coast gets coffee as fresh as the east.
- 2011
- First roast, Richmond VA
- 8
- Brew labs
- 2
- Roasteries
- Every harvest
- Price ledger updated
- Fridays
- Free public cuppings
- 48 hours
- Roast to ship
Seed to cup, in public.
From our first harvest we have listed what we pay for every coffee, farm by farm. It is the only way a claim about fair prices means anything.
Open price ledger
Every price paid, every farm, every harvest, in a ledger anyone can read on this site.
Long-term partners
Most of our single-origin lots come from farms and cooperatives we return to year after year.
Origin projects
A share of every bag funds projects at origin, from drying beds to school fees, chosen by the producers.
Independently owned
No outside investors. Decisions are made by the people who roast and buy the coffee.