The beginning

It started with a grill, a cast iron pan, and a wooden spoon.

In 2018 in Ankeny, Iowa, we were roasting coffee with no real equipment and no plan. Just a deep love for what great coffee could taste like. No fancy setup. No investors. No roadmap. Just heat, curiosity, and the stubborn belief that coffee could be something more than what we were drinking.

That was enough to start.

The beans got better. The passion got bigger. Every single roast taught us something new about heat, about timing, about origin, about flavor. Every market, every customer, every cup refined how we source, roast, and think about coffee.

We would show up with what we had and people showed up right back. We sold out. Again and again. Customers who found us at a farmers market are still ordering online to this day. That is when we knew this was real. Not a hobby. Not a side project. Something worth building.

Nothing about this was overnight. And we are constantly improving.

Home

Belmond said yes before we were ready.

In 2020, we opened The Golden Hopper at 231 E Main Street in Belmond, Iowa. A news article. A shared kitchen. A community that showed up before we had everything figured out. That is what made this real.

Small towns deserve great coffee. Belmond deserves great coffee. We take that seriously every single day.

Since we opened, we have been here every day. Besides a couple of holidays, we have not closed once. Over 100 drinks a day. Dozens of people coming in for homemade biscuits and gravy and fresh baked goods. Regulars who have been with us since day one. People passing through who stop once and cannot believe what they found in a small Iowa town.

Honduras

We went to Honduras. It changed everything.

My business partner Zack and I did not just add Honduras to our sourcing list. We went there. We traveled to the farms, met the people behind the beans, and learned the full picture of what it takes to grow exceptional coffee. The altitude. The process from cherry to export. The farmers who pour everything into their craft. All of it was eye opening in ways we did not expect.

That trip shaped our Honduras roast into what it is today. And it shaped how we think about sourcing altogether.

We continue to support our Honduras partners by paying above premium market price. Not because we have to, but because that is what a real relationship looks like. This is not just sourcing. It is a commitment.

Our craft

From the highlands of Ethiopia to the mountains of Honduras.

Every bean we carry has a story. We maintain a core lineup of coffees alongside rotating single origins covering light, medium, and dark roasts, with medium being our sweet spot. We choose origins for their flavor, their farmers, and their craft.

We do not chase trends. We chase quality.

Every bag is packaged by hand right here in Belmond. We do not sit on inventory for months. When your order goes out the door, it is as fresh as we can make it. That is the difference between quality coffee and mass produced coffee. And it is a difference you can taste.

Thank you

We are glad you found us.

Whether you have been with us since the farmers market days, you stumbled in off the highway, or you just discovered us online, there is something here for you. A cup that means something. A story behind every bag. And a roastery that is not going anywhere.