When and why did good coffee become so inseparably associated with the notion that it can only exist as a fancy, pretentious, and exclusive beverage reserved only for the select enlightened 'coffee-initiated'?

We think specialty coffee should be more approachable, which is why we have taken it upon ourselves to make great coffee, and the community it has traditionally been associated with fostering, accessible again...to everyone. We at Docent feel that you can roast and serve seriously amazing craft coffee, without taking yourself, and the entire endeavor, too seriously. After all, the hip branding, the carefully curated social media content, and all the other already well-trodden 'coffee cliches' relating to specialty coffee aren't going to make that coffee you're drinking taste any better or worse...so why hang your hat on that stuff?

So we just try to be ourselves. This simply involves roasting the best coffee we can, forging personal relationships with coffee farmers from around the world, sourcing the best teas available, having the best customer service in the industry, and doing our part to support the communities we feel passionate about.

As our name implies, Docent is here to guide folks to something new, exciting, and hopefully unique in coffee. We are deeply passionate about our craft, but also understand that coffee, like everything else in life, is a subjective experience. So we make an extra effort to contextualize our offerings and bring people to coffees we think they will like and not necessarily ourselves.

Yes, we will probably be guilty of some of the cliches ourselves, but we certainly aren't going to rely on them to have you like us, our coffee, or what we are trying to accomplish. And even though we may try our best, you may end up not liking it...and that's ok. Your coffee should be enjoyable to you because you actually enjoy it...and we hope you enjoy ours!