Our Coffee

Van Dyke Coffee Roasters started in 2014. Our head roaster volunteered in a non-profit cafe for three years and finally decided to start his own, aiming for good causes in the future. 

Our name "Van Dyke" came from a color Van Dyke Brown, the color of well-roasted coffee beans.

We take pride in our coffee. We do not offer batch brewed coffee, but rather offer freshly made coffee for each customer. We use only Specialty Grade beans for all of our coffee drinks. That means we don't use any lesser quality beans for our espresso roast. The same beans that you get in our pour overs are the same you will get in your lattes. We believe this is essential to our unique espresso.

Our bean offerings change throughout the year, depending on harvesting season and bean quality.

Our Roasting Philosophy

Here at Van Dyke, we use only Specialty Coffee beans. We feel that these provide the best coffee for anything from a pour over to a mocha. We believe the beans make the coffee, so we do everything in our power to make each bean the best it can be.

Specialty-grade beans have exceptional flavor and taste. SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) defines specialty coffee as coffee beans scored higher than 80 out of 100. Their main criteria are fragrance, acidity, flavor, aftertaste, and body(Silkiness).

You might feel our pour-over coffee is a bit bright or fruity compared to larger coffee shops. We do this intentionally to bring out the different nuances in each different coffee we offer. Whether that is a bright floral Ethiopian or a earthy cocoa from Guatemala, we want each coffee to display its natural characteristics. This is why we roast lighter than most chain coffee shops. We want the best for the bean.

If you are used to Specialty Coffee in Los Angeles, you may have a very different thought on the roast level of Van Dyke. We have had comments saying that we roast darker than the typical Southern California specialty coffee shop. While this may be true, we do it for a reason. We find that many coffees do not fully develop if dropped at the 395 degrees that many shops roast at. Many times, when dropped this low, it leads to a flat coffee that dies after you first take a sip. We prefer to roast a little darker to get the full flavor out of the bean. Our coffee is still considered a light roast, it tends to be a Full City Roast for most coffees. 

We also do not roast to one level for every single coffee. We have found that different coffees have different sweet spots for their roast. Our Colombian and Guatemalan tends to be darker, while our Ethiopian coffees tend to be a bit lighter. It all depends on the bean as well as the million other factors impacting our roast.