Top Cup Roaster's Fundraising Campaign

Invest in us!

Your chance to help microloan to a small business that roasts radical coffee!

Right now, Top Cup Roasters is raising a crowd-backed, 0% loan on Kiva. The funds from this loan will go towards:

*Give us the ability to PURCHASE OUR OWN ROASTER and BUILD A LEARNING SPACE for roasting, tasting, and community

*Help us create stronger and more sustainable buying power by PURCHASING IN LARGER QUANTITIES and continuing to PAY LIVING WAGES TO FARMERS

*Allow us to put our vision into action by creating the flexibility in capital to invest in NEW PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

*Create space in our budget for expert support in building our audience by creating a framework for a strong, dynamic WEBSITE with a transparent and equitable pricing model

Your contribution helps build momentum in our campaign. The public fundraising round will be backed by Kiva’s wider community of 1.6mm lenders.

More about Kiva: Kiva is the first and largest micro-lending service in the world that has distributed $1 billion across  86 different countries, among 1.5 million small businesses. Recently, Kiva and Sofia Vegara announced a goal to raise $50mm to support businesses around the world affected by Covid-19. If you would like to help us out, please follow this link to my campaign page.

Top Cup’s Kiva Loan Page

Thanks for your support, we are deeply grateful!

Roast City: A Brief History of Coffee Roasting in Portland, Oregon

Written by Martyn for Roast Magazine

Welcome to Top Cup Roasters!

Our origin story is rooted in coffee. Keia, a former café manager for Stumptown coffee Roasters, met Martyn, the former Roastmaster for McMenamins through mutual barista and roaster friends. After several years of talking about starting our own company, we decided to try it in the form of an online coffee retail delivery business. I work on the flavor and marketing side with my background as a maker and barista while Martyn with his 20+ career in music production and performing handles the roasting, calibration, and green coffee buying.

Amongst playing music in his longtime band, The Minders, Martyn also roasts coffee, which is how he makes a living. Why coffee you might ask? Marty explains it like this, “My Grandfather long before me, worked in the coffee and tea trade in Kenya beginning in the late 1950s until his retirement in the 1990s. My first visit to a coffee farm was in Kenya when I was a teenager. Many years later I was offered a job in a micro-roastery, which I saw as a continuity of my Grandfather’s work.”

I moved to Portland in 2004 and immediately started working in coffee. I worked alongside people like Billy Wilson of Barista and was trained by Duane Sorenson, formerly of Stumptown Coffee Roasters. Over the next 10 years, I simultaneously worked on my other love, art, and continued building my palette and reputation. In 2014 I started my own small business, Modern Artifact, that showcases basket weaving, ceramics, resin incense, and other space design work that seeks to ground people in ancient ritual and land while looking towards the future. I hope to bring that same sense to Top Cup of reflective understanding of the entire process so that we can bring you something exceptional.

Together, we are Top Cup Coffee Roasters. We bring our passion and experience to deliver you a great cup of coffee. Thank you for choosing us!

Hello! My name is Martyn and I roast coffee.

For over a decade, I have been making my living roasting coffee for established companies. Top Cup is my first solo venture. Ever since I learned how to roast coffee, I have dreamed of creating my own brand. Most of my spare time is devoted to writing and recording music for my band, The Minders. Coffee, however, has been the other craft that has kept me in constant motion both mentally and physically.

I’m most excited to share these inaugural offerings with you. The single origins that I have chosen are from my favorite growing regions: East Africa, Central America, and Indonesia. Each coffee is quite different in flavor profile.

I invite you to embark on a journey around the globe to discover the wonders of delicious specialty coffees now currently offered at a special introductory price. Please check out our latest offerings.

Happy Holidays,

Martyn