Yes, I know how it sounds: this is the best tasting coffee I've had anywhere on the east coast. I've worked my way through a lot of mediocre cups in a lot of cities, so this isn't a claim I make lightly. But a small roaster on the gulf side of Florida has genuinely spoiled me for everyone else.
The place is Gasparilla Roasting, in Englewood, FL. It's not a big operation — it's a place where the people who roast the beans are the same people who hand you the coffee. And it shows in the cup.
1 Who They Are
Gasparilla Roasting was started in 2024 by Jody and Steffen Capello, on a premise as simple as it is rare: coffee can be a lot better than what most of us are accustomed to. They roast in small batches, pick their beans carefully, and treat the whole thing as a craft. Not a burnt bean commodity. There's a community streak to it too — they do tastings by appointment and clearly want the place to be a fixture in town, not just a storefront.
What you taste is the result of that fussiness. Nothing about the cup is generic. Each origin, and they have at least 10 every day, tastes like itself.
2 The Bag in the Photo
The bag is filled with Burundi Muyinga Red Bourbon my newfound fave. It's a natural-process coffee from the Red Bourbon variety, roasted to a medium that lets the fruit through without going thin. The label calls out blackberry, honey, and milk chocolate, and for once the tasting notes aren't marketing: you actually get the dark-berry sweetness up front, a honeyed middle, and a soft chocolate finish that lingers. I staged the shot with real blackberries and honeycomb because the cup earns the comparison.
It's the kind of coffee that's good enough black that adding anything feels like a mistake. So, ofcourse, I add ganache for an out-of-body mocha.
3 Why It's Worth the Detour
I drink my fair share of coffee. Most of it is fuel. This is the rare place that makes me slow down and actually pay attention to what's in the cup. Steffen is great, friendly, and an absolute beast when it comes to coffee knowledge.
If you're anywhere near the Port Charlotte / Englewood area, go in person — it's at 3374 North Access Rd, and a tasting is the fastest way to understand what I'm talking about. If you're not, they ship:
Gasparilla Roasting — gasparillaroasting.com
Best coffee east of the Mississippi. Prove me wrong.