Tempe, told in roaster-cafés.
7 specialty roaster-cafés that roast their own beans and have a café you can visit. Plan a one-day crawl, listen to the guide, or print the map.
1 of 7 stops reviewed by PremiumRoast, including roasters dating back to 2008.
How this list is built: every stop is a roaster in the PremiumRoast directory with public opening hours or a confirmed café, and a brand with several locations appears once. 1 of 7 stops have a written PremiumRoast review so far; the rest are directory listings. Last reviewed May 2026.
Top pick
Our most recently reviewed stop; not enough Google ratings yet to rank by rating.
All 7 stops on the map
Open full crawl in Google Maps →Listen — the Tempe coffee guide
A short spoken walk-through of the crawl, narrated from our profiles.
Suggested route
Start at Cartel Roasting Co. → Cafetal Coffee & Familia → Cortez Coffee - The Roastery → Xtreme Bean Coffee → Lost Dutchman Coffee Roasters…
Open in Google Maps →The New Wave
Modern specialty & single-origin
The crawl
7 roaster-cafés · 1 reviewed by PremiumRoast · no chains.
Est. 2008
📍 West University Drive, Tempe, Arizona
Tempe Junction
Cartel Roasting Co. is a community-owned specialty coffee roaster launched in 2008 in Tempe, Arizona, now operating roughly eleven locations across the state. Originally known as Cartel Coffee Lab, the company is recognized for its direct mill-level sourcing relationships and an uncommon community-ownership structure.
Our takeCartel describes its offerings as award-winning, though no specific competition results are detailed in public-facing materials. The Caffeinated Content Substack has reviewed the brand and documented its eleven-location Arizona footprint. On TripAdvisor, the original Tempe café—still listed by some under the Cartel Coffee Lab name—draws consistent praise for quality and in-house roasting. Joe.coffee characterizes the cafés as 'hip' spaces serving 'thoughtfully sourced, house-roasted brews in chill, bohemian surrounds,' which tracks with the desert-roadrunner aesthetic the brand leans into across its visual identity. For those outside Arizona, Cartel sells direct via cartelroasting.co with subscription tiers across its current lineup, alongside a 'Discover Your Coffee' quiz that matches drinkers to a suitable origin or roast profile. Current single-origin offerings price at $25.50 for 12 oz, with bulk options available. Brewing guides for Aeropress, Chemex, and automatic brewers round out the educational side of the site.
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Best time to visit
Weekday mid-mornings are calmest; weekends draw lines at the most popular stops. Most roaster-cafés open by 7–8 am and are quietest before 10 am.
Frequently asked about Tempe coffee
- How many specialty roaster-cafés are there in Tempe, Arizona?
- PremiumRoast lists 7 specialty roaster-cafés in Tempe, Arizona — roasters that roast their own beans and have a café you can visit. 1 of them has a written PremiumRoast review so far.
- Which Tempe coffee roasters have been around the longest?
- The longest-established specialty roasters in Tempe include Cartel Roasting Co.. Cartel Roasting Co. (founded 2008) is among the most historic on the scene.
- What are the newest specialty coffee roasters in Tempe?
- Among the newer entries shaping the Tempe specialty coffee scene: Better Buzz, Cafetal Coffee & Familia, Cortez Coffee - The Roastery.
- Is there a printable coffee day-trip guide or map for Tempe?
- Yes — PremiumRoast offers a free 2-page printable PDF guide, an audio walk-through, and an overview map for the Tempe coffee crawl. Download at premiumroast.coffee/coffee-trip/tempe-arizona.