Forty years of island coffee in Chicago.
From a Lake View roastery in 1985 to the café of the Obama Presidential Center, we’ve never cut a corner.
“We are coffee purists.”
Color Me Coffee opened in Lake View in 1985, one of the few coffee shops in Chicago roasting its own beans on site. Back then nobody else in the city was roasting, so we took a leap of faith.
Today we roast beans from more than 30 countries, and our heart is in the Caribbean. We work with rare island-grown coffees from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, roast them fresh in Chicago and add nothing but care.
Three islands, three characters.
Haiti
Haitian Blue Mountain brings deep cocoa, warm sugar and a soft floral lift, with very low acidity.
Dominican Republic
Tropical fruit and soft citrus over light milk chocolate. Lively, but always smooth.
Puerto Rico
Chocolate, caramel and toasted almond with hints of honey and warm spice. An island classic.
From one red espresso machine.
A bright-red espresso machine
An international flight attendant who loved the world’s coffee shops, Rhonda Stivers buys her first espresso machine.
Color Me Coffee opens in Lake View
Rhonda and Greg Stivers open one of the only coffee shops in Chicago roasting beans on site.
Two paths, one roaster
Greg builds Stivers Coffee into a wholesale roaster. Rhonda takes Color Me Coffee to McCormick Place, Navy Pier and the Chicago Riverwalk.
Back home
Rhonda buys back the company and returns to roasting, calling it a full-circle moment.
The Obama Presidential Center
We win a blind tasting against seven Chicago roasters and become the center’s sole coffee supplier. The 44 Reserve is born.
A new roastery in Grand Crossing
Our move to Grand Crossing will open the South Side’s first high-tech roastery.
“We don't cut any corners.”
Single origin first
We celebrate where each bean comes from, and let every island taste like itself.
Nothing added
No additives, no shortcuts. Only coffee, roasted with care.
Fresh-roasted in Chicago
Roasted in small batches here at home and shipped fresh to your door or café.