For the second time in as many years, we’re excited to feature a new Build-Out happening in the other Portland, out in the wild and beautiful state of Maine. Last summer it was Tandem Coffee Roasters, a brand new roasting company started by a team of Bay Area Blue Bottle vets. This summer it’s a new roastworks, cafe, and company headquarters for Coffee By Design.
Far from new to the game, CBD (like the locals call it) have been around for 19 years, which is longer than some Sprudge readers have even been alive. The company definitely carries with it some traditions that are recognizable to the growth of US specialty coffee in the last two decades, but their new facility is state of the art. CBD sent us stunning photos of this massive new build-out, an incredible 23,500 sq. ft. of light industrial warehousing dedicated to roasting, storage, offices, and a cafe space complete with a Modbar pour-over module, a Curtis Gold Cup Brewer, and heaps more gear.
That is a lot of square footage! Let’s sneak a peek inside, shall we?
As told to Sprudge by Lindsay Heald.
Can you tell us a bit about your new space?
After two years of searching for a place to move our micro roastery, we finally found the perfect location – a renovated warehouse in the evolving East Bayside neighborhood of Portland, Maine! This older, yet well-built building was the last of its kind on the peninsula where light industrial manufacturing is still allowed. We are thrilled to preserve this space for artisanal manufacturing and create a playground for everyday coffee drinkers and industry geeks. We are excited about our new space and new neighbors Bunker Brewing, Maine Craft Distilling, Rising Tide Brewing, Urban Farm Fermentory, Bomb Diggity Bakery, Portland Power Yoga, Horizon Energy and Maine Green Building. We plan on having some great block parties! [Editors Note: Coffee By Design reached out to Sprudge after this article was published, and expressed their sincere wishes to add Tandem Coffee Roasters and Mornings In Paris to this list of new neighbors. Sounds like a pretty sweet block party to us.]
Coffee By Design (known as CBD by the locals) will occupy 23,500 sq ft.; the bulk of the building (21,000 sq ft.) will be devoted to increasing the size of our production floor for wholesale operations. The new building will allow us to consolidate our coffee roastery, warehouse, and offices with room to grow. This new space affords us the opportunity to open a state-of-the-art coffeehouse (our 5th) and expand our educational offerings for wholesale accounts and retail guests. Informative and inspiring lectures from visiting farmers, farm to cup roastery tours and in-depth training on everything coffee related will be possible in our new location. Our goal is to create a friendly, interactive, and educational experience for wholesale and retail guests. Diamond Street will allow CBD to open itself up to the Greater Portland community in a more comprehensive way than ever before.
What’s your approach to serving coffee?
We believe there is a cup of coffee for everyone. It takes a team of dedicated coffee professionals in the front of the house working with our roastery team in the back to create a great cup of coffee. We establish relationships at every link in the chain, from farm to cup, strengthening our dedication to producing the highest quality coffee. We seek to educate our customers whether they are our largest wholesale account or a first time retail customer.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
After 19 years of being in business, our dream list of equipment and offerings finally become a reality!
The roastery will feature two new roasters: a Loring Kestrel 35 Kilo, Loring Peregrine 70 Kilo, plus a San Franciscan sample roaster.
The triangular shape of the coffee bar is designed to highlight different coffee brewing methods including a Rancilio Classe 9 Xcelsius 2 group, Rancilio Classe 7 LEVA 2 Group, Curtis Gold Cup single cup brewer, Modbar Pour-Over module, two Mahlkonig K30 Twin espresso grinders, Mahlkonig Kenia and Mahlkonig Guatemala grinders, four Baratza Vario grinders, Fetco CBS-2042 Extractor brewer, Fetco TOD Hot Water Dispenser, a three tap tower for two cold brew options and a sun-tea tap. A blending station will also be part of the coffee bar mix so customers have the opportunity to create their own blends from that roaster’s choice of origin coffees each week.
Our Cupping Lab will feature another Mahlkonig Guatemala as the lab grinder, a Bunn hot water dispenser, more Baratza Vario grinders and some Bonavita thermal carafe coffee brewers.
With regards to coffees, we are sampling coffees now with the goal to launch a new Harvest Reserve coffee available whole bean in our signature 8 oz. amber jars as well as by the cup to coincide with the opening of the new space.
What’s your hopeful target opening month? What’s the address?
The roastery and office plan to take occupancy toward the end of October. The coffee bar will open sometime during the holidays. The whole facility is at 1 Diamond Street, in Portland, Maine.
Can’t get enough Build-Outs of Summer? Read more here in our handy archive.
