January 1994 - Dale Black, Jr. had recently moved back to Colorado from Seattle having acquired a wife and an interest in espresso. He intended to take his new found passion and open a drive-through in the former cherry pie stand on his parent's property. The building sits on the edge of a busy US highway that leads to Estes Park, so traffic would not be an issue. Dale brought an attention to detail and quality that won over anyone who drank the coffee or worked the shop.

Little did he know that when Dale hired Susan Dalke in the summer of 1994 that she would become a driving force in the success of The Black Cup and its future. While working at The Black Cup as a barista and manager, Susan was bitten by the espresso bug. In the fall of 1996, Susan went to work for the coffeehouse/roaster that was roasting the coffee for The Black Cup. There, Susan's passion only increased and she began to talk about having her own shop. Then suddenly in the late summer of 1998, Dale and his wife closed The Black Cup and moved back to Seattle. Shocked at the news, Susan and her family went about procuring the shop so that it could live on.

The Black Cup became a beacon on the road to summer vacations, and a hot spot for the local area. The community that built up around this small drive-through was a big inspiration to continue moving forward. Customers would meet to use the one picnic table while others would yell conversation to friends that they saw in line.

But Susan always wanted control over the quality of the product and felt the urge to roast coffee again. And this is where the story of The Black Cup Coffee Roaster begins. With a concentration on the art, science and community of coffee, The Black Cup Coffee Roaster focuses on supporting the local coffeehouses through education of the art of coffee. This support comes in the form of classes offered regularly on everything from cold drinks to latte art.

The process is simple. Each bean has its own flavor profile that has been developed over a long period of testing. With our slow roasting technique, we take the green organic beans and roast them to perfection. With the understanding that the weather truly affects the overall condition of the bean, a weekly coffee tasting is planned to ensure consistency. This attention to detail ensures that each batch of coffee has the best flavor available. This also means that customers will get the same great coffee with every order. The development of these roasts have been designed to pull out the most flavor of each bean and develop a taste that is unique to The Black Cup Coffee Roaster.