Curator's Notes
Chicago in the house! I’m so excited to introduce you to Pedestrian Coffee, a roaster and small chain of specialty cafés across the city. I consider Tim Taylor, the founder, a friend. We met through our work with Cup of Excellence, and I’ve seen firsthand how passionate and knowledgeable he is about every detail of coffee. Pedestrian was founded on the principle of “extraordinary coffee for everyday people,” aiming to de-mystify specialty coffee and make it approachable and accessible to all. They maintain direct-source relationships wherever possible, buying from farms they’ve visited and paying two to three times the fair trade price. In short, this is coffee worth crossing the street—or the country—for. Lucky for you, we’ll ship it straight to your door.
From the Roaster
All too often, great coffee has the reputation of a weird art film: “pretentious and inaccessible.” But Tim Taylor knows it doesn’t have to be that way — because fantastic coffee isn’t just for hipsters. That’s why Tim — not to be confused with Tim “The Tool Man” Taylor — started Pedestrian Coffee: to get great coffee into the hands of everyday people.
Tim’s first encounter with coffee was not an ideal one: “I had a Folgers experience when I was 5,” says Tim. As a result, he didn’t go back to coffee for a very long time. But years later, while attending college and trying his hand at a variety of jobs — from forest firefighting in Oregon to checking in travelers at Chicago’s O’Hare Airport — Tim discovered the wonders of coffee. Soon enough, Tim found himself wanting to find out what makes a truly great cup of coffee. Immersing himself in the coffee world, he learned about the entire process, from farming to roasting to preparation and more. Tim learned that coffee is a cross-cultural collaboration involving folks from diverse backgrounds and languages — and represents an opportunity to make sure farmers are fairly paid. Seeing that ordinary people were often discouraged from enjoying specialty coffee because of the culture (and cost), Tim decided to combine his passion for ethical sourcing with his desire to introduce everyday people to fantastic coffee.
So it was that Pedestrian Coffee was born, with a continuing mission to get extraordinary coffee into the hands of everyday people, in both cafés and homes alike. It’s an adventure that Tim’s excited about and which involves his whole family, as two of his four kids have already been with him on international trips to coffee farms. He also serves on the board of the Alliance for Coffee Excellence, which governs the renowned Cup of Excellence competition in rewarding coffee growers of exceptional quality.
Coffees from Pedestrian Coffee have been reviewed 1 times,
with an average rating of 5 out of 5.
Get a hand-picked selection of artisan coffees like this delivered fresh to your home with our
Coffee Subscription Plans,
or browse our unique
gifts for coffee lovers.
