About Us
Cherry River Coffee Roasters has always been about passion, adventure, and place.
The name comes from the Cherry River in Richwood, West Virginia, where we first took root. What began with stovetop popcorn makers, a rusty old van, and a dream slowly grew into a full-fledged roastery. With grit, experimentation, and the support of a small but mighty community, Cherry River evolved from whirly-pop experiments to roasting on a 10kg Mill City roaster—earning a reputation for quality and care along the way.
Today, that legacy continues in a new chapter.
Now based in the heart of the New River Gorge National Park, we roast coffee inspired by wild rivers, sandstone cliffs, and the people who call this place home.
Every bag reflects where we’ve been and where we are now: rooted in West Virginia’s mountain heritage, carried forward by a spirit of adventure, and crafted with joy.
People Over Everything
At Cherry River, coffee is the medium — people are the point.
We believe great coffee creates space:
- For early mornings before work
- For slow conversations after long trail days
- For collaboration and connect across café counters
- For community events, farmers markets, and shared tables
We roast for connection.
For wholesale partners who trust us to represent their cafés well.
For families brewing at home.
For climbers, runners, teachers, and dreamers.
We are proud to be a small, relationship-driven roastery. When you email us, you hear back from a real person. When you visit a wholesale partner, chances are we delivered that coffee ourselves.
Owner + Head Roaster
Kristi
Kristi discovered specialty coffee while working as a barista during college and never quite shook the obsession. What started as curiosity about extraction and flavor turned into a passion for roasting, sourcing, and building something meaningful in West Virginia.
Today, she oversees green buying, roast profiling, quality control, and wholesale relationships. When she’s not at the roaster, you can probably find her climbing, strength training, or making ceramic mugs in her studio — often with a cup of Cherry River in hand.
Her favorite coffees tend to be naturally sweet Colombians (she’ll happily drink them as both espresso and pour over).
Production Roaster
Lukas
Lukas is the steady hands behind many of the coffees that make it into your cup. As our production roaster, he helps execute roast days with precision and consistency — dialing in batches, managing workflow, and making sure every bag meets our standards before it leaves the roastery.
By day, Lukas works as a contractor, bringing the same craftsmanship and attention to detail to building projects that he brings to the roaster. He understands materials, timing, and process — which makes him uniquely suited to the rhythm of roasting coffee.
Outside of work, you’ll likely find him climbing at the gym or out on the sandstone of the New River Gorge. Coffee fuels early starts, long days, and post-session hangs — and he believes a good cup should be as dependable as it is delicious.
His current favorite coffee is our Honduras Santa Lucia — balanced, sweet, and steady. It’s the kind of coffee he reaches for daily: approachable, reliable, and quietly complex.
If you’ve ever enjoyed a bag of Cherry River Coffee, there’s a good chance Lukas helped bring it to life.
WAnt to carry cherry river?
Interested in serving Cherry River Coffee at your café, restaurant, or market?
We’d love to connect.