Longbottom Coffee & Tea

Founded in 1981, Longbottom Coffee & Tea is a privately held roasting company headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon. Originally established by Jerry Ramey as the Longbottom Trading Company, the business initially dealt in spices and tobacco—taking its name from the fictional Longbottom Leaf in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit—before shifting its primary focus to coffee and tea. Michael F. Baccellieri joined the firm in 1984 and later became its president and CEO, overseeing the company's expansion from a small 700-square-foot facility into a significantly larger operation that eventually moved to its current 24,000-square-foot roasting plant and coffeehouse location.

The company is widely recognized for its early commitment to organic coffee production. It was among the first roasters in the United States to achieve USDA organic certification. Its roasting facility has historically served as a testing site for the Independent Organic Inspectors Association, underscoring its long-term integration into the organic supply chain and regulatory standards.

Longbottom utilizes a hot-air roasting process, which the company distinguishes from traditional drum roasting. In this method, beans are suspended over a bed of fluid hot air, a process intended to roast the coffee evenly while simultaneously removing chaff and other impurities from the roasting chamber. The company emphasizes that it sources 100% Arabica, high-grown beans and roasts them in small, hand-crafted batches to order, aiming to maintain freshness and highlight the natural flavor profiles of the origin.

While the company operates a public-facing coffeehouse in Hillsboro that serves breakfast and lunch, its business model is heavily anchored in wholesale distribution. Longbottom supplies independent coffee businesses, restaurants, and drive-thrus across the United States. The company has maintained a consistent operational philosophy of shipping orders on the same day they are received, a practice it has utilized to support its wholesale partners for decades.

Transparency and sourcing are framed by the company as a commitment to working with trusted importers to ensure that green coffee is handled with care throughout the supply chain. The company defines its quality standards through the selection of hard-bean, high-grown milds and a focus on roasting to order. This approach is intended to provide a consistent product for its diverse customer base, ranging from individual online consumers to commercial coffee shop operators.

Today, the company remains a fixture in the Tualatin Valley region of Oregon. After more than 40 years in business, it continues to operate as a manufacturer and wholesaler, balancing its historical roots as a pioneer in the organic specialty coffee sector with its modern role as a supplier for independent coffee businesses nationwide.