Torque Coffees

Torque Coffees is a specialty coffee roaster and café located in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego, California. The company was established by co-founders Nanelle and Andy Newbom, who bring nearly 25 years of collective experience across various sectors of the coffee industry, including roles as baristas, roasters, and importers. Their professional background informs the company's dual focus on technical roasting precision and structural economic reform within the coffee trade.

The company operates a roastery and café where they utilize a Primo Coffee roaster integrated with Cropster Roast Intelligence and LeBRewTech color analysis tools. Under the direction of head roaster Nanelle Newbom, the roasting philosophy centers on the light-roast spectrum, prioritizing the preservation of natural bean characteristics, clarity, and sweetness. The team adjusts roast profiles—including charge temperatures and airflow—based on specific variables such as bean density and moisture content to optimize the flavor profile of each individual lot.

Central to Torque’s business model is a commitment to what they term 'Radical Equity.' This is operationalized through a system of Proportional Pricing, which mandates that a fixed percentage of every bag sold is returned to the country of origin. Specifically, the company guarantees that 20% of the retail price and 35% of the wholesale price stays in the producing country. This model is designed to bypass traditional charity-based approaches by embedding financial transparency directly into the transaction, ensuring producers receive a consistent share of the value generated by their coffee.

Torque’s sourcing strategy focuses on high-quality, traceable lots, often highlighting specific producers and micro-lots. Their product range includes single-origin offerings and signature blends, such as their 'Honey Drop' blend, which is specifically roasted to emphasize caramelized sugars and complex carbohydrates. The company supplies coffee to independent shops, restaurants, and bakeries across Southern California and the broader United States, positioning their wholesale program as a tool for partners to offer transparently sourced, high-scoring coffee.

The company’s efforts have been recognized through various industry accolades, including multiple Golden Bean medals and high scores from Coffee Review. These metrics serve as a validation of their technical approach to roasting, which they argue is inseparable from their sourcing philosophy. By focusing on the 'roaster's art'—reading the coffee upon arrival and setting profiles to highlight inherent qualities—they aim to demonstrate that high-quality specialty coffee can be both commercially successful and economically equitable.

Ultimately, Torque Coffees positions itself as an agent of change within the specialty coffee sector. By documenting and publicizing their equity percentages, they seek to challenge industry norms regarding producer compensation. Their story represents a shift toward greater accountability, where the value chain is not merely a supply line but a mechanism for ensuring that the people responsible for growing the coffee share in the financial success of the final product.