Small Planes Coffee

If you’re a coffee lover in DC, Small Planes Coffee is a local gem that consistently soars above the rest. Over the last three years, the Gateway and Colonnade roasts have become absolute staples in my kitchen. The quality of their roasting is matched only by the kindness and speed of their team (Erin is the best!). Beyond the beans, their Arboretum specialty instant coffee really impressed me. These packets provided a high-end brew and offered much-needed comfort during my recovery from knee surgery when I needed a low-hassle preparation without sacrificing taste. Whether you need a reliable morning cup or a portable caffeine fix, Small Planes delivers every time.

Small Planes has the tastiest beans. I’ve tried a few of their roasts and love the variety in flavor. I keep coming back to their Arboretum roast as a mainstay. I moved away from dc and like to keep in touch through this roastery! Their team has been super helpful when I’ve had questions, too!

Excellent coffee, great people. My favorite are their very well-balanced medium roasts (especially the single-origin Columbian ones), which I find really flavorsome. I also like the gateway blend. Can highly recommend this local roaster whose I have been enjoying for around two years.

I love local roasters but the coffee is overpriced. I bought a Ethiopia Shoondhisa here and asked the roaster how long I ought to degass. They said it is good out of the box, so I hesitantly tried and tuned my method but each cup kept coming up sour and unevenly extracted largely because there was still so much CO2 that prolonged the bloom phase and altered the bed. As expected, I would rest this coffee 7-14 days if I bought again. It’s not cheap - this isn’t a fancy lot but still $25 w/o shipping. Unsure about all these fanciful reviews…

Best roaster in the DMV area hands down, and I have tried all of them regularly since 2018. They do light-to-medium roasts perfectly. Their rotation single origins are great and I highly recommend anything they get from Colombia or Ethiopia. What sets Small Planes apart is that the Gateway and Colonnade blends are just as good, which means you're set year-round. AFAIK, this location is not open to the public except for their just-restarted cuppings on the first Friday of the month (check their IG). It's free and lets you try all of their offerings-12 when we went-in a single go. We even got a free jute bag! Erin and the rest of the staff were super kind and knowledgeable. The online store is also pretty fast and does free shipping on 2+ bag orders. The bags are zip sealed and always recent roast dates. You can also go in-person to Peregrine Espresso whenever they're open to get SP beans and drinks. Small Planes, if you're reading this please bring back Jhon Wilson Poveda!

Recently moved here from NorCal where the independent coffee roastery and cafe scene is the best in the country (sorry, it isn't close). It's been a serious struggle to find a good roastery in the DMV, but SPC is solid. We've tried two different skews so far and both were fresh and quite good. I will say, the coffee we ordered direct from them was way fresher than what you can find in whole foods. Oddly the price was better at whole foods relative to buying direct, not sure what's going on there. Anyways, the pick up location is just a warehouse in NE which isn't amazing but if you want the coffee very close to the roast date that's the price you pay. It feels weird to have the beans delivered since we live in this area but in the future I think that might be the move.

I just got through my first bag of Small Planes' Obelisk and holy smokes, it was verrrrrrrrrrryyyyyyyyyyyyyyy goooooooooooooooood. Small Planes easily climbed up to my #1 Coffee Wizards in the DMV. Thanks for making delicious and sip-able beans, Small Planes! 💖

Favorite roaster in DC — ellipse and bookkisa are both great, excited to try more