Five Star Coffee Roasters

Five Star Coffee Roasters built its reputation partly on a category most specialty roasters treat as an afterthought: decaf. The Holly Springs roastery, just outside Raleigh, won the Golden Bean North America award for its decaffeinated coffee, using the Mountain Water process — a chemical-free method that strips caffeine using only water, temperature, and time rather than solvents. That decaf program grew directly out of the pandemic, when the company expanded its offerings and put real roasting attention into a segment normally treated as a compromise rather than a coffee in its own right. The rest of the lineup runs on direct relationships with family farms in Honduras, including named lots like Santa Lucia and Spotlight: Mira Flores, roasted as both single-origin and blended coffees using washed and natural processing. Beans are certified organic and Smithsonian Bird Friendly, a habitat-conscious certification tied to shade-grown farming practices. Customers can order through the company's online shop with free roastery pickup, or find the coffee already stocked at more than 50 retail locations spread across North Carolina — a reach that goes well beyond a single café counter.