Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters

Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters was founded in 2011 by Trish Rothgeb, who by then already had a singular claim to fame in the coffee industry: she is credited with coining the term "third wave coffee," now the standard shorthand for the specialty-coffee movement built around single-origin sourcing, direct trade, and light-roast profiles. Rothgeb serves as founder, CEO, director of coffee, and roastmaster, a set of titles that reflects a business still built around one person's palate and sourcing relationships after more than a decade.

Her credentials extend well past the shop: a licensed Q-Grader and credentialed Q Trainer through the Coffee Quality Institute, she served as the institute's Director of Programs for Q and Educational Services from 2013 to 2016, sat on the SCAA's Roasters Guild Executive Council, was a charter member of the World Barista Championship Board of Directors, and helped found the Barista Guild of America. At the Union Street cafe in Cow Hollow, that pedigree shows up in the bag rather than the resume — the Pillow Fight Espresso and Triple Double Blend are the house's signature roasts, sold alongside single origins like an Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Grade 1 Banko and a Guatemala Alma, brewed to order at the espresso bar or shipped through the online shop.