Roast Magazine Announces 2026 Roaster of the Year Winners
Kafiex Roasters and Driftaway Coffee
PORTLAND, OREGON (Oct. 20, 2025) — Kafiex Roasters and Driftaway Coffee have been honored with Roast magazine’s 22nd annual Roaster of the Year award in the Micro and Macro roaster categories, respectively. The two coffee roasting companies will be featured in the trade publication’s November/December 2025 issue.
Roast awards top honors in two categories: Micro Roaster of the Year, for companies roasting fewer than 100,000 pounds of coffee each year; and Macro Roaster of the Year, for companies roasting more than 100,000 pounds annually. The award recognizes companies that roast coffees of superior quality, exemplify a dedication to sustainability, promote employee and community education, and demonstrate a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion and equity, among other criteria.
Alongside Kafiex, finalists for the Micro Roaster category were Three Keys Coffee and Dessert Oasis Coffee Roasters. For the Macro Roaster category, in addition to Driftaway Coffee, the finalists were Corvus Coffee and Nossa Familia Coffee. Congratulations to all of the finalists for making incredible commitments to the industry, employees, partners across the value stream, and local neighborhoods.
Kafiex Roasters | 2026 Micro Roaster of the Year
Based in Vancouver, Washington, Kafiex Roasters is a roaster-retailer and wholesaler operating two cafes. Founded in 2018 by Matthew and Seidy Selivanow, Kafiex is a Clark County Green Business known for sustainability innovations (including a zero-waste specialty instant line), a Diedrich roaster outfitted for reduced emissions, bilingual education programs, competition coaching, and an expanding training facility. Their emphasis on bilingual community education, direct relationships with producers, and low-waste product design highlights a commitment to equity, quality, and accessibility. Over the past 12 months, the company has roasted over 16,000 pounds of coffee.
Driftaway Coffee | 2026 Macro Roaster of the Year
Founded in 2014 in Brooklyn, New York, by Anu Menon and Suyog Mody, Driftaway Coffee is an immigrant-owned, woman-led roastery that focuses on making coffee personal and educational through a direct-to-consumer subscription model and virtual tastings. Driftaway publishes full pricing transparency, supports women- and minority-owned farms, uses compostable packaging, and donates to World Coffee Research. Their combination of subscription innovation, farmer-forward sourcing, and educational programming supports equity and accessibility. The company’s roasting output over the past 12 months was 125,683 pounds.
About Roast Magazine
Roast magazine is a bi-monthly technical trade journal dedicated to the success and growth of the specialty coffee industry. Roast addresses the art, science and business of coffee roasters by covering the issues most important to them, with quality editorial content focused on the technical aspects of coffee. For more information, visit roastmagazine.com.
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