Fundamental Coffee Company
Seattle, WA
Curator's Notes
Owner of Fundamental Coffee Company, Scott McMartin, is a Seattle coffee icon and a true artist when it comes to the dark roast blend. Working for Starbucks for 20 years, he contributed to all ends of the coffee spectrum, from procuring beans and maintaining grower relationships to creating recipes for its most-prized blends. After over a decade of roasting for a coffee giant, Scott took roasting into his own hands—literally—with a small Probat roaster in Seattle. Focusing on West Coast-style roasting, Scott’s been influenced by names such as Alfred Peet (of Peet’s Coffee), Arnold Spinelli, and Jim Reynolds (of Seattle’s Best Coffee). Like an artist sculpting a masterpiece, he believes “each coffee and blend asks for individual interpretation." One Bean Box customer called a Fundamental coffee, “One of the darkest, velvety-rich, smoothest cups I've had.” Scott’s farm-to-cup passion for coffee is evident in every roast. He told us, “We want people to enjoy great coffee and make the business inclusive, not elitist. Coffee is arguably the most important and personal social beverage.” In the spirit of being social, we couldn’t be happier to share Scott’s special roasts that are developed with the knowledge, consistency, and control of a true coffee artist.
From the Roaster
I’ve spent the better part of two decades buying coffee; I figure I’ve bought well over a billion pounds, and I’ve traveled to over 20 coffee producing countries and visited probably 2,000 farms. The range of experiences I’ve had, which run the gamut from thrilling to terrifying to hilarious to heartbreaking leave me overwhelmed with respect for all the people (25 million plus, worldwide) in the coffee business. I started Fundamental Coffee in 2014 with a passion for preserving the seemingly vanishing art of dark roast coffee. We buy, source and blend the world's finest coffees from people I've known since my early days in the business. We roast small batches on drum roasters and taste every batch because we care and wouldn't serve anything we're not proud of. We believe that without quality and beneficial relationships between the environment, growers, sellers, and buyers the coffee business will cease to exist and that would without question suck. Thanks for trying us out.
