Getting to know Us

We are a Female-founded, self-funded and 75 % operated by a Latinx woman, Atabey is a single origin Dominican specialty coffee roaster in Los Angeles, CA. We import green coffee beans directly from the source and freshly roast to order in California. Our goal is for the Dominican coffee to get noticed and eventually have the product known in the specialty coffee world. Dominican Republic has been importing coffee since late 1800's due to its favorable geographical location and has become a supplier of green bean coffee, roasted, semi-roasted and ground, to roasters and marketers in North America, Europe, but mainly Asia where this exquisite product is not grown for mass consumption. In addition, we would like to be able to help small producers to ensure they are getting paid accordingly for their hard labor and good quality product as Coffee cultivation requires a lot of intensive manual labor and up 12 hours a day are spent working in harsh environments in the farm. We truly care for fair trade and strengthening their community. 

Growing up in a small town in the Cordillera Central of the Dominican Republic, where everyone knows each other, we can remember coffee was always present. We remember seeing everyone in town having a cup of coffee at any time of the day or during special events. Coffee has been something we've always remembered from our childhood. The mesmerizing aroma and favorable taste instantly caught our senses since we were kids and right there our love for coffee was born.

About 6 years ago we embarked on a journey of discovery. An eye-opening experience about the Dominican Republic's coffee scene. Being located in the Caribbean, which is part of the World's Coffee Belt. With this, we learned our country has a variety of coffee beans with a predominance of Arabica strains like Típica, Caturra and Catimores growing around the island, moreover these areas have been neglected and exploited for many years by big companies and wealthy families. 

Going back to our natives’ roots, the first people to be known at the island, Dominican Republic, were the Tainos. Fast forwarding, we all have an idea on what took place when colonization happened in the Caribbean. The Tainos were believed to worship various gods, one of them was Atabey. She was believed to be the supreme goddess of the Tainos. She symbolizes the mother earth spirit and all waters which we thought was appropriate for our brand since it represents the mountains where our beans are planted and carefully grown.

In recent years, private companies and institutions have started to focus on Dominican Specialty coffee. Increasing education on the proper techniques of handling our coffee and improving its quality. The implemented learning processes regarding specialty coffee has allowed for more awareness on the impact and benefits for small coffee producers, product quality, their families, and our country.

With all these discoveries we knew we could make a difference. Our focus is to bring our coffee to a worldwide recognition and emphasize the hard work and dedication small producers put into producing great quality Dominican coffee.

And that's how Atabey Coffee Roasters was born. With the hope for our Dominican specialty coffee to get noticed while also showing recognition and gratitude to our land and the hard-working people that dedicate their arduous labor to help produce it. Lastly, taking into consideration the impact that these hard-working people behind the scenes, back home and how it can impact the earth and the economy for microlote farmers in the Dominican Republic

Colao* is a spanish slang that means "to brew"