Hopkinton Is Birthplace of Red Barn Coffee Roasters

It began with a red Hopkinton barn.

In 1997, Mark and Lisa Verrochi launched a business in a converted horse barn in their Hopkinton back yard. Mark converted the barn loft into his office, which for several years was the hub of the couple’s specialty-coffee roasting business.

In the early 2000s, they moved Red Barn Coffee Roasters to its Upton location. But the New England-style red Hopkinton barn remains.

“I had been a Naval officer and Lisa a nurse before starting Red Barn," Mark Verrochi said recently.

"We’d lived in Hopkinton since 1993 and had two young kids, and were looking for something where we’d be more available to our kids. We saw opportunity in the roasting business, and thought how hard can coffee be? Little did we know,” he said with a grin.

During its 14 years, Red Barn has become one of the largest specialty coffee roasters and retailers in the region.

The company operates three cafes in Southborough, Westborough and Boston (see below for location information) and sells coffee wholesale to a number of restaurants, groceries, bookstores, and other businesses. They are also working on licensing their product.

Red Barn specialty coffee includes a large selection of organic, fair-trade and solar-dried/fair-traded/organic coffees.

“Specialty coffee is very clean and higher quality than commercial grade," said Roastmaster William Trull.

"The higher the altitude the beans are grown, the higher the quality," he said. "And very green coffee beans indicate freshness.”

Trull has more than 30 years experience roasting. He has been with the company since Red Barn operated out of a, well, a red Hopkinton barn.

He explained how the entire process, from beans being picked on the plantation to their arrival at Red Barn for roasting and packaging, takes from six to eight weeks.

In its worldwide purchasing, Red Barn chooses only beans that meet the company’s high standards and specific flavor profiles, Mark noted.

As roastmaster, Trull oversees roasting the fresh green coffee beans into beans you buy at a store or drink in a café.

The roasting process on average takes from 12 to 15 minutes.

“Store your whole beans at room temperature and in a tightly sealed container to maintain freshness," Trull said. " Never store your coffee in the refrigerator because coffee is very absorbent and will absorb the food flavors around it.”

To give back to the community, Red Barn offers a unique fundraising program. Red Barnwill sell bags of coffee to organizations and individuals for minimum cost, and the people fundraising are allowed to set the price for selling the coffee to the public.

The charitable organization then keeps the difference between prices. Because so many folks enjoy their morning cups of coffee, past participants have raised several thousand dollars through the program.

Enjoy a cup of Red Barn coffee at one of their café locations:

205 Turnpike Rd. (Rte. 9), Southborough, 508-481-9556

17 South St. (at the rotary), Westborough, 508-898-2091

Longwood Galleria, 350 Longwood Ave. (in the heart of the Longwood medical area), Boston, 617-738-2620.

Visit the company’s website redbarncoffee.com to place an online order for coffee.