Uploaded April 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 days ago
Ever wondered how Little Waves roasts their coffee?
Come with me (RoasterKat) a behind-the-scenes tour to visit Little Waves Coffee Roasters in Durham, North Carolina. We get the inside scoop from co-owner Areli Barrera de Grodski, and get an up-close look at how their team runs a tight but mighty roasting operation. Located inside one of their cafés (Cocoa Cinnamon), their roastery setup uses a Loring 15kg Falcon to roast some of the most celebrated coffee in the U.S.
Whether you're a coffee pro or just curious, this real-time walkthrough gives you a feel for what it’s like inside a working specialty coffee roastery. And how much Little Waves accomplishes in a small yet smart space.
00:21 Meet co-founder Areli
00:49 Green to roasted workflow
02:45 Roastery layout and organization
10:48 A typical day in the roastery
13:52 Production bottleneck
15:24 Specs: batch sizes, roast times, staffing
19:30 Quality Control
21:11 Plans for a bigger roastery space
About Little Waves Coffee:
🏆 2022 Micro Roaster of the Year – Roast Magazine
📖 Featured in Standart Magazine (2024)
📺 Seen in Apple TV’s Omnivore – Episode 7
Recorded January 15, 2025
. . .
Subscribe for more roastery tours, coffee crawls, and behind-the-scenes content from the specialty coffee world. More coming soon from Spain, London, and beyond.
Follow me on Instagram @roasterkat
Ever wondered how Little Waves roasts their coffee?
Come with me (RoasterKat) a behind-the-scenes tour to visit Little Waves Coffee Roasters in Durham, North Carolina. We get the inside scoop from co-owner Areli Barrera de Grodski, and get an up-close look at how their team runs a tight but mighty roasting operation. Located inside one of their cafés (Cocoa Cinnamon), their roastery setup uses a Loring 15kg Falcon to roast some of the most celebrated coffee in the U.S.
Whether you're a coffee pro or just curious, this real-time walkthrough gives you a feel for what it’s like inside a working specialty coffee roastery. And how much Little Waves accomplishes in a small yet smart space.
00:21 Meet co-founder Areli
00:49 Green to roasted workflow
02:45 Roastery layout and organization
10:48 A typical day in the roastery
13:52 Production bottleneck
15:24 Specs: batch sizes, roast times, staffing
19:30 Quality Control
21:11 Plans for a bigger roastery space
About Little Waves Coffee:
🏆 2022 Micro Roaster of the Year – Roast Magazine
📖 Featured in Standart Magazine (2024)
📺 Seen in Apple TV’s Omnivore – Episode 7
Recorded January 15, 2025
. . .
Subscribe for more roastery tours, coffee crawls, and behind-the-scenes content from the specialty coffee world. More coming soon from Spain, London, and beyond.
Follow me on Instagram @roasterkat
