Jeff Hollanbaugh (center left) and Charlie Chacos (center right)
Two Colorado coffee companies have merged with hopes to take over the Western Slope and beyond.
The deal involves 5-year-old Glenwood Springs roastery Defiant Coffee, which is joining Bonfire Coffee, a 3-year-old retail bar in Carbondale that had been brewing and selling the likes of Intelligentsia Coffee, Verve Coffee Roasters and Blue Bottle Coffee, along with Defiant’s roasts. The merged companies will operate under the name Bonfire Coffee, and the unified group has already unveiled a new website and packaging since the October merger.
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Former Defiant owner Jeff Hollenbaugh, who is now a Bonfire partner and roastmaster, recently told the Aspen Daily News “There are very few roasters of our size that aren’t operating a café, and we knew that the most logical thing would be having a café associated with us, but we didn’t really have the guts to acquire the capital to open our own cafe.”
Inside the Bonfire bar. Facebook photo.
Hollenbaugh has a fan in his partner Charlie Chacos, who has maintained a wholesale account with Defiant since Bonfire’s inception. Two years ago, he raved about Defiant’s roasts to the Post Independent: “We tested some really big names against Jeff’s roasts at a number of different tastings, and he just blew everyone away,” Chacos said. “We’re amazingly fortunate to have someone with such expertise right here in our local community.”
A Bonfire retail counter. Facebook photo.
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Nick Brown
Nick Brown is the editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine.
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