Civic Coast Coffee Bringing Fresh Roasts to Indianapolis’ Near Eastside

Civic Coast Coffee owner and head roaster Bryan Daniel. Photo by Ted Somerville Photography, courtesy of Civic Coast Coffee.

With the open-hearted determination of a West Coast skater, Civic Coast Coffee is delivering fresh-roasted coffee in Indianapolis through online sales, pop-ups and a growing wholesale business.

Two worlds come together in the approach of Civic Coast Coffee Founder Bryan Daniel, whose early connections to Southern California surf and skate culture moved with him to the heart of the Midwest.

“One thing I love about skaters is they’re just transparent, they’re authentic,” Daniel told Daily Coffee News. “There is somewhat of a brashness in terms of if you see something that you want to tackle, you’re going to go tackle it. If you want to take on some stairs, you’re going to jump down those stairs. If you’re going to try a new trick, you’re going to keep going, again and again.” 

Civic Coast Coffee courtesy photo.

At the controls of his fully manual Ambex roaster, Daniel applies that same stick-to-itiveness in pursuit of consistency. He also carries forward the support skaters offer one another regardless of age, background and skill level while introducing customers to new flavors in the cup.

“If you’ve ever been to a skate park, you’ll see skaters working for hours to land a new trick. That persistent mentality is something I’ve always embraced,” Daniel said. “Skaters are also pretty cool in terms of embracing people who are not as good as them, or better than them. [There’s] a culture of acceptance within that.” 

Daniel also draws a parallel between skate culture and specialty coffee, saying that despite positive change in recent years, more work remains to address lopsided cultural representation.

“The cool thing about today is you see a lot more Black and brown skaters than you did in previous years,” Daniel said. “If you look around, you don’t see a whole lot of people of color working in specialty coffee, especially on the higher end in terms of having access to financing and equipment, or even just being invited to the table.”

Photo by Ted Somerville Photography, courtesy of Civic Coast Coffee.

Civic Coast operates out of a 300-square-foot roastery garage in Indianapolis’ Near Eastside, where Daniel runs an Ambex YM-2 alongside the 1-kilogram Aillio Bullet R1V2 roaster he used when he started roasting.

A home roaster and blogger since 2015, Daniel won a local Brewer’s Cup competition at Tinker Coffee in 2017, boosting his confidence to pursue coffee professionally. Five years later, he filed paperwork to launch the company originally called Indy Loves Coffee, later changing the name to better reflect his motivations.

The Civic Coast production hub sits behind Alley Cat Ceramics and the Groovy Greenhouse stained glass studio, contributing to a working-class neighborhood where historic preservation, new businesses and community-oriented projects are pushing back against decades of disinvestment tied to interstate highway construction in the 1970s.

Daniel also maintains a full-time position with a nonprofit in Indianapolis focused on making nutritious, high-quality food more accessible to students and children. He is applying that same passion to coffee sourcing and roasting to make high-quality coffee more accessible to underserved communities.

For green coffees, Daniel turns primarily to importer Quetzal Coffee, noting the company’s focus on fair prices for producers and willingness to work with smaller roasters. 

“I’m just taking baby steps. I really want this to be a long-lasting business venture, and to establish myself as someone who cares about every customer,” Daniel said. “People who typically won’t feel comfortable having really good coffee in higher-end types of settings will see me, see my coffee and see that there is an opportunity to have a conversation and build a relationship.”

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