It started in a shed on a fishing wharf, with a secondhand roaster and a bell that rang when the batch was done.
Nora Castellane bought a 12-kilo Probat from a closing roastery in Vermont in 2009 and set it up in a shed her uncle used for lobster traps. The first customers were the boats. Deckhands came for a cup at 5 am and left with a bag.
By 2011 the shed could not hold the line, and Harbor Light moved into the brick building on Commercial Street it still occupies today.
Every origin on our list is a relationship. Nora still visits two farms a year, and we pay the same partners the same premium regardless of what the commodity market does. It makes our costs less predictable and our coffee a great deal more so.
The notebook from the shed is on a shelf behind the bar. We still log every batch the same way.
Munjoy Hill opened in 2016 and Kennebunkport in 2022. Both are supplied from the same drum on Commercial Street, delivered by van the morning after roasting. We have been asked to franchise. We have said no.
Twenty-two people work here now. Most of them started as baristas.