Dunn Bros

Dunn Bros in Linden Hills, Minneapolis

Dunn Bros Coffee is a franchise company of coffeehouses founded in St. Paul, Minnesota, in December 1987 by brothers Ed and Dan Dunn.^[1] The first store was opened on Grand Avenue in St. Paul,^[2] when Ed Dunn drove a pickup truck loaded with his refurbished 1950s Probat roaster from Portland, Oregon, to St. Paul in search of a good, underserved location. The second location opened in Uptown Minneapolis in 1991 (and was temporarily the only location while the Grand Avenue store recovered from a 1991 fire).

The store's locations are primarily in the American Midwest, especially Minnesota, where there are 74 locations. In the last few years stores have also opened in Texas, Tennessee, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Missouri, and Iowa. Dunn Bros Coffee is a franchise, and most stores are locally owned and operated. One distinguishing feature that separates Dunn Bros from most of its chain competitors is that at every traditional location the coffee is roasted right in the store, usually on a daily basis.^[3] This allows customers to buy freshly roasted whole beans. Three roast levels are often available: a medium Full City, a medium-dark Vienna Roast, and a dark French Roast, which either adds a smoky flavor to the bean (French Roast) or allows subtle nuances to be distinguishable (Full City roast). Some coffee roasters can produce about a dozen roast levels, and many types of beans are considered over-roasted as French or Italian. Dunn Bros Coffee does not produce an Italian Roast on the grounds that it often produces a charred flavor in the highest grades of Arabica beans. The in-store roasting and small batch sizes typically allow for the availability of 12-15 varieties of whole beans.

As of June 2006, Dunn Bros was the ninth largest coffee company in the U.S., with 85 locations throughout the country.^[4]

See also

• List of coffeehouse chains
• Coffee portal

References

External links

• Dunn Bros website