Ask anyone with a tote bag: Austin hosts a thriving coffee scene. It’s no wonder the Austin Coffee Festival’s on for its fifth year at the Palmer Events Center, where this weekend they’ll host entertainment, tastings, and panels all about caffeinated creations.
Most coffee lovers are also aware it’s not all sunshine and steam wands. Coffee production has a fraught history of exploitative labor practices, neocolonialism, and environmental harm. This annual festival presents a unique opportunity for the community to reflect on where their cups of joe come from. Take, for example, Steven Kerner from Barrett’s Coffee. A drinker primarily of straight black espresso, Kerner has been at the helm of Barrett’s Coffee since 2019, when he and Travis Kizer bought the business from Jeff Lupul. Barrett’s buys the bulk of their coffee from a broker, Royal Coffee, and may be involved at any moment in a single-farmer initiative, dollar back program, or a reforestation project. One highlight was their work with an Ethiopian cooperative, which has a K-12 school. When Kerner visited, members of the co-op mentioned they only had four computers for 400 students. He and a few of his fellow roasters thought they should help raise the money, so the roasters are paying for the lab upfront. From there, coffee sold at Barrett’s from the Ethiopian cooperative goes toward recuperating the funds.
“That’s my real passion, sourcing coffee and a good story,” Kerner says.
Speaking of passion, I’ve never met anyone more excited to talk about the coffee industry than Sara Gibson. The roaster, whose ideal cup bounces between “something off [the] specials menu… a cortado… and a drip coffee,” co-founded Sightseer Coffee Roasters with Kimberly Zash. What stands out about Sightseer Coffee is its commitment to sourcing from all women producers. While about 70% of all labor in coffee production is performed by women, “you don’t see [women] when you go to talk to whoever’s in charge,” Gibson says. By focusing on what they can control (i.e., where they buy their beans), Gibson says roasters can encourage the growth of women-owned farms to meet their increased demand.
Creature Coffee Co.’s Michael Craig was a latecomer to coffee, as he didn’t have it until age 30. Craig was born in the UK, and while backpacking through Australia, he had a life-changing cup of joe. “Melbourne changed my mind about coffee,” he recalls. “It was like: ‘Oh, coffee can taste good.’” In 2017, after living in Austin for a while, Craig started Creature Coffee out the back of his car. “It was very scrappy,” he says with a bit of an ironic smile. Craig’s answer to the changing industry is an emphasis on traceability and fair pay. According to him, they pay farmers “considerably more than fair trade” – around two to four times more, he estimates. And his current preferred sip? “A single origin espresso [and] a single origin pour over.”
All three of these roasters look forward to the Austin Coffee Festival as a moment to nerd out over their favorite beverage. “It’s exciting to see a whole bunch of coffee people in a room who are all really dedicated to the craft of specialty coffee,” says Gibson. “If you just love and want to drink a shit ton of coffee, [this is] a great place to do it.”
This article appears in October 16 • 2026.