Quick answer: where to buy organic coffee roasted in Montana
For organic coffee and nothing else, look to Black Coffee Roasting Company in Missoula and Firetower in Helena. Six more Montana roasters sell organic coffees next to their regular ones, and one of them, Hunter Bay, is a certified organic roaster. All of this comes from the roasters' own pages, checked September 27, 2026.
What "organic" means on a coffee bag
Wikipedia's Organic coffee article defines it as coffee grown without artificial chemical substances such as certain additives, pesticides and herbicides. In the United States the USDA's National Organic Program oversees certification and the organic label.
To be sold as organic here, imported coffee has to be certified. The article lists some of the rules: the land must have gone 3 years without synthetic pesticides or other banned substances, there must be a buffer from the nearest conventional crop, and the farm needs a crop rotation plan. The article also quotes a former vice chair of the National Organic Standards Board: organic labels are not statements about how healthy a product is.
Most of it comes from one part of the world. The article cites Costa Rica's CATIE research center: 75% of the world's organic coffee comes from Latin America, and Peru was the leading exporter in 2010. Organic coffee is also grown in Ethiopia and Indonesia.
The two all-organic Montana roasters
Black Coffee Roasting Company, Missoula. Black Coffee buys only certified organic coffee and says great coffee does not need farm chemicals. It roasts at 525 E Spruce St on a Loring, a roaster built to burn far less fuel than conventional machines, and packs its coffee in recycled or biodegradable bags. Its range runs from AM, the lighter roast, through Red Room to The Dark, and it makes organic instant coffee in recyclable aluminum tins made in the US.
Firetower Coffee House and Roasters, Helena. Firetower roasts organic beans in house at 422 North Last Chance Gulch, owned by Nord Johnson since 2013. All of its retail beans are organic: an espresso roast, an Ethiopian light roast and a Mexican French dark roast, whole or ground.
Montana roasters with organic coffees on the list
| Roaster | Town | Organic coffees on its list |
|---|---|---|
| Hunter Bay | Lolo | A certified organic roaster; Big Sky Organic and Colorado Organic among its blends |
| Drum | Missoula | Organic Viola, Max and Art blends; organic Ethiopia Guji, Rwanda Sholi and Peru Chirinos |
| Montana Coffee Traders | Whitefish | Organic Montana Morning, Trailblazer and Treasure blends; organic Bolivia Alijiri; an organic Guatemala decaf |
| Yellowstone | Bozeman | Big Sky Lift and Buffalo Trail blends; a Mexico Chiapas single origin grown by women producers |
| Rock Creek | Billings | Mexico Dana Montana, an organic Chiapas |
| Big Creek | Victor | An organic Guatemala Huehuetenango |
The origins line up with the Wikipedia figures. Most of the organic single origins above come from Latin America: Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Bolivia. Drum's organic Ethiopia and Rwanda are the African exceptions.
Lists change with the season, so a coffee named here may be gone by the time you look. Each roaster's profile says what we saw and when.
Certified is not the only way to buy carefully
Some roasters care about how coffee is grown without putting a seal on every bag. Red Bird in Bozeman says it pays farmers at least fair trade prices and often more, and values direct ties with small farmers who cannot afford the yearly cost of certification. Hunter Bay buys direct trade as well as certified organic coffee, and Montana Coffee Traders, a member of 1% for the Planet, has direct to farm partnerships.
Wikipedia's article points the same way from the farm side. It cites a finding that a third of farmers had trouble getting organic fertilizer, and that in 2010 about 10% of one-time organic growers in Latin America had gone back to conventional farming because of price competition.
If organic matters to you, the organic glossary entry has the short version, and the fair trade and direct trade entries cover the other two labels you will see on Montana bags.
Organic, roasted in Montana, in the mail
Buying organic coffee from a Montana roaster puts your money into a Missoula or Helena roastery instead of a national brand, and the bag travels a shorter road. Our support local page has more on why that matters.
The Last Best Coffee Club sends a 12 oz bag from a different independent Montana roaster each box, every 2 or 4 weeks. It costs $16.99 a bag; the first bag is free and you pay $7.99 shipping on that first box. Skip or cancel anytime. The club does not have an organic-only plan, so not every bag will be organic. The roasters on this page are local favorites we list; a listing does not mean a roaster is part of the club. See the plans.
Organic coffee questions
Which Montana coffee roasters are all organic?
Among the 18 Montana roasters we profile, two: Black Coffee Roasting Company in Missoula, which buys only certified organic coffee, and Firetower in Helena, whose retail beans are all organic.
Is organic coffee healthier?
Wikipedia's Organic coffee article quotes a former vice chair of the National Organic Standards Board saying organic labels are not statements about how healthy, nutritious or safe a product is. The label is about how the coffee was grown and handled.
Where is most organic coffee grown?
Latin America. Wikipedia cites the CATIE research center in Costa Rica for the figure that 75% of the world's organic coffee comes from there, with Peru the leading exporter in 2010.
Is there organic decaf from a Montana roaster?
Montana Coffee Traders in Whitefish lists an organic Guatemala decaf. Its pages do not say how the coffee is decaffeinated.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Organic coffee (the definition; USDA National Organic Program; the 3 year, buffer and rotation rules; the Standards Board quote; 75% from Latin America per CATIE; Peru the top exporter in 2010; the fertilizer and 10% figures)
- Every roaster fact, including addresses, organic coffees, certifications and buying practices: the roasters' own pages as summarized on our roaster profiles, checked 2026-09-27. The count of eight is our tally of those 18 profiles.
By Joe McRose, Last Best Coffee Club. Updated . What organic means and who grows it from Wikipedia's Organic coffee article; every roaster fact from our roaster profiles, built from the roasters' own pages and checked 2026-09-27.