Why I Started Dam Good Coffee

Some of my earliest memories are of walking into my great-grandmother’s house and smelling coffee. It seemed to permeate the whole place. Coffee was part of the rhythm of my family, and it has been part of mine ever since.

I’m Judy Phelps, founder and roaster of Dam Good Coffee. After decades of growing grapes and making wine at Hard Row to Hoe Vineyards, I didn’t expect my morning coffee habit to lead me into another agricultural obsession or another business.

It started when I bought a small kitchen roaster and began roasting beans for myself. The difference floored me. The coffee was fresher, more aromatic and far more flavorful than what I had been buying. Once I knew what freshly roasted coffee could taste like, I couldn’t go back.

I also realized how difficult it was to find that experience here in the Lake Chelan Valley. I knew other coffee lovers had to be looking for something better, too. That became my new mission: bring truly fresh, thoughtfully selected coffee to my own community.

Winemaking taught me that quality begins at the source. You can’t make exceptional wine from indifferent grapes, and you can’t make exceptional coffee from ordinary beans.

I seek out high-quality, recent-harvest coffees from importers I trust, with a strong preference for organically grown beans. Before a coffee earns a Dam Good label, I sample it, roast it, brew it and taste it critically. I look for richness, balance, body and a satisfying finish. I’m picky and every coffee carries my personal stamp of approval.

Then I roast it in small batches here in Lake Chelan, choosing the roast that makes each coffee most enjoyable.

Coffee has always been part of the rhythm of my morning. That first cup helps me settle in , focus and turn my attention to whatever I'm taking on that day. It's how I find my flow. 

I’m not interested in making coffee complicated. I want to put coffee in your cup that smells wonderful, tastes deeply satisfying and gives you something to look forward to every morning.