Founded in 1993 near Winter Park Resort, Rocky Mountain Roastery pioneered a distinctive high-altitude roasting philosophy that exploits the thin air at 8,550 feet to achieve what conventional sea-level roasters cannot. Their approach centers on deliberately long, slow, and deep roasting profiles that have remained unchanged since inception—a bold commitment to dark roasts in an era obsessed with light, acidic profiles. Now under Parker Thomson's stewardship since 2015, the roastery maintains its "anti-Starbucks" ethos while leveraging high altitude's unique physics: reduced atmospheric pressure that locks in coffee flavors while preventing excess moisture from corrupting the bean's integrity.