D'Leon Coffee was founded by Joseph Leon in Centerville, MA in 2021, but the idea began years ago and a continent away. As a boy growing up in Buenos Aires, Argentina Joseph would listen to fascinating stories told to him by his mother about a place where coffee was part of the landscape, part of the culture, and part of its people. Her stories of a young girl’s adventures growing up in an Andean Mountain village painted a both beautiful and mysterious picture of her home back in Peru. Together they would grind, brew, and enjoy coffee as a family, while his mother shared stories of her youth and her hometown, and in this way coffee became part of their family culture too. Joseph listened to these stories and became intrigued by this “land of coffee” with mountain farms, amazing aromas of roasting coffee beans, and so many interesting and industrious characters. The seed of a dream had been plated.

Joseph went on to study hospitality management and found his way into some of the finer restaurants and upscale bars on Cape Cod. As he earned different positions in the field, he absorbed much of what was going on around him and often thought about how he could apply what he was learning about the business to coffee. This led Joseph to taking a lead role at one of the most well-known and popular coffee shops on the Cape, Nirvana in Barnstable Village. After moving on from that position and eventually becoming Bar Manager and Wine Director of Pain D’Avignon, his love of high-quality food and drink, and the experience of being around and living in the coffee culture made him realize he wanted to get more serious about his dream.

Joseph wanted to see where coffee came from, who grew it, how it was processed, sorted, dried, graded, packed, shipped. All of it. He decided to take a long leave of absence from Pain D’Avignon and in 2018 he traveled to Peru and later on to Colombia.

While many fond and cherished memories were made, this was no vacation. Joseph visited farms, processing facilities, roasteries, packaging plants, importers, exporters, and shipping companies. He met and spoke with farmers, studied with master coffee roasters, learned how the beans were grown and picked, then processed, sorted and graded. He learned how and why coffees differed by region and what gave them each their own signature qualities. He also became more aware of the many issues affecting coffee producing regions, and the inspiring people he was meeting and coming to know closely. It was an amazing experience, and he took it all in, while making some great friends and connections. He knew what needed to be done to provide the highest quality coffee in as many different flavor profiles as possible he would need to dive deeper into roasting. In 2019 he returned to South America and studied artisanal small batch roasting at "Cafè y Origen" in Lima, Peru

Upon his return he began putting together the pieces and making the necessary arrangements to form a roastery. Joseph was able to rely on the continued support of Pain D'Avignon in the realization of his vision and partnered with them to develop a coffee roastery directly adjacent to the restaurant & boulagerie. With the same deliberate focus, steady progress, and patient insistence on the highest level of quality Joseph is able to bring to you his dream of small batch roasting and the roastery/café experience. We hope you visit us and see what we’ve created.

A mother’s stories and love are powerful. They can inspire a boy to dream and as a man make those dreams a reality. See, feel, smell, taste, and enjoy with us.