The Tatte Coffee Story

Since opening our first café in 2008, coffee has always been at the heart of Tatte. From day one, our baristas have crafted drinks with blends we loved, chosen with care to pair beautifully with our food and baked goods. But deep down, our team dreamed of something more—a program truly our own. Coffee built from our tasting notes, our vision, and our passion. Coffee you could only experience at Tatte.

After sixteen years of imagining, that dream finally came to be in 2024: an exclusive, built-from-scratch coffee program designed for our guests and brought to life with roasters we’ve long admired.

At our Summer Street café, we sat down with two members of the team who brought this vision to life to learn more about the process and intention behind each decision. Together with our partners, Jennifer Salamone, our Head of Coffee and Sam MacNeill, our coffee trainer, crafted the blends that now define Tatte Coffee.

Our espresso, known as No. 4, is as versatile as it is special. Its flavor is smooth and balanced, with soft notes of black cherry, a body of caramel and milk chocolate, and bright bursts of orange. The beans come from Central and South America, and the blend was created with the legendary George Howell Coffee. After tasting four options, Jenn remembers the moment clearly: “The fourth was the one, we all knew it immediately, and that’s how No. 4 was born.”

For drip coffee, we partnered with the team at Gracenote and developed T1—our “desert island” blend. With notes of chocolate mousse, toasted hazelnut, and confected blueberry, it’s elegant, generous, and endlessly drinkable. The beans come from Brazil and Ethiopia’s famed Misty Valley. Jenn describes it as, “approachable for everyday coffee drinkers, but nuanced enough for enthusiasts to discover something new with every sip.”

The name T1 carries a special meaning: it’s what we call our very first café in Brookline, Massachusetts. It’s a reminder of how Tatte began, when guests helped turn a farmers’ market stand into a neighborhood café.

Bringing these blends to life was just the beginning. Our baristas across all cafés trained carefully to make sure every espresso and every cup of drip reflects the beauty of the beans. As Jenn says, “Roasters can do their part perfectly, but it’s up to us to bring it to life in the cup. Our baristas own that process, and it shows.”

The response over the last year has been extraordinary. Guests have embraced the new blends with joy—some even declaring No. 4 their favorite espresso ever. Our own teams are just as excited, bonding over their new morning rituals or evenings spent with a cup of T1 at sunset.

Tatte Coffee is more than beans—it’s a new chapter in our story. Sixteen years in the making, we’re proud of what we’ve created for our cafés, for our teams, and most of all, for you.