Coffee made for the people around your table. Sourced with care, roasted close to home, shared like family.
In Mayan languages, Balam commonly translates to jaguar — a watchful, powerful guardian. For us, the jaguar carries coffee from southern Mexico to Minnesota with energy and intention.
But Balam means something deeper to our founders: Big Family. Every bag, market conversation, and customer message is an invitation into our family. That's the emotional promise behind every cup.
Balam Coffee Roasters was founded by Gustavo and Ning in Plymouth, Minnesota. What started as a passion for sharing exceptional coffee with neighbors grew into a mission: bring carefully sourced organic coffee from Chiapas to the Twin Cities community, with transparency and warmth at every step.
Now restarting the brand from the ground up, Gustavo and Ning are building Balam as a community-first coffee company — one bag, one cup, one conversation at a time.
Balam is two people with a lot of cupping spoons. We taste, source and roast every batch ourselves — right here in Plymouth.
Both certified roasters · Boot Coffee, San Francisco · 2023Co-Founder · Certified Q Grader · Certified Roaster
Ning is a certified Q Grader — a coffee professional trained and tested to evaluate coffee to internationally recognized standards for aroma, flavor, acidity, body, sweetness and defects. She brings a scientist’s precision to the cupping table: every lot Balam buys and every roast we release goes past her palate first.
Co-Founder · Certified Roaster · Fine Coffee Merchant
Originally from Mexico City, Gus is a certified roaster and fine coffee merchant. He brings a merchant’s eye for great Mexican coffee and a roaster’s patience to every batch — building the relationships that carry Chiapas coffee north and dialing in the roast that brings out its chocolate and brown-sugar sweetness.
Two certified roasters and a Q Grader under one roof. Here’s how we can help your business or group.
Led by Ning — Certified Q Grader
Green coffee grading
Sample roasting, cupping and scoring of green coffee to recognized specialty standards — know what you’re buying before you commit.
Defect & quality reports
Physical and sensory evaluation of a lot, with written notes on defects, flavor and consistency.
Roast quality checks
Blind cupping of your roasted coffee with honest, practical feedback for cafés and roasters.
Cupping classes & tastings
Private or group sensory workshops — learn to taste like a pro at your office, event or shop.
Gus & Ning — Certified Roasters
Wholesale coffee
Fresh-roasted coffee for cafés, restaurants, offices and churches across the Twin Cities.
Private label & custom blends
Your name on the bag — a blend or single origin developed and roasted for your business or event.
Roast profile consulting
Help developing and dialing in roast profiles for new and growing roasters.
Mexican specialty sourcing
Fine coffee merchant connections for sourcing specialty green coffee from Mexico.
Events & gifting
Coffee bars for markets and gatherings, plus corporate and holiday gift bags.
Chiapas is Mexico's leading coffee-producing state — a region where mountain climate, elevation, rainfall, and generations of farming knowledge combine to create exceptional Arabica coffee.
The mountains of the Sierra Madre de Chiapas provide the conditions for slower cherry development and denser beans, producing cups known for balance, sweetness, and clean flavor.
High elevation Arabica
Carefully selected lots
Plymouth is home — where trails meet neighborhoods, families gather over morning cups, and local businesses build real relationships. Balam roasts in the Twin Cities so every bag arrives fresh, close to the community it serves.
The panther has a special place here. It's the energy that carries coffee from southern Mexico to northern tables — watchful, confident, and always moving forward.
Roast-day updates, brewing tips, and new coffee drops. Welcome to Balam.
