Black Cup Coffee

Black Cup Coffee is Alaska's oldest coffee roastery, founded in 1975 by Perry Merkel and now part of the Kaladi Brothers family — a Midtown Anchorage institution that has been roasting on the same premises for over four decades. For visitors and locals who take specialty coffee seriously, the Benson Boulevard location is the closest thing Alaska has to a working roastery experience: an operational production floor anchored by a 1953 Probat G90 drum roaster, built in Emmerich, Germany, that has been in use since the early 1990s.

The Probat G90 is a 72-burner drum roaster — a piece of equipment that belongs in a museum but continues to produce roasts in daily commercial use. Watching the roaster in operation is part of what makes visiting Black Cup different from a standard specialty coffee stop. The roastery uses custom roast profiles developed to highlight sweetness, clarity, and balance in each coffee, with sourcing that spans single-origin lots alongside house blends. Pour-over preparation is a signature method at the bar, and the coffee-of-the-month rotation gives regulars reason to check back across the year.

Weekly cupping and tasting sessions give coffee-curious visitors a structured introduction to the evaluation process — the same protocol used by professional roasters and buyers to assess aroma, flavor, body, and acidity. Whether you arrive knowing nothing about the process or come with a palate already trained, cupping sessions at a working roastery are a qualitatively different experience from a tasting at a retail cafe. Details and registration for sessions are available at blackcupak.com.

The space itself is warm and unhurried: plants, local art, merchandise, and board games make it equally suitable for a focused work session or an extended afternoon. Black Cup consistently ranks among Anchorage's top-rated coffee shops and is a strong recommendation for any visitor who wants to understand what Alaska's independent coffee culture looks like at its most serious.

Black Cup is located at 341 East Benson Boulevard in Midtown Anchorage, near the REI flagship. Hours are Monday through Friday 6 AM to 7 PM, Saturday 7 AM to 7 PM, and Sunday 7 AM to 6 PM. Coffee and roasted beans are also available through the online store at blackcupak.com.