Other
Trish Rothgeb
Coffee Roaster
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
Coffee quality work depends on repeated contact with the whole chain: bar work, roasting, cupping, buying, education, and the language used by the trade to describe its own standards. Trish Rothgeb is one of the coffee professionals whose practice has moved through those stations, with a stated view of coffee as a full cycle of creation and consumption. “It just wouldn’t let go of me,” she has said of the work.
The Route
Bay Area barista and roasting work formed the early trade base for Trish Rothgeb, placing service, production, and sensory judgment in the same daily frame. By 1999, that roasting practice had moved into Robert William's Cafe, where the work centered on production roasting and the developing standards of specialty coffee. Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters, founded in San Francisco, carries that mix of roasting, buying, and professional instruction into an operating coffee company.
The Work Today
Roasting, green coffee buying, and teaching remain connected practices at Wrecking Ball Coffee Roasters, where Trish Rothgeb works from both production experience and quality-assessment training. The licensed Q-Grader and credentialed Q Trainer roles with the Coffee Quality Institute place cupping, calibration, and education inside the same discipline rather than treating them as separate specialties. Her public work also includes advocacy for equitable economic models for coffee producers worldwide.
Awards and Standing
Trade recognition in coffee often comes through service to the institutions that set competition formats, education pathways, and peer standards. Trish Rothgeb is a member of the Roasters Guild Executive Council of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), a charter member of the Board of Directors for the World Barista Championship, and a founding member of the Barista Guild of America. Those roles place her work inside the professional structures that helped define modern specialty coffee practice.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Trish
Where did Trish Rothgeb work before?
Earlier in their career, Trish Rothgeb worked at Robert William's Cafe and Coffee Quality Institute (CQI).
What is Trish Rothgeb known for?
Cupping.
