So great meeting you
our story
We are Matthew and Lauren Kneisel. Coffee brought us together and we believe a simple cup of coffee can make a big difference.
After working in the specialty coffee industry for over 20 years, sourcing, roasting, and creating coffee brands for both national accounts and mom-and-pop businesses, we felt it was time for a change. We desired a more direct connection between coffee and the community where we are raising our children. We wanted our coffee to make a difference.
So, in 2023, we founded Shore Coffee Roasters — Southern Shores’ first roastery cafe, a new, design-forward space where all can gather and experience an immersive coffee experience.
Our name is a tribute to the ever-resilient and transformative shores that grace our coastline. These shores stand as enduring symbols of strength and adaptability, mirroring the qualities we strive to embody in our community and business. To honor the rich history and spirit of our community, we also proudly adopted the modern Flat Top icon. It represents a bridge between our past and the future we are brewing. This is not just our source of inspiration but also guides our principles and actions.
We hope to inspire every SHORE customer with amazing coffee that pays it forward for people, the planet, and, most importantly, the Outer Banks community. Our mission is to inspire greater connection through coffee and to support nonprofits doing great work in our community.
Join us! Let’s make waves.
Responsible Sourcing
Discovering amazing coffees is what we love to do. We seek out the world’s sweetest, most flavorful specialty coffees.
For us, cup quality goes hand-in-hand with social and environmental responsibility. We care deeply about the producers who grow our coffees and it's our greatest honor to connect with them at farm level and work with like-minded partners across the supply chain.
We believe in making a positive social and environmental impact, and we do this by not only selecting coffees that have been grown and cared for using sustainable practices, but by paying producers fair prices for the fruits of their labor.
We meticulously cup and evaluate the sensory characteristics of each potential coffee before selecting beans that meet our strict quality standards and the flavor profiles we intend to craft.
Craft Roasting
With a shared passion for specialty coffee and over seven generations of combined coffee experience, we made a commitment from day one: source responsibly and roast with the utmost care, honoring the complex flavor of each and every bean.
We start by roasting our coffee in small batches on a made-in-the-USA San Franciscan drum roaster. We use our years of roasting and cupping knowledge to ensure we’ve maximized each coffee’s inherent sweetness and flavor while highlighting its unique nuances. Every batch we roast is meticulously sensory tested by our quality team to ensure it meets our desired profile.
Coffee is a fruit and is seasonally harvested. This means that the coffee you are enjoying, whether a single origin or blend, is always fresh and cupping to its full potential. We maintain our commitment to freshly harvested coffees by sourcing similar flavor profiles. This allows us to have year-round blends and showcase the coffees at their best.
Our single origin coffees are typically roasted light medium to accentuate their naturally fruity, bright, complex flavors, while we generally choose a more developed roast for our blends to bring out more rich, full-bodied, chocolatey notes.
Farm to Shore: Our Commitment to Better Coffee and Planet
Our 'Farm to Shore Commitment' is centered on a simple yet powerful belief: the coffee experience can positively impact our planet, starting in our own backyard. We consistently choose local and sustainable options, focusing on the highest quality ingredients. This approach supports not only the environment but also the dedicated farmers and communities who provide our wheat, eggs, dairy, and vegetables. Our success is intertwined with the thriving of our producer partners and our coastal community.
The shore is both our home and inspiration, and we take our role in its preservation seriously. We practice using renewable materials, reducing plastic use, and recycling. We will actively participate in beach clean-ups and support local environmental initiatives, ensuring our shared lands are cared for and cherished.