What Uncommon Grounds does

Uncommon Grounds is a family-owned specialty coffee roaster and bagel café chain operating four locations in upstate New York (Saratoga Springs, Albany University Plaza, Albany Stuyvesant Plaza, and Clifton Park), with a nationwide e-commerce storefront. The company was founded in 1992 by Dan Murphy and has operated continuously for over 30 years, roasting coffee in 20-pound micro-batches on Probat roasters using a proprietary Full-City roast methodology with origin-specific profiles, and selling all coffee within a 14-day freshness window. In 1996 the company added NYC-inspired bagels baked fresh daily in-house, which today constitute a co-equal product line alongside coffee.

The core technology stack is artisanal rather than digital: small-batch roasters, Swiss Water Process decaffeination, aluminum-lined one-way degassing valve bags, and a third-party e-commerce platform. The company intentionally rejects wholesale distribution to maintain freshness claims, selling only through its four cafés and the DTC website. Pricing is unit-based — coffee at $17–$20/lb, loose-leaf tea at $14–$35 per half-pound, gift cards in $10–$100 denominations, with a 16oz branded travel mug at $5 that drives in-store repeat visits via a 10% refill discount.

The business model is direct-to-consumer across two channels: high-footfall retail cafés (in-café food & beverage sales of espresso drinks, cold brew, bagel sandwiches, salads, and baked goods) and online coffee/tea/gift card/merchandise shipping (free over $50). The customer base is general consumers and coffee enthusiasts in the Capital District who value freshness and craft over price, with no B2B or wholesale exposure. Marketing relies on in-café experience, recipe-driven blog content, and community-building activities such as artist exhibitions. There is no evidence of outside investment, acquisition activity, or franchise expansion.

Name

Uncommon Grounds

Legal name

Uncommon Grounds

Website

https://uncommongrounds.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1992

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Uncommon Grounds is a family-owned specialty coffee roaster and bagel café chain operating four locations in upstate New York, with a nationwide direct-to-consumer e-commerce store for coffee, tea, and merchandise.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Coffee Shops

NAICS

Snack and Nonalcoholic Beverage Bars (722515), Retail Bakeries (311811), All Other Specialty Food Retailers (445298)

SIC

Retail-Eating & Drinking Places (5810), Bakery Products (2050)

akta.pro primary industry

Independent Neighborhood Cafes (THAFADAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cafe-Bakeries (Coffee + Pastry Focus) (THAFADAG), Specialty Coffee & Tea Retail (Beans, Leaves, Accessories) (CRAHAGAI)

Keywords

• Specialty coffee roasting
• Café chain operations
• Fresh baked bagels
• Loose leaf tea
• Direct to consumer coffee

Headquarters

HQ city

Saratoga Springs

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Café Food & Beverage Sales: In-café sales of freshly roasted coffee beverages (lattes, cappuccinos, espresso), cold drinks (cold brew, iced coffee, smoothies), bagels with various toppings, bagel sandwiches, salads, soups, and baked goods. Hot and iced tea beverages using loose-leaf teas.
2. Online Coffee & Product Sales: E-commerce sales of whole bean coffee, loose-leaf tea, merchandise (travel mugs), and gift cards shipped directly to consumers. Free shipping on orders over $50. Coffee sold in 1-pound (16oz) bags; tea in half-pound (8oz) bags.
3. Gift Card Sales: Gift cards sold in denominations of $10, $15, $20, $25, $50, $75, and $100. Redeemable at all four café locations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Uncommon Grounds operates four retail café locations and an e-commerce store selling specialty Arabica coffee roasted in small 20-pound micro-batches on Probat roasters, NYC-inspired bagels baked fresh daily in-house, loose-leaf teas, espresso-based and blended beverages, bagel sandwiches, branded merchandise, and gift cards. Distribution is intentionally direct-only (own cafés and own website) with no wholesale channels, in order to preserve a 2-week optimal freshness window.

Product overview

Uncommon Grounds is a specialty coffee and bagel cafe chain operating four locations in upstate New York (Saratoga Springs, Albany, and Clifton Park). The company functions as both a specialty coffee roaster and artisan food producer, offering fresh-roasted coffee roasted in small batches on Probat roasters, fresh-baked NYC-inspired bagels made daily, and a full beverage program. The product portfolio centers on two core offerings: fresh roasted specialty coffee (available as whole bean or ground, including single origins, blends, flavored coffees, and decaffeinated options) and fresh-baked bagels (sold plain, as sandwiches, or with house-made cream cheeses). Supporting products include loose leaf teas, merchandise (travel mugs), gift cards, and online ordering for direct-to-consumer shipping. The company emphasizes quality and freshness, roasting coffee to order and maintaining a 2-week optimal freshness window.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Fresh Roasted Specialty Coffee Specialty Arabica coffee roasted in small 20-pound micro-batches on Probat roasters using a full-city roast methodology; sold whole bean (or ground) in 1-pound bags, in single-origin, blend, dark roast, flavored, and decaf varieties for retail customers and café patrons.
• Single Origin Coffees Single-origin Arabica offerings sourced globally, including Costa Rican Tarrazú, Monsooned Malabar AA, Brazil Legender Especial, Colombian Excelso Santa Barbara Estate, Guatemala Huehuetenango Q'anil, Timor FTO, Sumatra Takengon, and Sumatra Decaf; for coffee enthusiasts who want origin-specific flavor profiles.
• House Blend Coffee Signature blend combining Full City Roasts with Dark Roast beans from Costa Rican, Brazil, Sumatra, French, and Italian varietals; designed for balanced body, acidity, and complexity.
• Espresso Blend Low-acidity blend combining Brazil, Sumatra, and Monsoon Malabar with dark roast, formulated specifically for espresso preparation in cafés and at home.
• Dark Roast Coffees Dark roast offerings including Italian Roast (darkest) and French Roast, with strong roast characteristics while preserving bean flavor profiles.
• Flavored Coffees Roasted coffee available in six flavors: Chocolate Mint, Cinnamon, Cocomochanut, Hazelnut, Pumpkin Spice, and Vanilla, in both regular and decaf varieties.
• Loose Leaf Tea Loose-leaf tea assortment including black teas (English Breakfast, Earl Grey, Ceylon, Darjeeling), green teas (Jasmine, Genmaicha, Lucky Dragon), herbal teas (Chamomile, Lavender, Peppermint, Rooibos), and specialty blends (Masala Chai, Ice Tea Blend, Monks Blend); sold in half-pound (8oz) bags.
• Fresh Baked Bagels NYC-inspired bagels made in-house daily, including Plain, Sesame, Poppy, Everything, Cinnamon Raisin, Honey Wheat, Onion, Garlic, Rosemary Olive, Jalapeño, Pumpernickel, Oat Bran, Salt, and Cheddar-Parm varieties; served with house-made cream cheeses.
• Bagel Sandwiches and Breakfast Items Ready-to-eat bagel sandwiches (BLT, Flying Pig turkey, Winner chicken salad, Healthy Harvest vegetarian, Lox of Love, Avocado Toast), breakfast scrambles, and egg sandwiches sold at café locations for dine-in and grab-and-go.
• Café Beverages (Hot, Cold, Blended) Full beverage menu including espresso drinks (cappuccino, latte, mocha), cold brew, iced coffee, chai latte, matcha latte, smoothies, and seasonal items prepared in-café from the in-house roasted coffee and loose-leaf tea.
• Gift Cards Gift cards available in denominations of $10, $15, $20, $25, $50, $75, and $100, redeemable at all four café locations (not redeemable for online purchases).
• Branded Merchandise Brand merchandise including the Uncommon Grounds Plastic Travel Mug (16oz) sold for $5, with a 10% discount on in-store fill-ups of brewed coffee/tea and 16oz specialty drinks.
• Café Locations (In-Store Dining) Four physical café locations (Saratoga Springs flagship opened 1992, Albany University Plaza opened 1997, Albany Stuyvesant Plaza, Clifton Park opened April 2017) offering in-store roasting on a Probat roaster, full bagel bakery, indoor/outdoor seating, and dine-in service.
• Online Ordering & E-Commerce Store Online e-commerce platform selling whole-bean coffee, loose-leaf tea, merchandise, and gift cards with free shipping on orders over $50, plus online ordering for Clifton Park and Queensbury café locations.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Savor BrandsminorOthers · 1 January 2019Packaging partner for coffee bags. Provides aluminum-lined bags with one-way degassing valves to preserve freshness. Bags are 100% recyclable. Partnered with TerraCycle for coffee bag recycling program. Provides dedicated collection boxes in stores for customers to recycle bags.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Panera Bread: National bakery-café chain that competes on the bagel, breakfast sandwich, and coffee daypart. Significantly larger scale, but represents the broader 'café + bakery' category in which Uncommon Grounds operates.
• Peet's Coffee: Established specialty coffee chain with company-owned cafés, grocery wholesale, and DTC. Much larger scale than Uncommon Grounds and offers overlapping specialty coffee but operates as a broad national incumbent rather than an independent neighborhood café.
• Starbucks (Reserve Roastery): Largest coffee incumbent; its Reserve Roastery and Reserve stores overlap with the specialty small-batch segment that Uncommon Grounds serves. Not a direct competitor on price or experience, but defines the upper bound of the specialty category.

Direct peers

• Stumptown Coffee Roasters: Specialty coffee roaster with own cafés and DTC e-commerce. Comparable third-wave positioning, in-house roasting, and direct-to-consumer distribution mirrors Uncommon Grounds' model, though at much larger scale.
• Blue Bottle Coffee: Specialty coffee roaster operating company-owned cafés with strong DTC subscription business. Closely comparable on small-batch freshness positioning, café-as-third-place, and online coffee retail.
• Counter Culture Coffee: Specialty roaster with sustainability-driven sourcing, training centers, and direct coffee sales. Comparable third-wave specialty roaster with educational and direct-trade positioning.
• La Colombe Coffee Roasters: Specialty roaster with a national café footprint and DTC canned/bottled coffee. Comparable café + retail + wholesale diversification strategy, though at significantly greater scale.
• Intelligentsia Coffee: Specialty roaster with cafés and direct-to-consumer coffee sales. Shares the third-wave sourcing, single-origin emphasis, and café-retail hybrid model that defines Uncommon Grounds.

Emerging players

• Devoción: Independent specialty roaster with own cafés and DTC, focused on freshness from farm to cup. Comparable freshness-led positioning, though concentrated in NYC and select U.S. cities rather than upstate NY.

Regional players

• Birch Coffee: NYC-based specialty coffee roaster and café operator with in-house roasting and DTC. Similar small-batch independent café-retail hybrid model; primarily competes in NYC rather than upstate NY.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/uncommongrounds
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/uncommon-grounds
• Facebookfacebook.com/uncommongrounds

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Uncommon Grounds