Meet Nikki Robinson | Owner/Roaster

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nikki Robinson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nikki, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
As a coal miners wife who saw things changing in the future and children growing rapidly I wanted a way to sustain our life in Craig if that type of work was no longer available to us. I did not wanted to uproot my family just to make a living.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Maple Blues Coffee started a small roasting company from my home. My husband and I loved good coffee and wanted others to have the same experience. We started a website and took roasting orders and delivered to local houses in the area. As our life with coffee got busier our community was talking big changes with the coal industry. We wanted to sustain life here once those changes happened and did not want to move like so many others we knew of. We decided opening our coffee trailer into a mobile cafe/roastery would be the way we might achieve it. I worked it, while my husband still continued to work. Within months I was so busy in there that I asked him to come work with me. It was a chance we took and never looked back. We were a mobile roaster and cafe brining fresh and new ideas to our community and couldn’t be happier. In less than a year in the trailer, we have now grown into a brick and mortar cafe/roastery and still bringing fresh and new ideas to our community and now a place to gather and enjoy our beautiful downtown.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would absolutely take them to all of our amazing small shops in downtown as they are all so wonderful and it is truly is beautiful. I would then take them down to the Yampa River and walk the trails at Loudy Simpson and then on to see our town from the top of Cedar Mountain. A little further out of town I would take to our little slice of heaven called Browns Park to see Irish Canyon, the Coke Ovens and Vermillion Falls. The Green River also flows through the Gates Of Ladore down there on Dinosaur National Monument.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
First and foremost my husband Kyle!! I couldn’t have started, grown or gotten anywhere without him right by my side for all the ups, downs and in betweens of all of it. Secondly our children, all I’ve ever wanted is for our children to see that hard work and dedication to something we love and are passionate about is important and will get you to where you want to be! Our families for always encouraging and supporting us even through hard times!! Lastly our community!! Without our community and supporters we wouldn’t be where we are today!

Instagram: maple_blues_coffee

Facebook: Maplebluescoffee

Yelp: maple blues coffee

Image Credits
Nikki Robinson