Counter Culture Coffee is sold at Target, Whole Foods Market, Kroger, and a handful of regional grocers, but the full lineup lives on the Durham roaster’s own website and its subscription. Grocery shelves carry the year-round whole bean bags; single-origin lots, the bulk sizes, and the office plan are online only. Pick the channel by what you want in the cup: a familiar blend this afternoon, or a bag roasted days ago.
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Who Owns Counter Culture Coffee?
Counter Culture is an independently owned specialty coffee roaster, founded in 1995 in Durham, North Carolina, by friends Brett Smith and Fred Houk. It has not been bought by a larger beverage group. In August 2025 the company named Joe Prewett, a board member since 2021 and the former president and CEO of Oregon Fruit Co., as chief executive officer, and Smith moved to executive chairman. The company’s own announcement describes it as one of the last independently owned brands of its size.
Specialty coffee is the trade term for arabica beans graded high enough to be sold by origin and roast profile rather than as an anonymous commodity. That is the practical gap between this brand and a supermarket canister of Starbucks: a smaller lot of Coffea arabica, with the farm or region printed on the bag.
Two facts matter for buyers. First, the company is a certified B Corporation, listed in the B Lab directory since September 2020, which means its sustainability and labor claims are scored by a third party rather than written by the marketing team. Second, it roasts in two places: the headquarters at 812 Mallard Ave and a Bay Area roastery and training center at 1329 64th St in Emeryville, California.
Who it suits: home baristas dialing in shots, pour-over and drip drinkers, anyone who already owns a burr grinder, and shoppers who weigh direct trade and transparency in sourcing. If you brew a full pot and finish it lukewarm at noon, the premium is harder to justify. Same goes for any third wave name, including Stumptown and other specialty roasters, Blue Bottle and Intelligentsia.
Which Counter Culture Coffee Blend Fits Your Brewer
Start with the year-round lineup, because those are the bags that actually reach store shelves. The roast levels and tasting notes below are the ones the brand lists on its product pages.
| Bag | Listed roast | Listed notes | Good fit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hologram | Medium | Fruity, milk chocolate, syrupy | Pour-over, drip, first purchase |
| Big Trouble | Medium dark | Caramel, nutty, round | Daily drip, auto-reorder |
| Fast Forward | Medium | Nutty, sweet, creamy | Latte and cappuccino |
| Apollo | Medium | Citrus, floral, silky | Lighter cups, AeroPress |
| Forty-Six | Dark | Dark chocolate, sweet, full-bodied | Espresso, French press |
| Slow Motion | Medium (decaf) | Molasses, cocoa, smooth | Evening cups |
Best first bag: Hologram. The most widely stocked bag in the lineup, so it is the easiest to find and the safest first purchase. Its components rotate through the year (one grocery listing names a Colombian and Ethiopian natural pairing), while the notes of chocolate and fruit stay steady. Check price on Amazon
Best everyday option: Big Trouble. Built for consistency rather than novelty, which is what you want in something you reorder without thinking twice. Check price on Amazon
Best darker roast: Forty-Six. The dark option in the lineup and the usual starting point for French press and espresso setups, where a darker profile extracts more forgivingly. Check price on Amazon
Best for milk drinks: Fast Forward. It holds up under steamed milk, so it suits a latte habit better than a light, fruity lot would. Kroger lists it as an organic coffee. Check price on Amazon
Beyond the year-round lineup, the official store runs a rotating list of one-farm lots, such as Idido and Okoluu, a natural sundried coffee. Those lots change with the harvest and rarely leave the website. A blend combines lots to hold a steady profile year round, which makes it the safer repeat purchase.
Grocery Stores and Cafes That Stock the Bags
Physical availability is limited next to mass-market brands and swings by region, so search the retailer’s site by brand name and your store before driving anywhere.
Target
Target runs a dedicated Counter Culture Coffee brand page with seven bags: Fast Forward, Big Trouble, Hologram, Apollo, Forty-Six, Gradient, and the Slow Motion decaf. That is the widest selection at any national chain, though an individual store may carry only part of it.
Whole Foods Market
This chain lists Hologram, Apollo, and two-pack bundles, shelved in the packaged bean aisle beside other local roasters. Selection differs between locations, and Instacart shows what your local store has right now. Check current availability through Instacart. For a wider shopping list, see the best things to buy at Whole Foods.
Kroger and Regional Grocers
Kroger lists the organic Fast Forward, and Kroger-family banner Baker’s has a product page for Forty-Six. In the Southeast, Lowes Foods, The Fresh Market, and Brookshire’s have product pages for the bags. Publix, Wegmans, and Sprouts Farmers Market are not confirmed stockists, so check their apps before making a trip.
Cafes, Wholesale Partners, and Training Centers
Wholesale partners are central to how the company distributes. Independent coffeehouses that brew it often sell retail bags over the counter, and they reorder on a short cycle, which makes them a fresh local source. The brand’s store locator lists them. It also runs training centers in 12 cities, from the two roasteries to New York, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, and Washington, DC, hosting barista classes and public events such as tastings, booked through Eventbrite.
Buying Online: Official Store, Subscription, and Marketplaces
Online is the primary channel, and the company’s own store is the most complete one. Everything else trades roast date or selection for convenience.
The Official Store and Subscription
counterculturecoffee.com carries the full catalog, including one-farm lots, a limited release, 24 oz and 5 lb bulk bags, and an office plan. In October 2026 the store listed most year-round bags at 19.50 to 20 USD and single-origin bags at 25 to 30 USD, with free shipping on orders of 30 USD and up. Subscriptions ship every 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, or 8 weeks, include free shipping, can be canceled anytime, and take 2 USD off a bag of Hologram. If freshly roasted coffee is the reason you buy this brand, that channel delivers it most reliably. Visit the official store
Amazon
Amazon, the largest online retailer in the United States, lists Counter Culture Coffee in single bags and multi-packs of the better-known names. Two trade-offs: listings can be out of stock or priced above the official store, and warehouse time shows up on the date stamp. Check the stamp when the box arrives. Shop on Amazon #ad
Walmart.com
Walmart’s site has a brand search page, but listings there may come from marketplace sellers, so what appears online is not a reliable guide to what a local store carries. The same date-stamp caution applies. Browse the selection at Walmart
eBay
eBay is the last resort, useful mainly for hard-to-source or retired bags. Resale listings rarely show a roast date, which matters for a product judged on freshness. Ask the seller for a photo of the stamp before bidding. Browse listings on eBay
Freshness and Format Checks Before You Pay
The roast date decides whether the premium was worth paying, so check it before the format or the label. The brand’s product pages let you select a roast date range to see which components went into that batch, which tells you the bag on the shelf may not match the description you read online.
A roast date, not a best-by date. Specialty roasters print the day a batch left the drum. Commodity brands print a best-by date that can sit a year or more out and says little about flavor. Beans are generally at their best within a few weeks of roasting.
Whole bean over pre-ground. Six of the seven bags on Target’s brand page are listed as whole bean coffee, and the brand’s own brewing instructions say to grind immediately before brewing. Intact beans hold up longer because less surface area meets air.
Roast level predicts the right setting. Light roast beans are denser and want a finer setting; dark roast beans forgive a coarser one. Use the table below as a starting point, then adjust by taste.
| Method | Grind setting | Format to buy |
|---|---|---|
| Espresso | Fine, consistent | Whole bean, burr grinder required |
| Pour-over and drip coffee | Medium | Whole bean preferred |
| AeroPress | Medium to fine | Whole bean, forgiving of error |
| French press | Coarse | Whole bean, never pre-milled |
Sourcing labels and tasting notes. Organic, shade-grown, and direct trade claims appear on some bags and not others. Those notes come from a cupping panel scoring one batch, not from a promise about your water or your mill. If a certification is the reason you are buying, read the individual product page.
Four checks before it goes in your cart:
- Find the stamped roast date, not a best-by window.
- Match the format to your brewer. Buy whole bean unless you own no mill at all.
- Read the origin line. Single-origin lots rotate out; a blend repeats.
- Compare price per ounce, not per bag, since sizes differ between channels.
When the Premium Is Not Worth Paying
The costliest mistake is paying a specialty price for beans that sat too long in a distribution chain. The other three follow from the same problem.
- Blade grinder plus hot plate. Uneven particles and a carafe cooking on a burner erase what the bag cost. A burr mill plus a mid-tier bag beats blades plus a premium one.
- Expecting the full catalog in one aisle. Grocery placement covers the year-round lineup. For a specific origin release or bulk sizes, go to the company’s own store.
- Unnamed marketplace sellers. Third-party listings can be resold inventory with no date visible in the photos. Check who is selling before you order.
Start with one 12 oz bag of Counter Culture Coffee rather than a multi-pack: Hologram from Target or a natural grocer if you want it today, or a two-week subscription from the official store if you want the freshest roast date. Check the stamp the day it lands, mill only what you are about to brew, and note which roast level you reached for again. Filling a gift basket instead? chocolate covered coffee beans put the same bean to a different use.
FAQ: Buying From the Durham Roaster
Who sells Counter Culture Coffee?
The company’s own website is the primary seller, followed by Target, Kroger, the natural-foods chain covered above, regional grocers such as Lowes Foods and The Fresh Market, wholesale cafe accounts, and marketplace listings on Amazon, Walmart.com, and eBay. Only the official store carries the one-farm lots and bulk bags.
Does Publix sell it?
Publix is not a confirmed stockist. Regional grocery availability shifts with the distributor serving each area, so search the Publix app by brand name for your store. If it comes up empty, Target is the most reliable in-store option.
Why is it more expensive than supermarket brands?
Price reflects specialty-grade arabica, traceable sourcing that a B Corp assessment scores, and a model built around shipping soon after roasting. Commodity brands optimize for shelf life instead, and a shorter freshness window costs money to maintain.
Which blend is best for espresso?
Forty-Six, the dark roast, is the conventional starting point because it extracts readily under pressure, and Fast Forward suits milk drinks. Grind fine and consistently with a burr mill. Lighter lots work too, but they demand tighter control over dose, water temperature, and shot time.
Is there a decaf, and does it come in Keurig pods?
Yes, it is Slow Motion, a medium roast sold in 12 oz bags at Target and on the official store. The brand’s store lists no single-serve pods. If a Keurig is your only machine, a reusable pod filled with freshly ground beans keeps most of what you paid for; the guide to coffee pods covers the trade-offs.
Our Editorial Process
Editorial review: wheretobuyguides.com team. Ownership, retailer listings, subscription terms, and official store prices last checked October 2026.