Is becoming a roaster really the right step for baristas?

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Key takeaways

• Roasting is no longer the default career step for baristas.
• Sensory skills transfer, but roasting is physically demanding and less sociable work.
• Baristas increasingly build multidisciplinary careers rather than linear ones.
• The pandemic opened up new digital gig opportunities for baristas to curate personal brands.

For years, the move from coffee shop to roastery has been regarded as an obvious career progression for baristas. They spend their early years dialling in extraction, tasting different coffees, and understanding the wider supply chain. These same skills carry over as they move on to honing roast profiles, cupping coffees, and developing blends.

But the coffee industry has matured considerably over the last few years, and so have the job opportunities. Today, roasting is just one of many career paths, raising the question: is roasting really what baristas want to do next?

You may also like our article on what baristas love and hate about working in coffee shops.

The barista-to-roaster pipeline isn’t so straightforward

Ambitious baristas often see roasting as the natural next step in their career. Coffee shops once offered limited upward mobility, so moving into a roastery marked a clear step up the supply chain.

Baristas already spend their days tasting coffee, refining their palates, and building sensory skills – all of which translate directly into roasting. Many cafés now also run their own roasteries, so moving from one to the other feels like a logical progression. 

But this isn’t always the case.

“Roasting requires a specific personality type,” says Cathy Tuman, owner of Smelly Cat Roastery & Coffeehouse in North Carolina, US. The roaster won two awards at the 2025 Global Coffee Awards (GCA) US & Canada competition: Espresso Regional Silver and Espresso Blend Gold and Silver.

“We’ve only had three roasters in thirteen years. Because roasting is so critical to our brand, we are very selective about who takes on that responsibility.”

While the transition from barista to roaster is common, baristas now have more job opportunities than ever.

“Being a barista can lead to a lot of career paths,” says Andy Sprenger, founder of Sweet Bloom Coffee in Colorado, US. Sweet Bloom also won several awards at the 2025 GCA US & Canada, including Gold Flat White Dairy, Filter Regional Bronze, Filter Natural Silver, and Filter Single Origin Traditional Gold.

“Some here have gone on to start their own cafés. One barista started their own successful mobile catering service,” he adds. “Other baristas have moved onto managerial roles within the company, and others have taken on roles such as event planning and signature beverage creation.”

What a barista needs to know about becoming a roaster

For many baristas looking to advance their careers, roasting is a popular choice. The overlap in skills between front-of-house work and roasting becomes clear when baristas participate in cuppings, gain exposure to how roasting works, and see the daily operations of a roastery firsthand.

“I was fortunate to participate in cuppings, so I had some sense of how roasting, quality control, and sourcing worked,” Andy says. “But learning roasting theory and operating the machines was definitely something I had to learn from scratch.”

Other less obvious factors can be easily overlooked. The reality of roasting can be a stark contrast to the highly social nature of customer-facing work.

“We stress to anyone interested in roasting that it’s very repetitive and quite individualistic,” Andy says. “You interact with other employees, but for much of the day it’s just you, the roaster, and roasting curves.”

The pros and cons

The job is also physically demanding. Heavy lifting, standing for long hours, and working in hot environments all make the job less alluring than baristas might believe. Sacks of green coffee can weigh up to 70kg (154lbs), which is up to three times the safe single-person lifting limit, according to UK workplace safety regulations.

“Roasting is many things: a lot of heavy lifting, being able to do the same task over and over, and working with heavy machinery,” says Eric Garcia, head of roasting at Sur Coffee in California, US. Sur won several awards at the 2025 GCA US & Canada, including Espresso Regional Bronze, Espresso Blend and Single Origin Traditional Silver, Flat White Alternative Milk Blend Gold, and Flat White Alternative Milk Regional Silver. 

Not all jobs provide the same instant gratification as customer-facing roles, but for those with a relationship-driven ethos, the roastery can offer rewarding work.

“Most roasters would say it takes a great sense of willpower to muscle through the labour and repetitive nature of the job,” Eric adds. “I sometimes think of it like being a chef; you’re in charge of making a consumable product, while rarely seeing the reaction of the consumer.”

How can baristas progress in their careers today?

While job opportunities for baristas have changed over the last few years, traditional career progression remains popular. Advancing to a head barista role, becoming a trainer or manager, or even skipping the roastery in favour of quality control and green buying roles are all common.

“In our experience, baristas are more likely to move into roles such as supervision, management, marketing, or HR,” says Cathy. “We find that baristas tend to grow into areas that align with their specific professional interests rather than strictly transitioning into roasting.”

The Covid-19 pandemic also created a surge in digital gig economy opportunities for baristas, ranging from online education to content creation. 

“Content opened education up in a big way,” says content creator Jordan Bell, based in Liverpool, UK. “You don’t need to work in a huge shop or even travel to a different country to learn from the best in the industry anymore.”

Building a personal brand

US Barista Champion Morgan Eckroth, who has built a substantial following of 8.7 million across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, perhaps best illustrates this shift. Having transitioned from café work into education, competition, and content creation, their career illustrates how today’s coffee professionals are increasingly becoming multidisciplinary rather than committing to a single linear path. 

“Your influence used to stop at whoever walked through the shop door,” Jordan says. “But a barista can now teach thousands of people online, work with brands, or even launch their own products.”

This trend is most noticeable at competitions. A number of World Barista and Brewers Cup competitors have designed their own accessories and brewers in recent years, eventually launching them commercially and carrying their personal brands into coffee shops and home setups worldwide.

Roasting remains one of specialty coffee’s most rewarding careers, but it isn’t always the inevitable next step for baristas. “Coffee is a much bigger ecosystem than people realise,” Jordan says. 

Today’s professionals are increasingly forging their own career paths based on their individual strengths rather than following a predefined ladder, which may be one of the clearest signs of an industry maturing.

The barista-to-roaster pipeline is established and enticing, but not a one-size-fits-all situation.

If you’re interested in increasing your sales & acquiring more leads, check out PDG Media, our sister marketing agency dedicated to specialty coffee.

Barista career progression FAQs

Is roasting the natural next step for a barista?
Not necessarily. The pipeline exists, but coffee professionals increasingly follow paths that reflect their own strengths rather than a fixed hierarchy.

Do skills learned as a barista transfer to roasting?

Yes, to an extent. Tasting espresso extraction and assessing roast development rely on similar sensory judgement. Many baristas also absorb roasting knowledge through cuppings and quality control, but the day-to-day reality of repetitive, strenuous, and largely solitary work differs sharply from front-of-house.

What other career paths can baristas pursue?
Beyond roasting, options include head barista, training, management, wholesale, quality control, and green buying. Social media has also opened doors to education, competitions, and content creation, allowing baristas to build personal brands and reach audiences far beyond coffee shops.

Photo credits: Jordan Bell, Smelly Cat Roastery & Coffeehouse

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