Actual Coffee Hosting Real-Life Experiences at Ohio Roastery

Howard Bryman | July 7, 2025

Inside the Actual Coffee roastery in Northwood, Ohio. All images courtesy of Actual Coffee.

After 12 years of roasting, Northwest Ohio’s Actual Coffee recently opened its first real-as-can-be coffee bar.

Located inside Actual’s roastery and headquarters just east of Toledo in Northwood, the coffee shop held a grand opening in June, with free drip coffees, espressos, mochas and self-guided tours of four different single-origin brews demonstrating a range of flavor profiles.

The shop joins a new consumer coffee equipment showroom within the approximately 3,500-square-foot coffee complex, which includes production roasting areas, storage, a training area, a conference room and a cupping lab.

Actual Coffee Creative Director Tiffany Garno told Daily Coffee News that hosting a public grand opening had been on the company’s mind for years.

“As a business that had always operated behind the scenes as a wholesale and e-commerce-only roastery, we felt it was time to let our community know we’re now more than that,” Garno told DCN. “We’ve created a space where people can grow in their coffee journey, purchase fresh coffee directly from the source, and connect with a different kind of coffee professional — one focused on education, transparency, and access.”

Actual Coffee Founder Lance Roper started roasting in his Toledo home on a popcorn popper, and then a Hottop roaster, eventually selling bags of beans to friends, family and local cafes. A successful Kickstarter campaign in 2012 funded the purchase of a Diedrich IR-3.

Actual Coffee Founder Lance Roper.

In 2017, Actual stepped up to a brand new Probat P12-2 roaster, then five years later Roper acquired the Loring S15 Falcon that remains its primary engine of production today. An Ikawa Pro 50 roaster is used for sample roasting and profile development.

“We believe roasting is a balance between subjective preference and objective execution,” said Garno. “It’s not about chasing extremes, but about honoring the coffee’s character and finding that sweet spot where quality and approachability meet. Like most specialty roasters, we tend to roast on the lighter side to preserve clarity and origin character, but we’re open to any degree of roast as long as it’s delicious.”

Actual turns to Covoya, Onyx Coffee, Unravel Merchants, The Coffee Quest and other importers for consistent, approachable coffees that also don’t compromise on quality. The company said it prioritizes coffees that reflect genuine connections between farmers and traders, while hoping to ensure farmers are being compensated fairly.

“Every origin operates differently, and there’s no universal model for environmental or social sustainability, but we find that when the quality is great, the story behind it often is too,” said Garno. “As it becomes economically viable for us, we look forward to pursuing more direct trade opportunities and deepening those connections even further.”

Public home brewing classes for espresso and pourovers are coming soon to the newly opened space, as are new commercial training programs.

“In a world where so much coffee education happens through YouTube, we’re offering an experience that’s grounded, personal and deeply interactive. We’re also building out more robust training programs for our wholesale partners,” said Garno. “Our goal is to support their teams, improve coffee quality, and contribute to what feels like a local coffee workforce in search of renewed purpose and skill.”