From London coffee shops to a growing New York roasting company, Dylan built Earnest Pursuit around a simple idea: great coffee should be approachable, memorable, and worth pursuing.
Tell us about Earnest Pursuit, how did it start and what drives the work?
Earnest Pursuit has a few founding moments that eventually collided into an actual company.
Dylan spent eight years living in London, where specialty coffee became more than a daily ritual. One visit to Kiss The Hippo changed how he thought about coffee entirely.
“It tasted like an actual strawberry. I was amazed that was even possible.”
When he relocated to New York in 2015, he found plenty of good coffee, but still felt there was room for another voice in specialty coffee. Rather than continue wondering what that might look like, he decided to build it himself.
Over the next year and a half, he immersed himself in sensory analysis, roasting education, and coffee evaluation. The result became Earnest Pursuit—a company focused on high-scoring coffees with distinct flavor profiles that remain accessible to both newcomers and experienced drinkers.
How do you approach sourcing? What does a relationship with a producer look like for you?
Today, Earnest Pursuit works primarily through Coffee Quest and Café Imports.
While direct producer relationships remain a long-term goal, Dylan believes thoughtful sourcing starts with asking the right questions and partnering with importers who have earned trust over time.
His selection criteria are surprisingly straightforward:
- Taste
- Consistency
- Availability year after year
Rather than chasing rare micro-lots that disappear after one season, Earnest Pursuit focuses on coffees that customers can return to and build a relationship with.
“I want coffees that fit our flavor philosophy of bright, accessible, and delicious.”
What does “Earnest Pursuit” mean to you personally, beyond the name?
For Dylan, the name operates on two levels.
The first is intentionally playful.
“We’re earnest about the coffee, but this isn’t the earnest pursuit of greatness or enlightenment.”
The second reflects something deeper.
He believes most meaning comes from the pursuit itself rather than the finish line.
Whether learning to roast, building a business, or refining a coffee profile, the value exists in the process.
“It’s the pursuit that’s the point.”
What’s a coffee you’ve roasted recently that surprised you?
The answer came immediately: Let’s Chill, an Ethiopian coffee that was also the first coffee Dylan sourced for Earnest Pursuit.
Before launching, he organized a blind tasting with four friends and six coffees.
The tasting was genuinely blind. Participants scored aroma, fragrance, and taste without knowing what they were drinking.
Interestingly, Let’s Chill wasn’t the highest-rated coffee for aroma.
It won because of flavor.
“It was consistently the best taste-wise across the group.”
Months later, while preparing the first customer shipments, Dylan cupped the coffee again and was surprised by how much he loved it.
Part of the credit goes to the Loring Kestrel S35 roaster he uses, which helps produce clean and expressive flavor profiles.
The rest came from learning to trust his own palate.
“I hadn’t fully trusted my own judgment yet. I’m glad I did.”
What’s something the specialty coffee world gets wrong?
Without hesitation, Dylan points to accessibility.
He believes specialty coffee can sometimes create unnecessary barriers through jargon, complicated narratives, and assumptions about customer knowledge.
“You don’t need to be an expert to taste a great cup of coffee.”
For Earnest Pursuit, making coffee approachable isn’t about lowering standards.
It’s about removing friction.
The goal is to help more people experience exceptional coffee without feeling excluded from the conversation.
Where do you want Earnest Pursuit to be in five years?
Dylan’s vision is ambitious.
His target is:
- 1% of the direct-to-consumer specialty coffee market
- 20 wholesale accounts
- 3 cafés
The numbers serve both as a business plan and a north star.
They provide measurable goals while keeping the company focused on long-term sustainability.
Whether those exact figures are achieved remains to be seen.
What matters most is continuing the work.
“I’ll be happy if I’m still learning and still pursuing those goals. That’s part of the name.”
Quick Pour
Favorite NYC Roasters Right Now
Dylan’s current rotation when he’s not behind his own roaster.
- La Cabra
- Regalia
- Devoción
- SEY Coffee
- Black Fox Coffee
Final Thoughts
Earnest Pursuit feels refreshingly grounded in a coffee industry that can occasionally take itself too seriously.
The coffees are intentional. The goals are ambitious. The philosophy is simple.
Great coffee doesn’t need to be intimidating.
It just needs to be worth pursuing.
The Realm Dial
Dylan sent two coffees ahead of the feature — both light roast, both dialed in on his Loring S35 Kestrel, but distinct in every other way. Here’s how they cup.
The Realm Dial
Let’s Chill
Earnest Pursuit — Ethiopia
Score: 86 · Light roast · Natural
Recollection
Sitting on a cliff in Japan, surrounded by cherry blossom trees — still, bright, and quietly unforgettable.
Shop Let’s Chill — $23
The Realm Dial
All Set
Earnest Pursuit — Colombia
Score: 86.5 · Light roast · Washed
Recollection
Colombia summertime — hiking through the forest, warm air, green all around.
Shop All Set — $25CropTalk is an ongoing interview series by The Coffee Realm highlighting the people, ideas, and philosophies shaping coffee culture around the world.
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Every cup has a story. We’re here to tell it.
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