Both Mike and Linda are very familiar with the White Mountains — their daughter lives in Queen Creek but also owns a house in Show Low. When they came to visit, they always stopped in to see Beth. When their daughter called to tell them that she was selling the business, it was almost a no-brainer that they would buy it. Mike was growing tired of the corporate life and although Linda had been an assistant to an elementary school principal for over 20 years as well as a media clerk and loved working with the children, they both made the decision to make the move— and they loved Beth’s coffee. 

By the end of March, they were the proud owners of Pinetop Coffee House and Roasting Company. Their timing was pretty rough, though. Just as they were opening their doors, the quarantine for the COVID-19 hit and it seemed that business stood still. They kept their doors open but the streets were pretty quiet. “Opening the shop has been a huge project,” Mike explained, “learning all of the roasting techniques and just getting our legs under us has taken up a lot of our time.” In fact, Mike has put in thousands of hours at coffee university and is a certified coffee specialist. The Moffenbiers have bought all of Beth’s recipes so the coffee hasn’t changed. They have just added some personal touches that have gone over quite well.

Mike and Linda love being a part of this community. They have been knocking on the doors of other local small businesses and introducing themselves. They are making a point of trying to meet other business owners and forming a network that, working together, will help them all lure customers into their shops, restaurants and hotels. They are already partnering with Black River Chocolates and Hush Bakery by selling specialty products and they sell their roasted coffee in local restaurants such as Darbi’s and Red Devil. “This community is incredible,” Mike said. “The people are so friendly.”

The Pinetop Coffee House and Roasting Company blends and roasts their own coffee beans on site. Mike tells me that roasting at over 7,000 feet is unique in that it brings out more flavor and aroma. They get their beans from countries all over the world such as Guatemala, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Colombia and Brazil and they sell it in bags of 12 ounces, one and a half pounds and five pounds. They also offer a sampling of four 6-ounce bags and boxes of 27 k-cups that they make and package themselves. In order to keep everything fresh, they don’t keep a big stock but will blend and roast any custom order. Customers can call them and they will have it ready to pick up in no time. They are also open to providing wholesale coffee to companies that are interested in serving a great specialty blend in quantity and they will ship their coffee to anywhere in the United States. Right now, they are shipping orders as far east as Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Virginia as well as west to California. Mike attributes it to out-of-state visitors who have stopped by the shop and fallen in love with Pinetop and their coffee.

At the Pinetop Coffee House and Roasting Company, they offer a wide variety of beverages including a black mango iced tea — that people are raving about — smoothies, shaved ice and — a rare find on this mountain—a great cold brew. If you aren’t familiar with cold brew, it has twice the caffeine as a regular coffee drink and way more flavor. They told me it’s all in the process. They have any variety of coffee-based drinks that can be customized to a customer’s request and every coffee beverage is served with a giant chocolate covered coffee bean. Their partnership with Black River Chocolates has provided them with a dark chocolate coffee crunch bar (that they say would be wonderful with wine as well) and Hush Bakery provides them with pastries. But…Linda makes an amazing layered bar that they have labeled “Mountain Magic Bars,” that they can’t seem to keep on the shelves. Coming soon are some Pinetop Coffee House and Roasting Company t-shirts, caps and mugs that visitors can purchase and take home with them.

“We all make each other better when we work together,” Mike philosophized, “We know that people have options so when they come here, they will get a smile; they are going to get a greeting and we’re going to have a lot of fun and we will serve them a high quality product. “

Mike and Linda Moffenbier, the new owners of the Pinetop Coffee House and Roasting Company, offer discounts to veterans and first responders. Their son is also a veteran and a fire fighter and their daughter-in-law is a detective.  

Follow them on Facebook and check out their newly refurbished website at www.pinetopcoffeehouse.com/

They are located at 1453 E White Mountain Blvd in Pinetop, Arizona

and their hours are: Monday through Thursday: 6:30 - 3pm, Friday: 6:30 - 5pm

Saturday: 7am - 5pm and Sunday 7am - 3pm