About Lightwave Coffee

Specialty Coffee, Made to Be Enjoyed

Lightwave Coffee is an award-winning specialty coffee roaster in Los Angeles built around quality, consistency, and exceptional coffee you can enjoy every day.

We craft artisanal blends and single-origin coffees sourced from growing regions around the world. Each coffee is selected for its quality and distinctive character. We taste and evaluate hundreds of coffee samples and only select coffees that meet our standards for quality and flavor. If the right coffee isn’t there, we’d rather wait than compromise.

One of the great things about having our sister cafe, Elabrew Coffee, is that we put new blends and single-origin coffees in front of real customers, hear their feedback, and continually refine and improve Lightwave Coffee.

Since

For 15 years, Joy has remained a student of coffee, bringing what she learns from customer feedback at Elabrew and applied to roasts for Lightwave Coffee customers.

Meet Joy Park

From Coffee Shop to Roastery

With a background in hospitality and an education from Cornell’s hotel school, Joy was drawn to coffee because it combined hospitality with a craft she could keep learning, refining, and sharing. More than 15 years later, that curiosity is still at the heart of Lightwave. Joy says she “started off as a student,” and she continues that same spirit today as she develops each roast.

Her realization was that coffee didn’t have to simply taste dark, bitter, or stale. Depending on where it was grown, how it was processed, and how it was roasted, it could be fruity, floral, sweet, chocolatey, nutty, and much more. That discovery became something she wanted other people to experience too. One of the reactions she still loves hearing from customers is, “I didn’t know coffee could taste like that.”

Each Lightwave coffee is selectively chosen for its unique flavor and balance. If you ever have a hard time choosing, you can always give our team a call for guidance.

Shop Coffee

What Makes Lightwave Coffee Special

Lighter = More Character

We roast on the lighter side to preserve more of each coffee’s natural character, allowing its origin, sweetness, and distinctive flavors to come through.

Healthier Roasts

Even our dark roasts are lighter than a comparable Starbucks light roast, resulting in less acidity and caffeine and fewer side effects like ulcers and jitters.

SCA 80+ or Better

We start with high-quality coffee, then select and roast for the flavor and character we want in the cup. We never comprimise on quality.

Naturally Flavorful

Coffee can naturally taste like fruit, flowers, chocolate, nuts, citrus, honey, and more. Those flavors come from the coffee itself, not added flavoring. Our coffees have their unique notes listed on the bag.

Dark Doesn’t Mean Bitter

A dark roast can be bold and full-bodied without tasting burnt, harsh, or excessively bitter. Our darker coffees are roasted to develop richness while preserving the character of the beans.

Elevation Matters

Many of our coffees are grown at higher elevations, where growing conditions help create the complexity and distinctive character we look for.

About the Name

What does Lightwave Mean?

“Lightwave” was inspired by the different waves of coffee culture, from mass-market coffee to the rise of specialty coffee and the third wave. The “light” part also became a natural fit for the way we roast, generally lighter to bring out more of each coffee’s natural flavor and character.

For us, the name means something even broader: “Light is limitless.” Coffee feels the same way. There is always another origin, process, flavor, or roast to explore.

The Waves of Coffee: