Back in 2019, we (Nenad and Alana) spent six months traveling through the Balkans. Most of that time was with family in small villages, and we loved being surrounded by familiar traditions and slower living. But we quickly realized how tough it was to find good whole-bean coffee. Specialty coffee just wasn’t common—everyone drank Turkish coffee (which they still do), and drip coffee was almost impossible to come by.

So when we made it to bigger cities, we’d go out of our way to find local roasters and specialty cafés. One day in Ljubljana, we were wandering around when the smell of fresh coffee hit us. We followed it inside what we thought was just a café, but it turned out to be a micro roastery. We spent a long time talking with the head roaster and left with as many bags of coffee as we could fit in our backpacks.

That moment stuck with us.

Roasting coffee wasn’t a new idea for us—Nenad’s family has been roasting coffee for generations back in Serbia. His mom would tell us stories about how her parents and grandparents used to get green beans from nearby villages and roast them right on the stovetop.

That history is part of who we are. It’s where the idea for Rebel Roots came from. Roots are memory, story, tradition. A rebel is someone who doesn’t just accept what is—they carve their own way. Put them together, and you get what we’re building now.

For us, coffee is personal. We care deeply about how it’s grown, who grows it, and how it’s shared. We source organic, responsibly grown beans, and we roast everything ourselves in small batches. It’s how we live, and Rebel Roots is just an extension of that.

Every farmer has their own roots. Every bean tells a story. We're just here to help you taste it.

Come along for the ride.