In the spring of 2019, Terry Miller and his family stood at a crossroad. After 27 successful years running Tegrey Family of Coatings, an interior painting business, Terry, his wife Peggy, and daughter Alison craved a new adventure. One born not of necessity, but passion, specifically, for coffee.
“We’re basically coffee snobs,” Terry laughs. “In a good way!” Having traveled across the U.S. for work, they’d sampled countless brews, only to find many fell short, masked by sugar or syrups. “We drink our coffee black. No additives. That made it hard to find truly great coffee.”
Determined to change that, the Millers began exploring the coffee roasting world. Their mission? Create a better bean, one that didn’t need anything added to taste incredible. “We started looking into the coffee industry and asking ourselves how we could make coffee taste better—without covering it up,” says Terry. The answer became clear. To control quality from the source, they wouldn’t open a café or a coffee shop, they’d become roasters. Just roasters. The kind focused on what’s inside the bag, not on the frills that surround it.
Their journey began with a roasters course in Virginia. “The training gave us basics, but most of the learning came from months of study, speaking to other roasters.
Then came the bold move, transforming their paint shop into a roastery. “We removed thousands of gallons of paint, trucks, a spray booth… and replaced it all with a Diedrich IR-5 roaster, 2,500 pounds of green beans, and everything else we needed.” A handmade sign and hand-painted storefront logo completed the transformation.
Cherry Blend Coffee Roasters Ltd. was born.
Today, the day starts early, around 8 a.m., at their roastery in Ohio. “We handle orders from our subscription service and ship coffee nationwide. We offer 20 different roasts, whole bean or ground, all roasted fresh in small batches.”
Terry emphasizes quality over quantity. “We don’t store a lot of coffee. Freshness is key. Once roasted, the beans are de-stoned, rested, labeled, and packaged.”
It’s a full-family operation. Peggy manages inventory, packaging, and vendor relationships. “She handles everything from French presses to insurance,” Terry says proudly. Daughter Alison runs the storefront, greeting walk-in customers with samples and helping them find their perfect roast.
Terry’s domain is the roaster. “I’ve developed profiles for each coffee we offer, custom roasts specific to each bean. It takes time and attention, but I can smell when a roast is just right.”
Cherry Blend sources its beans from Balzac Brothers Importers in Charleston, SC, a woman-owned, fourth-generation company founded in 1913. “We only buy Grade 1 or 2 beans, the highest quality they offer,” Terry notes.
In 2021, they added a second, larger Diedrich IR-12 roaster, boosting their roasting capacity to 150,000 pounds per year. That growth made them the only stand-alone coffee roaster in their area and one of just a few in all of Ohio.
Yet, despite this growth, the mission remains the same: “We want to share what great black coffee can taste like, without needing to add anything.”
Cherry Blend has also become a local destination, offering free tours and tastings daily, and a two-hour tasting every Saturday morning. Alongside coffee, they sell mugs, presses, local honey, syrup, cider, and cocoa.
As for the future, expansion is in sight. “We’ve acquired more property and plan to grow our wholesale partnerships. But we’ll always stay true to our roots. And that is roasting coffee that people love, one small batch at a time.”
Visit Cherry Blend Coffee Roasters at cherryblendcoffeeroasters.com to explore their full range.