Duncan's Bright and Early Coffee: One of Texas's Oldest Coffee Roasters, Brewing Since 1918
Duncan's Bright and Early Coffee: One of Texas's Oldest Coffee Roasters, Brewing Since 1918
In the bustling city of Houston, where innovation meets deep-rooted tradition, Bright and Early Coffee (under the Duncan Coffee Company umbrella) stands as a proud pillar of Texas coffee history. Founded on August 12, 1918, by Herschel Mills Duncan, this family-owned operation is widely recognized as one of the oldest continuously operating commercial coffee roasters in Texas—and even one of the oldest in the United States.
Herschel M. Duncan, a seasoned coffee professional who had served as superintendent at the Cheek-Neal coffee plant in Houston, took a bold step that morning. He purchased the facility, fired up the roaster for the first batch, blended and tasted it, then loaded it into his Model T Ford to sell door-to-door. By the end of that first day, he'd made $2.92 in sales—a modest start, but the spark for a legacy that has endured for over a century.
The Duncan Coffee Company quickly gained traction by focusing on quality blends sold to high-end restaurants, hotels, and railroad dining cars across Texas and beyond. Early brands like Admiration Coffee (touted as "The Cup of Southern Hospitality") and Bright and Early emerged as staples, with the latter name evoking the fresh, invigorating start to the day that Texans have come to rely on. The company expanded through acquisitions, introduced premium offerings like Maryland Club Coffee in 1928, and navigated ownership changes—including a period under Coca-Cola in the 1960s–1970s—before returning to family control in the late 1990s and early 2000s under Herschel Mills Duncan IV and now the fifth generation.
Today, as a fifth-generation, family-operated (and veteran-owned) business still based in Houston, Bright and Early Coffee continues to roast fresh daily using the same commitment to premium Arabica beans and time-honored methods. Their signature 1918 Blend—a smooth, balanced medium roast—remains true to the founder's original specifications, drawing from meticulous green coffee buying logs preserved from the 1920s and 1930s. The company supplies restaurants, country clubs, hotels, and home brewers across Texas, often with the tagline "Something to Crow About."
What sets Bright and Early apart isn't just its age; it's the unbroken thread of family stewardship and dedication to freshness and quality in an industry that's seen massive consolidation and change. While Texas has newer craft roasters and historic spots like the Paris Coffee Shop (est. 1926 in Fort Worth), few commercial roasters trace their continuous lineage back to 1918 with the same family involvement.
In a world of fleeting trends, Duncan's Bright and Early Coffee reminds us that some things—like a perfectly roasted cup to kick off the day—are worth preserving for generations.
Sources:
- Official Bright and Early Coffee website: https://brightandearlycoffee.com/pages/story and https://brightandearlycoffee.com/pages/story-1 (company history and founding details).
- Edible Houston article: https://ediblehouston.ediblecommunities.com/drink/drink-bright-and-early-coffee-something-crow-about (2020 feature on the legacy and fifth-generation revival).
- Wikipedia entry on Duncan Coffee Company: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duncan_Coffee_Company (overview of founding, brands, and ownership history).
- Texas Coffee Roaster blog: https://www.texascoffeeroaster.com/blogs/news/duncan-s-admiration-coffee-a-cup-of-southern-hospitality (details on Herschel Mills Duncan and early brands).
- Additional historical context from company-linked posts and archives (e.g., Coca-Cola era documents shared on brightandearlycoffee.com).
If you're in Houston or anywhere in Texas, grab a bag of Bright and Early—it's more than coffee; it's a taste of Lone Star heritage.