Blip Roasters

a West Bottoms coffee roaster and café founded by Ian Davis in December 2014, known for on-site roasting and a strong motorcycle-community identity. The business survived a 2016 fire and a 2020 COVID closure, relocating within the West Bottoms to its current 1301 Woodswether Rd home. Tier 1 (independent, owner-operated).

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Description

Blip Roasters is an independent coffee roaster and café in the industrial heart of Kansas City’s West Bottoms, at 1301 Woodswether Rd — a ~19,000-square-foot facility housing the roastery, café, warehouse, and an on-site Anchor Moto motorcycle shop.¹²³ Founder Ian Davis launched Blip in December 2014 as a wholesale roasting operation; the first café followed in 2015–2016.⁴⁵ The business is closely identified with Kansas City’s motorcycle community — its weekly “Sunday Church” ride-ins draw close to 100 bikes — under the brand’s “#BUILTNOTBOUGHT” ethos.¹²

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Ownership and history

Ownership

Period	Owner / Operator	Notes
2014 → present	Ian Davis (independent)	Founded Blip Dec 2014; named with early partner Conrad Amirof (2015); later coverage names only Davis as owner.463

Location history + resilience

• 2014–2016: original roastery at 1331 St. Louis Ave, West Bottoms — destroyed by fire in early 2016, ~5 months after the first café opened; reopened ~April 2016 at 1101 Mulberry St with help from public donations.⁷³
• 2019: second café opened near 30th & Troost (closed during COVID).³
• March 2020: Davis closed both locations and transparently laid off the entire staff; reopened at the end of August 2020 at the current 1301 Woodswether Rd location.³

Davis left Kansas City for a period (working in coffee in Charleston, SC) and returned to KC in 2014 to start Blip.⁴

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Menu

Last verified: 2026-07-24 Source: official site — Café Menu page (posted menu boards: Cafe Menu, Summer 2026 syrups, Beer/Wine/Cocktails) + official Square shop (retail beans) Source URL(s): https://www.bliproasters.com/menu · https://blip-roasters.square.site/shop/buy-coffee/7 Confidence: High — full transcription of the official image-based café, syrup, and alcohol boards plus the official bean shop with prices. (Grab-n-go food case is not published online.)

Blip is first and foremost a roaster-café: a full espresso bar built on its own house-roasted coffee, housemade syrups that rotate seasonally (current board: “Summer 2026”), a beer/wine/cocktail list, and a small grab-n-go food/pastry case.⁸²

Café drinks (10 oz / 16 oz)⁸

Hot:

• Espresso (1.5 oz) — $3.50
• Cortado (4 oz) — $4.50
• Coffee — $3.50 / $4.00
• Cappuccino — $5.50 / $6.50

Hot or iced:

• Cold Brew (iced only, 16 oz) — $6.50
• Americano — $4.00 / $4.00
• Latte — $5.50 / $6.50
• Chai Latte — batched with oat milk — $5.50 / $6.50
• Matcha Latte — $5.75 / $6.75
• Cascara Tea — $5.25 / $6.00
• Loose-leaf Spirit Tea — $4.50 / $4.50

Additions: add syrup $1.00 · add extra shot $2.00 · sub oat or almond milk free⁸

Housemade syrups (Summer 2026 board)⁸

• Year-round: Caramel, Mocha, Vanilla, Honey, Hazelnut, Lavender, Banana
• Summer specials: Almond Orgeat Syrup (sweet almond & orange notes), Strawberry Syrup (“try me in our cascara tea”), Coconut Syrup (“try me spiced with cinnamon & nutmeg”)
• The signature Honey Lavender Oat Latte praised by reviewers is built from the Honey + Lavender housemade syrups with oat milk.⁹

Beer, wine & cocktails⁸

• Blip House Beer — American Pale Lager, 4.5%, Stockyards x Blip Roasters collab; 6-pack (takeout only) — $20
• Guavatas Sour — tropical fruited sour, 4.7%, Free State Brewing —
• Torque Chop — porter, 12%, Stockyards x Blip Roasters —
• Pale Ale — 5.4%, Boulevard Brewing Co. —
• Canned Cocktails — rotating offerings
• Quirk Seltzer — hard seltzer, 4%, rotating flavors, Boulevard Brewing Co.
• Non-Alcoholic Lemon Wheat — Boulevard Brewing Co.
• Wine by the glass — Pinot Noir, Red Blend, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc —

Food & pastries (grab-n-go)

• Small grab-n-go case; not published online. Review-corroborated staples: cinnamon rolls (reviewers call them “massive”), donuts, chorizo burrito, spicy chicken salad wrap.¹⁰

Retail beans (official Square shop; 12 oz bag → 5 lb range)¹¹

• Daily Driver (Espresso/House Blend) — $22.00–$95.00
• Kickstart Blend — $24.00–$100.00
• Kenya Heles Rift Valley — single origin — $22.00–$95.00
• India Karnataka — single origin — $22.00–$95.00
• El Salvador — single origin — $22.00–$95.00
• Decaf Mexico — $22.00–$95.00
• Cascara Tea — coffee-cherry tea — $16.00–$75.00
• K-Cups — $15.00
• Seasonal Blip Bundle — online-only special — $60.00
• Coffee subscription: two boxes of coffee for $40/month, shipped.¹²

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Sources

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Disputes

(None active.)

Footnotes

1. KCUR — “Blip Coffee Roasters, West Bottoms, motorcycles, bikers” (Mar 2024). https://www.kcur.org/arts-life/2024-03-07/blip-coffee-roasters-west-bottoms-motorcycles-bikers — asserts: motorcycle community identity; Sunday ride-ins “close to 100 bikes”; 1301 Woodswether Rd. ↩ ↩²

2. Blip Roasters — official site. https://www.bliproasters.com/ — asserts: West Bottoms roaster/café; “#BUILTNOTBOUGHT” motorcycle ethos; Anchor Moto on-site; current hours 7a–7p. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Daily Coffee News — “Blip Roasters Makes Stunning Comeback in Kansas City’s West Bottoms” (Sep 2020). https://dailycoffeenews.com/2020/09/17/blip-roasters-makes-stunning-comeback-in-kansas-citys-west-bottoms/ — asserts: mid-March 2020 closure + full staff layoff (quoted); reopened end of Aug 2020 at 1301 Woodswether Rd; 2016 fire recap. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

4. Flatland KC — “Blip Roasters Aims to Create Community Around Coffee” (2015). https://flatlandkc.org/arts-culture/blip-roasters-aims-create-community-coffee/ — asserts: founder Ian Davis; “needed a break from Kansas City,” worked in Charleston SC, returned to KC in 2014; Blip launched Dec 2014. ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Daily Coffee News — “With New Café, Blip Roasters Revs Up Growth in KCMO’s West Bottoms” (Sep 2015). https://dailycoffeenews.com/2015/09/18/with-new-cafe-blip-roasters-revs-up-growth-in-kcmos-west-bottoms/ — asserts: roasting commercially ~10 months as of Sep 2015 (i.e. wholesale began ~late 2014); first café at 1331 St. Louis Ave. ↩

6. Sprudge — “Blip Coffee Goes Big in Kansas City’s West Bottoms.” https://sprudge.com/blip-coffee-goes-big-in-kansas-citys-west-bottoms-86178.html — asserts: Ian Davis + Conrad Amirof named as business partners (2015). ↩

7. The Pitch — “Blip Roasters Is Back in Business in the West Bottoms.” https://www.thepitchkc.com/blip-roasters-is-back-in-business-in-the-west-bottoms/ — asserts: 2016 fire destroyed the original roastery; reopened nearby with public support. ↩

8. Blip Roasters — official Café Menu page, posted menu boards transcribed 2026-07-24: “Cafe Menu” board (all drinks with 10/16 oz prices; additions: syrup $1, extra shot $2, oat/almond milk free), “Housemade Syrups — Summer 2026” board (7 year-round syrups + 3 summer specials), and “Beer, Wine, & Cocktails” board (Blip House Beer 6-pack $20; Free State, Stockyards x Blip, and Boulevard taps/cans; wine by the glass — individual pour prices not posted). https://www.bliproasters.com/menu — accessed 2026-07-24 ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

9. Food & Wine / national coverage + review consensus — asserts: honey lavender oat latte is Blip’s signature drink, balanced and not overly sweet. (exact Food & Wine URL to be confirmed). ↩

10. Prior capture (2026-06-16) — Yelp/aggregator review corroboration of grab-n-go case items (cinnamon rolls, donuts, chorizo burrito, spicy chicken salad wrap); food case not published on the official menu boards. https://www.yelp.com/biz/blip-roasters-kansas-city-2 ↩

11. Blip Roasters — official Square shop, “Buy Coffee” category (9 products with prices, transcribed 2026-07-24). https://blip-roasters.square.site/shop/buy-coffee/7 — accessed 2026-07-24 ↩

12. Blip Roasters — Coffee Subscription page. https://www.bliproasters.com/coffee-subscription-1 — asserts: two boxes of coffee for $40/month, mailed; retail beans via square.site shop. ↩