16 Years Of Great Coffee
Sixteen years. That's a lot of coffee.
In 2026, Lucky Goat is celebrating 16 years of roasting, brewing, and sharing Great coffee with communities across the Southeast. We've grown a lot since Ben Pautsch founded the company in Tallahassee, Florida in 2010 — but the mission has never changed: Make Great Coffee.
From Wholesale to Retail Cafés
Lucky Goat didn't start with a café. For the first five years, we were exclusively a wholesale roaster and supplier, delivering freshly roasted coffee and café supplies to businesses across the Southeast. That foundation gave us the time to nail the craft before the Lucky Goat name was ever above a door.
By 2015, the demand for a café of our own was impossible to ignore. We opened our first retail location that year, and had three cafés up and running by 2016. That same summer, we introduced gallon jugs of cold brew as an at-home option for customers who couldn't get enough of what we were pouring in the café.
Growing the Brand
In 2020, we expanded beyond Tallahassee and into new markets across the South. With that came a small but meaningful change: our beloved "Tallyccino" became the "Luckyccino." Same classic recipe, just a name that could travel with us anywhere.
2022 turned out to be one of our most productive years yet. We launched our Signature Drink Line in the spring, giving fan-favorite beverages like the Brown Sugar Caramel Latte and Honey Lavender Latte a permanent home on our menu. In the fall, we formalized our Signature Blend Coffee Line. Seven tried-and-true coffees, some of which had been with us since our wholesale days. And before the year was out, we launched Single Serve Pods, answering one of our most-requested asks.
2023 brought Nitro Cold Brew (an upgrade our Cold Gold Cold Brew had long deserved) along with the launch of our rotating Seasonal Sips menus, which gave customers something new to look forward to each season.
In 2024, we introduced the 2lb bag for customers who just needed a little more, and made our boldest coffee move yet with the Panama Gesha, one of the rarest and most sought-after coffees in the world, which sold out on presale.
The Franchise Era
Then came Year 15 — and our biggest milestone yet. In 2025, Lucky Goat opened its first franchise café. It was a moment we'd been building toward for years, and it opened the door for passionate coffee people across the region to bring the Lucky Goat experience to their communities.
At the time you're reading this, Lucky Goat has 6 corporate cafés and 11 franchise cafés operating across the Southeast — 17 locations total, from Tallahassee to Texas. Every one of them is rooted in the same mission.
Here's to 16 years and every Great cup that comes next.
