Crema Coffee Roasters began in Nashville after Rachel and Ben Lehman decided in the summer of 2007 to build a café centered on exceptional coffee and meaningful hospitality. The self-funded founders transformed a former diesel repair shop near downtown Nashville into their first café, which opened in 2008. Initially sourcing coffee from other roasters, Crema brought roasting in-house in 2011 to gain greater control over coffee quality, sourcing and preparation.

Today, Crema is an independent, zero-waste coffee roaster operating cafés in Downtown Nashville, East Nashville and nearby Brentwood. The company focuses on transparently sourced, light-to-medium roasted coffees and works with producers and import partners that share its emphasis on quality and sustainability. Alongside its rotating lineup of single-origin coffees and blends, Crema offers subscriptions, wholesale partnerships, coffee education classes and café menus ranging from takeaway service to full breakfast and lunch.