“COFFEE ISN’T JUST for the morning,” says Justin Bull, head roaster at Garfield Park’s Helm Coffee. “It’s a way to connect with people, a chance to share something that can be both everyday and extraordinary.”
Not that long ago, Bull was a graphic designer in Washington, D.C. He moved to Indy four years ago, when his wife began her Ph.D. studies at the IU School of Medicine. While she immersed herself in viral immunology, he was drawn into the craft of java.
He’d been tinkering with pour-overs and extraction ratios as a coffee hobbyist for nearly a decade, which gave him the confidence to walk into Helm soon after it opened to apply for a job as a barista. Less than three years later, he began entering national and global brewing competitions. In 2025, he won the U.S. Brewers Cup Championship, the first for an Indy barista, then represented the country in the global competition, finishing sixth.
A former competitive runner, he loves the idea of a sportsperson’s challenge, but Bull insists his work is about people, not competing. “Sharing coffee with someone in a way they’ve never experienced before is special,” he says. At Helm, that translates to a welcoming neighborhood cafe, but with a high-level coffee program, offering roasts that highlight small producers in Colombia, Honduras, and beyond.
Bull admits that Indianapolis wasn’t originally the plan for him and his wife. But in a city where food and drink culture is evolving, he’s excited to contribute. Whether he’s behind the counter serving a rare variety or sourcing beans from a continent away, Bull is putting the Crossroads of America on the global coffee map one cup at a time.
