What we do, and why.
We source and roast coffee from single farms, estates and cooperatives. When we taste a coffee we like, we want to know where it comes from and who grows, picks and processes it.
Sustainable, fair and equal trade — by relationship, not certification.
We travel extensively throughout the year, visiting the producers and cooperatives we currently work with and looking for interesting cultivars and new farms to buy from. During these visits we talk with farmers, learning more about the coffee they grow and process, and the challenges they face. We then look to establish a relationship with the grower and exporter of that coffee — where that relationship exists, we believe quality, quantity and price requirements can be discussed in an open and equal way.
We buy some organic coffee (Organic Certification GB-ORG-04) and some coffee that's bird-friendly or shade-grown, but we don't lean on Fairtrade or similar certifications to make the case — direct relationships are how we go about it instead.
Forty-seven years, three moves.
-
1978
Covent Garden
We started roasting and retailing coffee from a small shop on Monmouth Street, using old-fashioned direct-flame machines — first a small UNO, then a 1930s Whitmee.
-
2007
Bermondsey arches
Having opened a second shop in Borough Market and outgrown the Covent Garden basement, we moved roasting into three converted railway arches in Bermondsey.
-
2018
Spa Terminus
We moved roasting a little further east to Spa Terminus, converting five arches into a roasting, tasting and office space, with two Loring roasters from California.
-
Recent
Dockley Road
More recently, we opened our third shop, just around the corner from the Spa Terminus roastery.
About 90 people, one bean counter.
We now buy nearly all our coffee directly, with a bean counter that sees around 60 coffees a year and 16 on the retail counter at any one time. That takes a team of about 90 people across retail, green coffee, online, wholesale, roasting, packing, accounts, training and maintenance.
Working the counter
Retail baristas sell 16 ever-changing coffees, make espresso and filter drinks on La Marzocco machines and our own pour-over cones, and run the day-to-day of the shop. Staff get 250g of coffee free each week, ongoing training with producers, and a starting rate of £15.50 an hour.
Ask about current vacanciesCafé, restaurant or hotel?
We've wholesaled coffee since 1978, with a dedicated training team.
Read the sourcing trips in our own words.
Every month we write about what's happening on the farms we buy from — read the journal for the full, first-person account.