The covid lockdowns feel very far away now, like they happened in a different lifetime. And yet, it’s only been three to four years since we were all stockpiling tinned foods, pasta and for some weird reason, toilet paper. Like not being able to wipe our bums was the biggest of our worries. Those infamous lockdowns were also the times when many people decided to have a child, get a pet or start a business. Admittedly, many of those businesses didn’t make it because they were founded during an extraordinary moment that temporarily completely changed the way we went about doing things but luckily, there were also many that businesses that survived and thrived.
One such business is Conscious Coffee, a specialty coffee roastery based just north of London that was founded by Culainn Boland Shanahan and his partner Lea Christopher. Culainn spent some time travelling around South America during 2021, attending coffee courses in Peru and trying to meet producers around the region, which was being hampered by curfews and countries closing their borders randomly. Though neither he nor Lea had a coffee background, they had gotten fascinated by the industry. When Lea eventually joined Culainn on their South American trip, they began working on the idea of setting up a specialty coffee business back in the UK that would help small producers of delicious specialty coffees find new markets in Europe.
The initial focus was on sourcing coffees from Peruvian producers with whom they had made personal connections during this trip, although they also headed to Bolivia, Ecuador and Colombia. Once back at home, they set up Conscious Coffee, a roastery and coffee import business that puts transparency, direct trade and organic growth at the core of its business. When I was in London a few weeks ago to meet Culainn and Lea at the Victoria Arduino showroom in Camden, we had a chance to cup some coffees together and to get to know each other better.
We had originally first met at this year’s London Coffee Festival, shortly after Culainn had reached out to me via email to find out how we could work together. I made it my mission then to find three great London roasters for a special London edition and I found them in Redemption Roasters, Sanctuary and Conscious. It then seemed to me like the best idea to visit all three in one day, choose one each of their finest coffees for our August 2024 Coffeevine box and record some fun videos with them.
What I love about Conscious is its unpretentious approach to specialty coffee, which is made ever more enjoyable by Culainn and Lea’s beautiful personalities. They instantly felt like close friends and spending time with them was a real joy. I guess the fact that Culainn is Irish and Lea is Australian really adds to their charm. Since receiving their first shipment of coffee from Peru in 2022, they have won some loyal customers all over the UK and even picked up a slew of awards at the Extracted Development competition at the Birmingham Coffee Festival.
For its Coffeevine debut, Conscious offered me two delicious coffees to cup at our meeting in London. One was a natural processed Ethiopian coffee from Rumudamu and the other was a natural processed Colombian coffee from El Indio. I don’t often have the latter in our Coffeevine boxes, which is why the decision was relatively easy. This particular lot was produced by 175 producer members of two associations: ASOPEP (“Asociación de Productores Egológicos de Planadas”) and ASCI’SP (the “Association of Indigenous Coffee Growers of San Pedro Páez in Gaitana). This coffee showcases the great work that is being done to help small-holder farmers in Colombia, a country that has really cemented its place as one of specialty coffee’s real juggernaut producers. This coffee tastes sweet and creamy, like a slice of Blackforest cake after you’ve taken a gulp of a flat white and washed it all down together.
To receive this excellent coffee or to order any of our other offerings, just visit our shop now.
Pre-orders close on 15.08.2024 / Ships globally on 20.08.2024
