Meet the talented roasters of our August 2024 edition

July 16, 2024

Meet the talented roasters of our August 2024 edition

July 16, 2024

For the upcoming August edition, we're teaming up with a total of seven super talented roasters from around the world.

Just under two weeks ago, we celebrated the 10-year anniversary of The Coffeevine with a fun party at our Amsterdam warehouse. It feels incredible to know that for a whole decade, The Coffevine has been bringing joy to thousands of people around the world. Much has been learned a long the way and as we enter the second decade in business, The Coffeevine will continue to evolve, improve and refine its approach to creating Europe’s most unique monthly coffee experience.

So, let’s continue with our upcoming August 2024 edition, which will feature a total of seven delicious coffees including our latest GEMS and decaf releases. I wanted to introduce you to a bunch of new names this time to give you access to a fresh crop of talented roasters from around the world. Without further ado, let’s meet them.

EUROPEAN ROASTERS FOR AUGUST

Redemption Roasters from London, UK

There are a few roasters around Europe who didn’t just set out to offer their customers better coffee. They also wanted to do something special for their communities. Redemption Roasters from London got its start when the British Ministry of Justice asked seasoned coffee entrepreneurs Max Dubiel and Ted Rosner if they would be keen to set up a roastery inside a men’s prison to help inmates find a new vocation and a path towards stability after leaving. The idea was exciting and unique and in the last ten years, Redemption Roasters has helped hundreds of former inmates find a way into hospitality, speciality coffee and back into their local communities.

I’ve had Redemption Roasters on my radar from the first moment I met Max and Ted at the London Coffee Festival in 2015 and I’m thrilled to finally welcome them to a Coffeevine edition with our first-ever honey-processed Burundian coffee from Izuba. I cupped this coffee together with head roaster Dominic Scott in London the other day and it tasted fantastic.

Available with a separate roast profiles for filter and espresso.

Sanctuary Coffee from London, UK

Marcus Wood and I already worked together a few times even before he and his partner Rhian started Sanctuary Coffee in 2021. He was previously roasting coffee for two major London based coffee roasters who I featured in the past but is fully committed to Sanctuary Coffee since 2022. Last week, I was in London for a day visiting all of our London roasters for this edition and I met Marcus at a co-working space in Richmond where we cupped the candidate coffees for this edition and where I met Dionne, a former racing greyhound that he adopted in 2019.

Dionne was also the inspiration for launching Sanctuary Coffee because Marcus and Rhian realised that animal sanctuaries in the UK are fully dependent on donations to operate. But they are much more than just places where you can find saved animals. They also play a vital role in their local communities. Sanctuary donates a part of its profit to support various sanctuaries around the UK and is now making its Coffeevine debut with a fantastic washed Mexican coffee from the female run cooperative Tejao in Oaxaca.

Available with a separate roast profiles for filter and espresso.

Conscious Coffee from London, UK

A few months ago, I got an email from Culainn Boland Shanahan who founded Conscious Coffee with his partner Lea Christopher after the pair first discovered specialty coffee on a trip around South America. He wanted to know if we’d be keen to feature them in our box and as chance would have it, a few weeks later, we met in person at the London Coffee Festival where I first got a chance to taste some of their coffees. That was enough to book their spot in this August 2024 edition that features three talented London based roasters.

Conscious is all about transparency, honesty and building strong relationships with producers in one country at a time. After focusing entirely on Peru for the first few years of its existence, it’s now expanding to Colombia, Brazil and other origins. It also supports various non-profit organisations that help producers improve the quality of their output and empowers female run organisations. I met Culainn and Lea in London at the Victoria Arduiuno space last week where we cupped two of their freshest coffees and I picked an exquisite natural-processed Colombian coffee from El Indio for this edition.

Available with a single profile for filter and espresso.

GLOBAL ROASTERS FOR AUGUST

Mirra from Hudson Valley, USA

Will Warren is a young prodigy from upstate New York who spent a few years working in cafés and roasteries in Scandinavia before heading back to his hometurf to set up Mirra. It was in northern Europe that he discovered his preference for lighter roasted, sweet and floral coffees that really highlight the coffee’s intrinsic characteristics and that is something he wanted to bring back to the US. When I spoke with him over video call, he lamented that too many roasters were still roasting way too dark and not doing their coffees justice. Mirra wants to change that by positioning itself as a true Nordic roastery.

For its Coffeevine debut in August, Mirra will roast a delicious semi-washed Sidra from Finca La Esmeralda. This is the first time that we’re offering this cultivar and I cannot stress enough how delicious it is.

Available with a filter roast profile.

Coffee Libre from Seoul, South Korea

Pil Hoon Seu is a bit of a legend in the Korean specialty coffee world and beyond. A highly intelligent eccentric at heart, Pil is someone who found purpose in specialty coffee and the idea of helping to transform the lives of farmers and people living in origin countries. After opening a few cafés and his roastery in South Korea, Pil purchased a coffee farm and opened a roastery with a café in Guatemala. He thought it was unacceptable that people in producing countries hardly got a chance to enjoy their own countries’ finest crops. He tried to change that by offering free coffee tastings in his cafés and by encouraging people to learn more.

Coffee Libre takes inspiration from the Lucha Libre character from the movie Nacho Libre. In it, the monk Ignacio work moonlights as a wrestler at night to earn extra money to feed the orphans and this greatly inspired Pil as he often felt like he was stuck between to personalities. One that was highly academic and one that was rebellious and chaotic. After learning to embrace himself, he was able to fully flourish. I’m excited to introduce you to such a wonderful specialty coffee professional and his inspirational story this month. Coffee Libre makes its debut with a crispy and acidic washed Kenyan coffee from Kirinyaga.

Available with a filter roast profile.

GEMS & DECAF ROASTERS FOR AUGUST

People Possession from Paris, France

This relative newcomer from the French capital is closely linked with one of our favourite European roasters, KAWA, but it maintains its unique and independent identity and approach to coffee. Leaning heavily on sub-culture, music and fashion, People Possession is more of a style icon than a coffee roaster and its super colourful beer cans that serve as coffee containers are testament to this. Each can is designed in-house and the coffees hail from some of the world’s most renowned coffee producers.

I picked People Possession for our 18th GEMS release because I think what they’re doing is really special and the coffees they submitted for our selection process were absolutely incredible. For their Coffeevine debut, they will roast a rare Laurina cultivar that was naturally processed at Finca Granja Esperanza in Colombia. It’s delicate, floral and fleeting.

Available with a filter roast profile.

Stooker Coffee Roasters from Amsterdam, The Netherlands

In August, we continue our exploration of decaffeinated coffees from Dutch roasters with the first feature by Stooker Coffee Roasters in more than five years. Stooker is one of Amsterdam’s longest running specialty coffee roasters and I go way back with co-founders Florian Hessel and Onno van Zanten. In fact, we worked for the same roaster and café back in the day before we charted our own paths in the specialty coffee world.

Stooker will be returning to The Coffeevine in August with a really tasty sugarcane decaf from Colombia’s Popayán coop. This coffee was produced by many smallholder farmers and consists of the Colombia, Caturra and Castillo cultivars. It’s your perfect allrounder coffee for every moment of the day.

Available with a filter roast profile.