Wood Fired & Open Flame Roasts

We believe in bringing people the best brew possible and love introducing them to exciting and sensational new coffees. We want to do so with as little environmental impact as possible. The combination of these two goals led us to focus on wood-roasted coffee, the age-old method of preparing beans for brewing coffee. It fell out of fashion in the late 19th and early 20th century with the rise of electricity and gas power. They changed the game of roasting by providing more control over the roast with reduced labour too. So, it was kind of a no-brainer at the time. However, relying on the combination of these sources is not sustainable. With the knowledge available to us now, we can maximise the palette and benefits of wood roasting and do so sustainably.

The unique flavour profile that wood-fired coffee provides is incredibly smooth and full bodied, with a low acidity. This makes for a delectable brew that you won’t be able to put down. A lot of this is due to the fact that the flame has a higher moisture content. This maintains much more of the natural oils inside, which is also where most of the flavours reside. By retaining the oils, we can really enhance the beans' natural characteristics. As the heat is softer than gas, it also reduces the chance of burnt beans, meaning no more bitter coffee. We love the process of roasting with wood and its connection to the history of coffee. The more involved nature creates a closer connection to the roast; it feels more organic. Constant care and attention is needed throughout. Rather than simply turning the roaster on and churning out large volumes of coffee; we focus on meticulously crafted, small-batch artisanal coffee. Bringing you quality rather than quantity.

Our primary roaster, the FIMT, was built in the 1950s to run on both gas and wood. But we are fortunate enough to be able to run this roaster on solar dried Cornish Oak. This is an almost carbon-neutral coffee roasting fuel. We source our wood from Working Woodlands Cornwall, who we are lucky enough to have right on our doorstep. They are doing some incredible work to help preserve ancient woodlands and educate people in sustainable practice. We are very proud to be involved with them and support their work. We delve deeper in to their practice right here.

We carefully curate our selection of single-origin beans for their natural flavour potential. But we also ensure that we can maximise these characteristics in our wood roaster. This is our main focus at the moment as we are a small operation. But we have begun expanding our selection and introducing new speciality coffees.

A lot of speciality coffees that are processed and fermented in exciting new ways can react unusually in the roast. As such, not all of these coffees suit the wood roasting process. For these unique coffees, we have been experimenting with our UNO roaster. It was very popular throughout the UK and a very common shop roaster in its day. The one we use was built in the 1940s. The roasting drum is open to the air, giving the operator a real connection to the roast. A true sight, sound, and smell experience. The amount of air flow allows for lighter and much more delicate roasts, that speciality coffees tend to favour.