Top 10 coffee roasters in the UK

Today, we’ll take you through a trip of the 10 best coffee roasters across the UK. From Scotland, down to Cornwall we have picked some of the best coffee you can drink. With over 650 UK coffee roasters it was a hard choice, and there are so many others that we would love to have included in this round up. Let us know in the comments if you agree or who you think we missed!

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Where are Climpsons and sons cafes?

1. The Broadway Market Cafe, 67 Broadway Market, Hackney, London, E8 4PH, phone: 020 7254 7199

2. Old Spitafields coffee bar, Pod 3, Commercial Street, Old Spitalfields Market, London, E1 6EW, phone: 020 7254 7199

3. Climpsons and sons roastery, Unit 2 & 3 Argall Works, 7-9 Argall Avenue, London, E10 7QE, phone: 020 7254 7199

An absolute RiSE coffee box favourite! Climpsons & Sons became one of the OG’s of the East London coffee scene when Ian Burgess opened their first cafe, ‘Broadway Market coffee shop’ in 2002. This buzzing market street in Zone 2 of London’s Borough of Hackney, is one of the hottest spots to hang out and drink great coffee and eat locally produced, organic food.

The cafe isn’t huge, however it has a great vibe and on a nice day everyone spills out onto the street to socialise and drink specialty coffee. The roastery itself is located a short walk away towards London Fields, where you can join one of their coffee workshops.

Today, they are one of the most popular coffee roasters in the area leading the way on Ethically sourced coffee via their direct and semi direct trade relationships, education in the coffee sector and serving up some of the best quality specialty coffee you will sip. We have featured Climpsons & Sons twice - once being a collaboration between us during Christmas 2022 when we invited our coffee club members to come and cup 5 coffee’s at the Climpsons Roastery and picked their favourite coffee to feature in our subscription. They picked an El Salvador coffee called Las Ranas which was delicious!

Read more about them here.

SKYLARK COFFEE

Where is Skylark Coffee based in Brighton?

• Skylark Coffee, Unit 1, Fairway Business Centre, Westergate Road, BN2 4JZ

We couldn’t write a blog about Brighton and not include the Skylark roastery! They consider themselves to be the only 100 percent non-profit, 100 percent transparent specialty coffee brand in the world.

Micah Sherer is the head roaster and buyer. He brings experience opening successful coffee businesses and managing teams in multiple countries; working within the supply chain to find better ways of supporting coffee producers in both Africa and South America; researching the power dynamics of coffee supply chains; and competing as an elite barista.

They pay 2x the Fair Trade rate and £1 per kilo goes towards conservation and empowerment efforts at home and in coffee-producing communities.

Skylark support four charities including:

- Knepp Wildland Foundation is a key environmental charity in the Southeast leading the way on rewilding, conservation and climate change.
- The Stumping Project, operated by Falcon and the NGO Technoserve, is an African project helping Ethiopian coffee farmers regenerate their coffee trees for sustainable harvests for years to come.
- Pro Baristas is a charity project focussed on unemployment in Sussex, especially among young people, while training them for coffee jobs.
- In Her Hands is a woodworking project empowering women by teaching the fundamentals of building. 

ORIGIN COFFEE

Where are they?

• The Roastery, 1 Treysa Place, Porthleven, Helston TR13 9FJ

Founded in 2004 by Tom Sobey, Origin Coffee is an independently owned speciality coffee roaster that is bound by one central ethos–to source incredible coffee through a sustainable, triple bottom line approach.

They are the first B corp on the list and what inspiring work they are doing to be planet positive.

“We have a responsibility to the planet and the people we work with. Creating a positive impact across the supply chain, and providing support to the farmers, pickers, sorters, drivers, rakers, washers, dry millers, cuppers, roasters, trainers, baristas, and drinkers. Each is striving for the same end goal: to make every cup of coffee exceptional.

It’s our responsibility to do right by every person, every step of the way. This means championing speciality coffee from every angle, with integrity at the heart of every decision made.”

Origin have won a number of accolades over the years including: World coffee in good spirits championships, UK Barista championships, UK cup tasters championships, and the UK Aeropress championships.

GRINDSMITH

Where are they?

1. Unit 5&6, The Garage, Media City UK, Salford, M50 2EQ

2. 62 Bridge Street, Manchester, M3 3BW

3. 15 Pollard St E, Manchester, M40 7QX

“Grindsmith was founded with the dream of bringing great coffee to Manchester”

Pete and Luke are like the Yin & Yang of the coffee world, working together in harmony to bring a balanced result.

They source local and quality produce and base their ethos on giving you the best coffee experience you can imagine. They have grown into the heart of the city’s coffee scene by providing the community with great coffee as well as educating and passing on all their knowledge and skills to the new connoisseurs around town.

Grindsmiths ethically source their coffee from some of the best farms they can find.

CURVE COFFEE, Margate 

Where are they?

Unit 14 Copperleaf Business Park, Dane Valley Road, CT10 3AT

Curve Coffee is a quality-driven coffee roastery based in Margate, Kent. Their promise is to bring all customers delicious coffees in a way that benefits the producers and they certainly achieve this! With an emphasis on ethics, Curve strives to work in a way that allows them to produce excellent, seasonal coffees that protect livelihoods and the environment. They have a cafe open everyday, and it sure is worth a visit for a cuppa.

Dear Green, Glasgow

Where are they?

Unit 2, 13-27 E Campbell St, Glasgow G1 5DT

Dear Green Coffee pursues excellence in coffee, working with the community to ensure the standards they have align with those around, with a focus to meet their ethical policies and have a great connection with other coffee producers. Dear Green quote, “Every bean is well considered, well sourced and only sold if it meets our QC tolerance.” - a coffee lover’s dream!

They are also the organisers of the much loved Glasgow coffee festival, which brings all the best Scottish coffee roasters together each year, usually held in May.

GENTLEMEN BARISTAS

Where are they based?

Piccadilly, London - 162 Piccadilly, London W1J 9EF

Marble Arch, London - 5 Marble Arch, London W1H 7EJ

Mayfair, London - 4 Bruton Place, London W1J 6NR

Borough, London - 63 Union Street, Borough, London SE1 1SG

London Bridge, London - 11 Park Street, London Bridge, London SE1 9AB - near Borough Market

Holborn, London - Unit 3, No 1 New Oxford Street, Holborn, London. WC1A 1NU

Hammersmith, London - 3 Shortlands, Hammersmith,
London. W6 8DA

East India, London - Import Building. 2 Clove Crescent,
Poplar, London. E14 2BE

With locations across London, the hub of Gentlemen Baristas is their roastery in the heart of East London. There they have been roasting according to their value of ‘getting the most out of every bean’, bringing scrumptious roasts to their client. Their brand draws on the history of the ‘Coffee House’ as an epicentre for political and philosophical thinkers. Gentlemen Baristas aim to provide a similar atmosphere for London's creative minds to meet over an inspiring cuppa. They have promised they will never be a coffee shop, always a coffee house - so brush up your manners, and head on down! 

Unorthodox Roasters, Kinross and across Scotland

Where are they based?

Unorthodox Roasters, 129 High St, Kinross KY13 8AQ

As many of our members may know, Unorthodox is a RiSE favourite, with their “Mindblown” coffee from Papa New Guinea coming in at number 1 as voted by our members last year (2020-2021). After a 10.5 month trip across South America the founders set up their own roastery in Scotland, and are now stocked across the country. We shouldn’t be biased but this is the best coffee in Scotland!

CLICK HERE IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A COFFEE SUBSCRIPTION TO DISCOVER THE BEST COFFEE FROM AROUND THE UK

Coaltown, South West Wales

Where are they?

The Roastery, Foundry Rd, Ammanford SA18 2LS

Coaltown is one of the best roasters around and pioneering the welsh coffee scene, based in South West Wales. Their priorities are set out straight to have ethically sourced green coffee from the best producers globally, paying above the living wage, and providing fresh, high quality, delicious coffee… always! They offer many great coffee options for us coffee lovers, which you can find directly on their website and do not disappoint when the beans are added to the cup.

Big Dog Coffee

Where are they?

Innovation Centre Workshop 20, Ebbw Vale NP23 8XA

Based in the valleys in South Wales, the siblings behind Big Dog Coffee strive to "serve and believe in others, show kindness and acknowledge struggle" through committing to supporting and telling the stories of their roasters. We featured their Aelin Lau Brazilian coffee last year, which had typical Brazilian notes of milk chocolate, cocoa, peanuts.