If you are looking for a roaster, a great place to work, and a speciality coffee shop all rolled into one, then you will need to look no further. Let me introduce you to the great minds behind Coffee Press & Co. — a leading speciality coffee shop located in London.
They are cranking out delicious coffees source from over fifteen countries around the world!
How it All Started
Press Coffee & Co was founded in 2013 with the launch of The Fleet Street Press. Housed in what was once a tobacconist, the renovation uncovered secret rooms and locked safes, all of which are on show today, as well as featuring a curved glass frontage, and a listed wooded staircase.
Their skilled baristas serve their signature Press Blend as well as single-origin filters and espressos.
Following Fleet Street with another City site, they’ve now opened their Chancery Lane espresso bar to cater to the multitude of legal practices, and the law courts that the City hosts.
The opening of their Chancery lane site lead to an exciting collaboration with their friends and neighbours Framestore. Known for creating incredible visual effects on big-name films and TV shows, they were keen to replicate the independent speciality coffee shop vibe at their on-site cafe, so they worked together to bring a bit of the Press feeling to their studio.
In September 2019, having honed their skills over 4 years of slot roasting, they took the plunge and set about establishing their own roastery, enabling them to take total control over the quality of the coffee they serve. Simone, their Head of Coffee, successfully completed his Arabica Q Grade in February 2020, and is the linchpin of their operation, overseeing coffee sourcing, roasting, and quality control.
Since then, they’ve pushed their drive for sustainability by encouraging all their roasting partners and wholesale customers to use their reusable metal drums, which are airtight, and perfect for storing coffee – not least because they eliminate the need to dispose of the packaging. This way together, they have saved over 500,000 bags going to landfill, all whilst delivering in their zero-emission electric van.
Whilst the use of drums isn’t always possible, given the constraints of retail space in many premises, they are pleased to say that as of 2021, all their bags are fully recyclable, including the zip tie and valve – no mean feat!
They remain a family-owned business; husband and wife Andy and Nelly run operations and are supported by Simone heading up the roastery, and Lewis looking after wholesale and marketing.
Sourcing
Press believes that the quality of the coffee in your cup is linked inextricably to the strength of the bond between grower and roaster. This is why, wherever possible, they source their coffee directly from farmers, traveling to origin whenever they can. When this isn’t feasible, they work with trusted exporters and co-operatives, whose work on the ground puts them in a key position to understand the needs of the farmers, and the social and environmental issues of the region in
which they are based.
Press is proud to work with many of the same farmers year after year. And they wholeheartedly believe that fostering relationships with growers, and developing open communication, leads to improved quality on the farm, and therefore in the cup.
Whilst they have their established relationships, they are always looking to expand their network, and are constantly on the lookout for those producing outstanding coffee, and have begun their own exploration of some of the less represented origins in speciality coffee, notably Myanmar and Indonesia.
As coffee is a seasonal crop, their selection rotates throughout the year as they strive to bring you the freshest coffees available. This is often simultaneously the most exciting and frustrating element of coffee – just as they feel they’re getting to grips with a coffee, or perhaps have found a new favourite, the season ends, and they have to move on.
The search for better coffee is ceaseless and is a trip that they savour.
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