OUR APPROACH

When we visit farmers it’s about fact finding, as well as cultivating and maintaining forward looking relationships. Many see themselves as custodians of coffee farms and use sustainable farming methods that preserve the environment and promote biodiversity.

We always take direction from producers in their vision towards harvesting and processing - whether nurturing the centuries old practices of highland Yemen or redefining the concept of fruitiness with extended anaerobic fermentation.  

This approach by specialty producers raises their costs so the price we pay reflects along with a collection of several other factors we aim to learn as much about as possible.

Some of this is done when we visit and with over twenty coffee growing countries sourced from, our import partners play a crucial role too, supporting our goal of price transparency to farm gate prices where possible.  

Maintaining quality is another cornerstone of our sourcing policy. Within the specialty coffee we roast at Artisan Roast we have a handful of quality tiers.

This means we can work with a wider range of specialty coffee producers, all of whom produce exceptional coffee in its own right. It also means we can offer you specialty coffee at different prices as well whether you’re looking for a gourmet blend or a super rare nano-lot.  

Our QC team taste and score every coffee we buy plus a vast number of other samples. These might be different micro-lots from producers we do buy from or new coffees we’re looking to roast for you. After tasting these coffees are milled, shipped, warehoused and eventually brought up to the roastery in Edinburgh. This can take about six months sometimes so we’re always rechecking quality to make sure the coffee you’re brewing is still representing the producer, their land and their story.