Selena Young brews a caffeinated storm at Food Lifestyle HQ using flavour-erupting beans from Roastworks
What is it?
Speciality-grade coffee beans – with fully traceable cherry-to-cup creds – from Devon-based Roastworks. My sampling session included the roastery’s house blend The Truth, as well as single-origin roast Velo De Novia from Peru.
Why?
Confession time: myself and the rest of the coffee-mad team who produce Food Lifestyle (and its sister publication, the Indy Coffee Guide) aren’t newcomers to Roastworks. The roastery has featured in the pages of both the magazine and guidebook many times before, I’ve been to its HQ in Cullompton for a cupping sesh, and my 9am caffeine kicks in the office tend to come courtesy of its beans.
So, why choose this moment to spill the beans? Well, the indie brand has just undergone a punchy new rebrand that demands attention. Plus, we hate to gatekeep great coffee – Indy Coffee Guide case in point.
The low-down
Intoxicating scent of coffee aside, one of the first things that thrills the senses when ripping into a fresh consignment of Roastworks’ beans is the slick design that adorns each bag.
The gold-foiled logo embossed on the front of the jet-black bags has an eye-catching lustre. Its complemented by the roastery’s call-to-action in grabby typography: Come for the coffee, stay for the truth!.
Since they launched Roastworks in 2014, the beansmiths have been committed to nurturing longstanding relationships with the coffee farmers at origin, which includes providing them a fair price for the beans. This ongoing promise to support small-scale producers, and be truthful and transparent about the journey and cost of the beans, is front and centre of the new look and website.
A kaleidoscope of flavours
The first coffee to enjoy a spell in the grinder was – aptly named – house blend The Truth. Comprising beans from Brazil and Honduras, the blend has a luxurious depth best suited to espresso drinks, but we brewed it via V60 pourover which still worked a treat. The coffee is balanced and subtly sweet, with a chocolatey mouthfeel. Adding whole milk upped the luxe and gave it a sticky toffee pudding vibe. In a flat white it would be knockout.
Further flavour bombs were detonated in the moreish Velo De Novia. The Peruvian coffee is collaboratively produced by 20 smallholders in Jaén, some of whom the Roastworks team met when they visited the mountainous region. To extract the beans’ complex flavour notes of brown sugar, blackcurrant, plum and orange, we employed an AeroPress, but any pourover method would suit. The naturally sweet characteristics of the coffee make it a joy to sip black, unravelling layers of fruitiness but without strong acidity.
Cost
From £8 a bag.
Recommend to a friend?
With Christmas on the horizon, Roastworks’ coffee beans would make a wonderful gift for any coffee lover.
