Frequently asked questions

There are no hard rules — it comes down to what you enjoy. The one question we always ask is whether you drink your coffee with or without milk. If you take milk, start with our nuttier or chocolatey coffees, which pair with it better. Fruitier coffees tend to shine without milk. Beyond that, it’s all about how you like it.

You’ll notice we never mention “strength” — it’s a rather outdated term. It really refers to how much robusta a coffee has been blended with; robusta is very bitter, and that bitterness gets rebranded as “strong”. We only ever use 100% Arabica. How strong your cup tastes has far more to do with how you brew it — particularly your brew ratio, i.e. how much water to coffee. Pick the flavour you love, then make it as strong or as weak as you like.

We don’t label our coffee by roast level either — with high-quality Arabica we think it’s an outdated metric. Dark roasting is really used to mask the harshness of lower-quality beans like robusta; with good Arabica there’s nothing to roast out. That leaves “light” and “medium”, which are subjective, arbitrary terms. We roast on Probat roasters — considered the best in the world — which give us precise control and detailed data. The metric that matters to us is the development percentage: an accurate, repeatable value we work to, from 16% (lightest) up to 22% (darkest). Two coffees roasted identically can still look quite different, so we let the coffee itself dictate how it’s roasted, sampling at every percentage point to find where it’s at its best. Watch our video explaining development percentage.

Everything is roasted to order in small batches at our Buxton roastery, then dispatched within 2 working days — so it reaches you fresh.

Both. Simply pick a coffee from our range and choose whole bean, or select the grind you need if you’d prefer it ready to brew. Then choose whether you’d like a one-off purchase or regular deliveries. If you’re unsure, whole bean stays fresher for longer.

We generally don’t grind for espresso machines. The perfect espresso grind is specific to your particular machine and setup, so it’s all but impossible for us to get it exactly right for you. For espresso we’d recommend whole bean and grinding fresh at home.

Keep it in a cool, dark place in an airtight container, away from heat, light and moisture. There’s no need to refrigerate or freeze coffee you’re drinking day to day.

Each bag is marked with a roast or best-before date. For the best cup we suggest enjoying it within about four weeks of opening.

UK delivery is free on orders over £30. Orders below that are charged the rate shown at checkout.

We roast to order and aim to dispatch within 2 working days. Delivery estimates are shown at checkout; most UK orders arrive within a few working days of dispatch.

Not at the moment — we currently deliver within the United Kingdom only.

You’ll get an email confirmation when you order and again when it’s dispatched. Where tracking is available for your delivery method, we’ll include the details.

As a fresh food product, coffee can’t be returned or exchanged for reasons of food safety and hygiene. If anything arrives faulty, damaged, incorrect or not as described, please contact us within 30 days and we’ll replace it or refund you in full. See our Terms & Conditions for the detail.

Choose your coffee and how often you’d like it, and we’ll roast and send it on that schedule, taking payment before each delivery. Explore the options on our subscriptions page.

Yes — you’re in full control. Pause, skip, change your coffee or cancel any time from your account, up to the cut-off shown before your next roast date.

Debit and credit cards (processed securely by Stripe) and PayPal.

Yes. Payments are handled by Stripe and PayPal over an encrypted connection, and we never see or store your full card details.

We do. Head to our wholesale page to see what we offer and to get in touch about trade accounts.

Our roastery at Harpur Hill is open to visits by appointment. See Find Us or drop us a line to arrange a time.