Iris Kowalski
Owner and roaster
Ran the espresso bar for two years before learning to roast. Still tastes every batch on Tuesday morning before it goes on the shelf.
On the corner since 2016
We took over a shop that had sold newspapers for forty years, kept the counter and put a roaster where the magazines used to be. The plan was simple: roast small, sell it fresh, and bake enough that people have a reason to come in before work. Nine years later the same regulars queue at half seven, the roaster still runs on Tuesdays, and we still write the filter list on the mirror in chalk because the printer is always broken.
Four things beyond the counter, all run by the same small team.
Two hundred and fifty grams or a kilo, posted or collected, roasted the day before it reaches you. Skip or pause any week.
Beans, a grinder on loan, and two days of training for your team. We visit monthly and dial in the espresso ourselves.
Ninety minutes on a Saturday: grind size, water, ratio and the four mistakes that make home coffee bitter. Six people, coffee included.
Flasks of filter, sandwich platters and whole cakes for anything from a school meeting to a wake. Two days' notice is plenty.
The people behind the work.
Owner and roaster
Ran the espresso bar for two years before learning to roast. Still tastes every batch on Tuesday morning before it goes on the shelf.
Head barista
Knows around three hundred regular orders by heart and will remember yours by the third visit, whether you want him to or not.
Baker
Starts at half four with the sourdough and finishes the cardamom buns by seven. Her savoury pastry changes with the market.
We kept the tiled counter and the bell over the door, and served coffee from a second-hand two-group machine for the first eighteen months.
Five kilos, gas-fired, installed on a Sunday. The first three weeks of roasting were quietly terrible and we gave most of it away.
We knocked through into the back room and started baking at half four. Bread changed the morning trade more than any coffee ever did.
We now roast for offices, two hotels and a bike shop that pours better filter than most cafés. Everything is still roasted on the same drum.