Our story
Hearth & Hollow
Hearth & Hollow began in 2018 with one second-hand six-kilo roaster, a former print workshop, and a shared belief that exceptional coffee should never feel exclusive or complicated.
Founders Rowan Hale and Mara Bell wanted to create the kind of roastery they wished existed: one that cared deeply about sourcing and roasting, but spoke about coffee in a way that felt welcoming rather than intimidating.
In the early days, almost everything happened around one long wooden table. Samples were cupped there. Roast profiles were scribbled down and debated there. Bags were packed there, and more than a few coffees were shared with anyone who happened to walk through the door.
The roastery has grown since then, but that table is still at the heart of what we do.
Every morning, our team tastes together, compares notes and keeps asking the same questions: What makes this coffee special? How can we bring more of that character into the cup? And how can we make it easier for more people to enjoy?
Our equipment may be newer and our shelves a little fuller, but our purpose remains simple: find remarkable coffees, honour the people who produce them, and roast them with enough care to let their character speak for itself.
What guides us
Great coffee begins long before it reaches the roastery.
We work with trusted importers, producers and cooperatives who value traceability, quality and long-term relationships. Wherever possible, we choose coffees with transparent pricing and sourcing practices that ensure more value stays with the people responsible for growing them.
We would rather build lasting relationships around coffees we genuinely believe in than chase whatever happens to be fashionable that season.
No two coffees behave exactly the same way.
We roast in small batches, using measured heat, careful observation and plenty of tasting rather than forcing every coffee into the same profile.
Our aim is not to make a coffee taste heavily roasted. It is to reveal what was already there: the sweetness, acidity, texture and character created at origin.
Sometimes that means making tiny adjustments from one batch to the next. We think those small details are worth paying attention to.
Good coffee should invite people in.
You do not need specialist equipment, a notebook full of tasting vocabulary or years of experience to enjoy what we roast.
That is why we keep our brew guides practical, our tasting notes useful and our advice straightforward.
Whether you are weighing every gram or simply making a better cup before work, we are here to help you get more from the coffee without making the process feel more complicated than it needs to be.
From roastery to cup
A great cup of coffee is rarely the result of one dramatic decision. It comes from dozens of small ones made well.
Which farms and producers we buy from. How each green coffee is stored. The temperature of the roaster. The length of development. When the coffee is packed. How clearly we explain the best way to brew it.
We pay attention to those details because they add up.
Every coffee we release is tasted repeatedly before it reaches the shop, and our roast profiles continue to evolve throughout the season as the coffee itself changes.
It is a slower way of doing things, but it means the coffee you brew at home tastes as close as possible to the cup that made us excited about it in the first place.
Beyond the cup
We believe quality should extend beyond flavour.
That means thinking carefully about how coffee is sourced, packed, delivered and ultimately disposed of.
We buy through partners who publish farm-gate pricing and support producers building more resilient, sustainable businesses. Our mailers are fully recyclable, local deliveries are made by cargo bike wherever possible, and spent coffee grounds from the roastery are collected for neighbourhood allotments.
We also donate one percent of annual sales to clean-water projects in coffee-growing communities.
None of these choices is perfect in isolation, and there is always more work to do. But we believe responsible coffee is built in much the same way as great coffee: through consistent, thoughtful decisions made every day.
Come and taste with us
Hearth & Hollow has always been as much about people as it is about coffee.
If you visit the roastery, you may find us testing a new arrival, adjusting a roast or comparing two brews of the same coffee. Pull up a chair, ask us what we are drinking, or tell us how you like to make yours at home.
There is no right way to be interested in coffee.
Just start with a cup you enjoy, and take it from there.