Adam began his Coffi Lab adventure as a barista, joining us in the early days of our story. Today, he takes care of crafting our speciality coffee beans at our little Cardiff roastery. With a thoughtful approach and natural passion for the craft, Adam has helped to shape the unique character and faithful quality that makes our every coffee special.
Let’s find out a little more about our wonderful coffee roaster…
What inspired you to become a coffee roaster?
I was a barista for a year or so and loved serving coffee to customers, but I was keen to play a larger role. With Coffi Lab’s own Cardiff roastery coming to life at the same time, it was the perfect opportunity to develop my skills. When I began learning about coffee roasting, I loved how in-depth and creative the process was.
What was the first coffee you ever roasted? How did it go?
30 kilos of our house small batch coffee, Fox Red. It didn’t turn out a charred mess so I suppose you could say it went “well”. But I do remember thinking it can be better, way better, and after working at it, we can safely say it is better – delicious, in fact.
How do you know when a coffee roast is ‘just right’?
For me, it’s about recognising when a roast is tasting as it should: balanced, expressive, and enjoyable to drink. That comes down to experience and trusting your instincts – knowing how the flavours are developing, and whether it delivers what you want it to in the cup.
Tasting is key and sharing that process with others really helps to keep your perspective grounded. It’s easy to place our work in low regard, so having others taste with you is a massive help in overcoming that. Ultimately, if the coffee tastes lovely and you’d be proud to serve it, that’s the mark of a successful roast.
What’s your favourite part of your coffee roasting routine?
During lengthy roasting sessions, I’ll often enter a kind of flow state where the mechanics and programming of the roaster just sync up to my actions. It kind of feels like you’re surfing (I’d assume so, I can only body board!). Coffee roasting can be a very physically demanding task with snap decisions and complex predictions, so trusting your instincts and letting your subconscious do the work during those big production sessions can be quite blissful. Seeing the beans spin around the cooling tray dropped at the same colour roast after roast is rather satisfying too.
Do you have a roasting playlist?
Roasting is very noisy, so having an even noisier speaker is quite important. For long production days I’ll usually play some punk or hardcore: Turnstile, Helmet and Drug Church have been some speed-inducing favourites recently. For quality control and packing I like something a little more ambient and dreamy. I’ll often be slurping from cupping bowls to Slowdive or Bowery Electric to enhance those calmer moments. A full day’s playlist is queued before I dare start any task.
What’s one lesson coffee roasting has taught you?
It’s taught me how delicate coffee is as a product, and how much care and consideration goes into coffee at every stage. Small changes or happenings in the roasting process can have a massive effect on its profile, sometimes rendering the little beans undrinkable.
There are still challenges within the industry today, so taking good care in how we source, roast, and serve coffee really matters. Respecting the fragility of the product – and everyone involved in bringing it to us – is so important.
At Coffi Lab, that means sourcing directly from the farmers, giving us control over the consistency of the coffee and ensuring long-term sustainable growth for them. Then honouring the hard work that goes into growing the beans, when we navigate through the various decisions and processes to create our coffees.
Is there a roast you're most proud of? What makes it special?
Silver Lab, our small batch anaerobic washed coffee. It’s our experimental lot produced solely by the women of Gashuru Coffee in the Nyamasheke district. I was unsure on this one at first – it has some very complex flavours and we have a very limited amount of the beans! But I really wanted to create something impressive, and we turned out with something much more than just drinkable, even on the test batch – my favourite so far.
I was so set on making it special that I didn’t care how anything else went that day, as long as the coffee came out good. That’s why I’m so proud of it – it’s jammy and juicy, with deep fruity notes on the nose, and a lingering fragrance of fruit cake. Just the perfect balance of sweet and tangy. I love it.
What’s your go-to coffee at home?
Silver Lab really is my favourite to drink and always my number one suggestion to anyone who asks about our coffees. But for every day, I also love a enjoy a more simple profile, roasted well. Coffi Lab's Fox Red is that all-rounder - it's got that chocolatey sweetness that' so easy to love, but with a touch of citrusy tangerine too.
Our roasting is guided by passion for every stage of the coffee bean’s journey, from Soil to Sip®. Working closely with farmers and exploring each coffee’s unique character, we aim to craft flavours that are true to their origin, and truly heartwarming in every sip.
Discover our lably family of coffee roasts online.
