# Hasbean without Steve



## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

When I first joined , Hasbean was one of the go to roasters. Their ,in my mug clips, fronted by Steve Leighton ( owner) was one a great subscription with a great diversity of coffee. The sheer range of coffee offered over the sub was mind boggling. I had that sub for about 18 months.

Steve did a lot to push great quality coffee into the home with his videos and brew guides . He had a couple of open days at the roasters which were great .

Hasbean and Ozone joined forces a while ago ( although remained separate companies ) with Steve still on board.

With the announcement below though Steve is now no Longer part of Hasbean going forward, I'm sure at some point Steve will pop his head up over the rails again , i think he is till invested in 3fe, and Drop for one.


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Wow that's quite an announcement. Back in the day you couldn't move for red bags and combinations of letters like IMM, SSS, or even SSSSS... as you say though, I'm sure he'll pop up sometime soon with something else. He has coffee for blood, I doubt he'll be retiring from the industry.


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

When I joined the forum, In My Mug was an integral part of it. Steve also, in those early days, contributed to the forum as a member. Buried in the older Hasbean website, Steve told his story how he got into coffee. It's a fascinating tale - I've tried to find it but can't. It's well worth a read. In the early internet days, he started roasting in his garage and selling, or trying to, sell his beans on an open market in Stafford on Saturdays. He was fully employed, at that time, in another job. He recounted his dejection that he didn't get many takers. One Saturday, an old lady who had bought a packet of roasted beans came back to return them, telling Steve she had tried making coffee with them but they didn't dissolve. Steve said he nearly gave up. Fortunately, the internet proved his salvation. He continued to build the business whilst keeping on his day job until, finally, he took the plunge devoting all his time to Hasbean. Like Boots, I was fortunate to attend an open day at Hasbean which was really good fun. Steve's knowledge and enthusiasm was evident in spades. I was also really impressed at his prowess as a taster during a cupping session.

Steve is irrepressible - I am sure he will pop up somewhere in the near future. He has made a huge contribution to speciality coffee and we caffeine addicts should thank him for it.


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## urbanbumpkin (Jan 30, 2013)

Great shame. I saw his post on facebook


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## Coffee by the Casuals (Sep 15, 2020)

I was at the 10th Anniversary bash that he threw a few years ago - it was good fun!

I recall thinking a while ago that when O Zone took a share of Hasbean it was unlikely to mean that Steve would stay on forever. Hopefully he's moved on on his own terms, and adequately remunerated for it. I suppose there's a good chance he still owns shares.

Yes, I can't see this being the end of him in coffee either. And I'm sure he'll always be welcome.


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## shaun**** (Oct 24, 2015)

The Systemic Kid said:


> - I've tried to find it but can't. It's well worth a read.


 i remember reading this too, i think it might be buried away in the earlier pages of his blog: http://www.hasblog.co.uk

it's a bit sad to hear, i've had the IMM subscription going for years. recently i've wondered if the quality has been dropping a bit, to the point i ditched renewing the secret stash one this year. who knows, if it may be related to this news...


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

shaun**** said:


> i remember reading this too, i think it might be buried away in the earlier pages of his blog: http://www.hasblog.co.uk


 Trawled through the blog right back to the beginning - 2008. Frustratingly, there's a referenced link in a blog but when you click on it, it's dead. Shame.


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## BlackCatCoffee (Apr 11, 2017)

The Systemic Kid said:


> When I joined the forum, In My Mug was an integral part of it. Steve also, in those early days, contributed to the forum as a member. Buried in the older Hasbean website, Steve told his story how he got into coffee. It's a fascinating tale - I've tried to find it but can't. It's well worth a read. In the early internet days, he started roasting in his garage and selling, or trying to, sell his beans on an open market in Stafford on Saturdays. He was fully employed, at that time, in another job. He recounted his dejection that he didn't get many takers. One Saturday, an old lady who had bought a packet of roasted beans came back to return them, telling Steve she had tried making coffee with them but they didn't dissolve. Steve said he nearly gave up. Fortunately, the internet proved his salvation. He continued to build the business whilst keeping on his day job until, finally, he took the plunge devoting all his time to Hasbean. Like Boots, I was fortunate to attend an open day at Hasbean which was really good fun. Steve's knowledge and enthusiasm was evident in spades. I was also really impressed at his prowess as a taster during a cupping session.
> 
> Steve is irrepressible - I am sure he will pop up somewhere in the near future. He has made a huge contribution to speciality coffee and we caffeine addicts should thank him for it.


 I recall reading that too. I read it when considering taking my roasting from hobby to career and it really did give me a shove to commit!

There is no way Steve wont be involved in the market in some way, it'll be interesting to wait and see.

He will probably have a non compete for a while though so we might have wait to find out.


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

BlackCatCoffee said:


> I recall reading that too. I read it when considering taking my roasting from hobby to career and it really did give me a shove to commit!
> 
> There is no way Steve wont be involved in the market in some way, it'll be interesting to wait and see.
> 
> He will probably have a non compete for a while though so we might have wait to find out.


 I would guess he might go to the scaa in some capacity


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## adz313 (Apr 13, 2016)

https://web.archive.org/web/20120522071429/http://faq.hasbean.co.uk/questions/22/Has+Bean%3A+How+it+all+began+pt+1+of+4

Bit of searching - Seems only Part 1 has been archived.

It's amazing what you can dig up on the internet even after it's been removed from view!


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

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## Coffee by the Casuals (Sep 15, 2020)

Mrboots2u said:


> I would guess he might go to the scaa in some capacity


 I think he railed against them in a different blogpost not too long ago. That's not conclusive, of course, but I don't think he's its biggest fan.


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## Chris_on_caffeine (Jul 21, 2012)

Sorry I'm not up to speed at all here, ... did he previously sell the company? Who does he hand his notice into?


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## Coffee by the Casuals (Sep 15, 2020)

Chris_on_caffeine said:


> Sorry I'm not up to speed at all here, ... did he previously sell the company? Who does he hand his notice into?


 When you're an owner of the company, you're not automatically employed by them. Directors make employment decisions, and so if a part-owner no longer wants to be employed then he resigns to the directors.

I see he is currently registered as a director still. That's also possible. You can be a director for regulatory purposes and have a separate contract with the company for the actual day-to-day work.


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## Stu Beck (May 31, 2020)

Will be interesting to see if Hasbean can maintain their supplier relationships without him? Judging from the website you get the impression most of their coffee is sourced by Steve in person at the farms and direct relationships are a foundation of their business model.

Hope there's more of that Ana Sora in the pipeline this year 🤞


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## 24774 (Mar 8, 2020)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Trawled through the blog right back to the beginning - 2008. Frustratingly, there's a referenced link in a blog but when you click on it, it's dead. Shame.


 https://www.hasbean.co.uk/blogs/articles/6488493-how-has-bean-began

That's an entry with the story you recount in it, is there more?


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## Stu Beck (May 31, 2020)

I remember asking, as a seven or eight year old, for a filter machine for Christmas, and drinking filter coffee when no o­ne else in the house did.

What a wonderful story!


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## Coffee by the Casuals (Sep 15, 2020)

Stu Beck said:


> Will be interesting to see if Hasbean can maintain their supplier relationships without him? Judging from the website you get the impression most of their coffee is sourced by Steve in person at the farms and direct relationships are a foundation of their business model.
> 
> Hope there's more of that Ana Sora in the pipeline this year 🤞


 I think this is the key risk to Hasbean. There's a question of what he can do with the info, skill and connections that he's obtained whilst running the company. He won't necessarily be able to take that away and start using it elsewhere straightaway. I think that will be where his other coffee business interests will help him out - he'll have set a precedent of using that knowledge elsewhere already and it might help him out of an otherwise sticky legal situation.

Or I might be talking nonsense. Employment law is not my strength.


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## steveholt (Jan 6, 2016)

I only log in here about once a week.

This is proper coffee news. I am not sure how Hasbean can be the same without Steve.

It may well be something good and sustainable, but he was the heart and soul and centre of what he built there.

I hope whatever the future holds treats him and those still at Hasbean well.


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## Rhys (Dec 21, 2014)

I used to use them quite a lot before and have had their #SSSSS for the past 3 years. I've dropped it foe this year as I felt what I was getting wasn't worth it. Might be good quality coffee, but wasn't my taste and for a secret very limited subscription there was nothing to me that very special. It did however make me try different coffees that I maybe wouldn't have ordinarily bought. With the exception of the recent LSOL I now prefer to pick and choose my own.


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## Heligan (Aug 24, 2013)

Feels like the end of an era. Has Bean were my first foray into the world of coffee beyond what the supermarkets or Whittards offered and Steve's enthusiasm on the In My Mug weekly videos was infectious.


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

Coffee by the Casuals said:


> I think this is the key risk to Hasbean. There's a question of what he can do with the info, skill and connections that he's obtained whilst running the company. He won't necessarily be able to take that away and start using it elsewhere straightaway. I think that will be where his other coffee business interests will help him out - he'll have set a precedent of using that knowledge elsewhere already and it might help him out of an otherwise sticky legal situation.
> 
> Or I might be talking nonsense. Employment law is not my strength.


 @Coffee by the Casuals I think we might see him pop up at Drop for some funny reason 😉


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## Coffee by the Casuals (Sep 15, 2020)

Dallah said:


> @Coffee by the Casuals I think we might see him pop up at Drop for some funny reason 😉


 Here was me hoping to get him on a free transfer to Walsall!


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## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

So all that ends well, 3fe announced he is going over as green buyer for their Roastery

https://3fe.com/blog/2021/3/4/green-shoots


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## 7877 (Aug 14, 2014)

It's a tough one. For me Steve is Has Bean

I've always loved coffee, had a large stove top ceramic peculator that got me through uni, when I eventually bought a very cheap DeLonghi espresso machine it lasted me about 5 mins before I realised the bad choice I'd made. I kind of stumbled across Steve who was just setting things up at their place near Stafford and as I knew the place, since That is where I'd been at Uni, I popped over and he gave me a quick tour of what they were doing (I seem to recall they'd had a new roaster arrive on that morning that would massively scale things up for them), I left with some rancillio gear and ordered coffee exclusively from Has Bean for a long time. Reading everything about his travels and where the coffee came from was just fantastic and a massive part of the interest for me.

anyway, whatever the reason For this, I wish Steve all the best in his new ventures and that Has Bean's success continues for many years to come. ☕


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## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

It's going to be strange, Hasbean without Steve.

Although, I've noticed over the last few months that the InMyMug coffee have not been up to the standard I've enjoyed in the past. I'm sure the beans are as good as ever, it's been the roast. The roast for certain is getting darker. Even on the web site now there's a filter for how it's roasted - medium, or medium-dark.

Just compared the coffee's I've had recently with the page and yup, all the one's I've really not liked are medium-dark roasts. Ozone influence there?

Looking like my subscription is going to have to end if it keeps going that way. Shame. ☹


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## Grahamg (Oct 24, 2013)

Blog had been mentioned, but did anyone catch the radio 4 programme with him on talking about his coffee journey? would have been a coupe of years back I think. It's much nicer hearing it in those soft Midlands tones!


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