# Redemption roasters



## christos_geo (Feb 9, 2016)

Just met Ted, a really enthusiastic and knowledgeable coffee lover who is just about to open up his new coffee shop literally outside my work. He is part of Redemption roasters, who offer young offenders the chance to do something useful, in this case, roast some beans! Hence the "raising the bar" motto.

He was setting up shop today and opening tomorrow, so he let me play on his brand new Slayer! What an absolutely beauty of a machine!

If you are in the area (Russell Square) come check them out and give me a shout and I'll come grab one with you







Unlike all the other specialty coffee shops around (espresso rooms, continental, knock box) they will also be offering v60 and aeropress. I'll let you know what they are like after I try then out tomorrow.

Think this is their Instagram page, never used it so not sure if this is the format @redemptionroasters


----------



## kennyboy993 (Jan 23, 2017)

Outstanding - love it. Will be in there next time I'm in the smoke, probably next couple of weeks.


----------



## christos_geo (Feb 9, 2016)

So an update, place is great, people even nicer. Had a long chat with Harry, head roaster, part owner and also coffee forum member! He talked me though the concept and the hurdles they had to go through to get the roaster set up in the prison without network access which meant having to swap equipment and use a petroncini which has on-board roast profiling. Really interestingly how they train young offenders to professional level so they a stand a second chance in life.

Anyhow, had their Aylesbury blend as espresso which was rich add chocolatey and got myself 1kg of the 1847 (Brazil + Tanzania) and Harry threw in some Rwandan peaberry !

Also check that Sanremo grinder out! Something in between on demand and doser when on fast mode with 0.5g accuracy. Works by repeat single dose loading of the chamber.


----------



## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

Fantastic! I really like their packaging design too


----------



## adz313 (Apr 13, 2016)

@christos_geo - nice update.

Do you know what Harry's forum name is? I'd like to ask him about those prints behind the bar!

Have you tried the Rwandan yet? Thoughts?


----------



## christos_geo (Feb 9, 2016)

adz313 said:


> @christos_geo - nice update.
> 
> Do you know what Harry's forum name is? I'd like to ask him about those prints behind the bar!
> 
> Have you tried the Rwandan yet? Thoughts?


I don't actually know but hopefully he'll find the thread and get back to you otherwise will ask him next time I pop in.

Those prints are indeed pretty good!

Might try Rwandan on v60 this evening, got backlog of beans... Put the 1847 in the hopper this morning for espresso though and was ok but needs dialing in.


----------



## christos_geo (Feb 9, 2016)

adz313 said:


> @christos_geo - nice update.
> 
> Do you know what Harry's forum name is? I'd like to ask him about those prints behind the bar!
> 
> Have you tried the Rwandan yet? Thoughts?


Actually there you go. Local chap turns out.


----------



## Redemption (Jul 7, 2017)

christos_geo said:


> So an update, place is great, people even nicer. Had a long chat with Harry, head roaster, part owner and also coffee forum member! He talked me though the concept and the hurdles they had to go through to get the roaster set up in the prison without network access which meant having to swap equipment and use a petroncini which has on-board roast profiling. Really interestingly how they train young offenders to professional level so they a stand a second chance in life.
> 
> Anyhow, had their Aylesbury blend as espresso which was rich add chocolatey and got myself 1kg of the 1847 (Brazil + Tanzania) and Harry threw in some Rwandan peaberry !
> 
> Also check that Sanremo grinder out! Something in between on demand and doser when on fast mode with 0.5g accuracy. Works by repeat single dose loading of the chamber.


Heya, Harry here! I've decided to make a new account as I feel this will probably end up inadvertently advertising the redemption project. If mods read this I promise on my slayer I'll be paying for an advertising tag. Just trying to work out what to put on the banner.

Just wanted to say a mega thank you for coming in and I was actually really chuffed to see a fellow coffee forum member in here. You guys are always welcome to our events and to chat coffee, or to play on the Slayer.

We're actually having a Latte Art night on Thursday 13th, 19:00. Anyone here is welcome to attend! Completely free and just going to be using the Latte Art dice knockout rounds.



adz313 said:


> @christos_geo - nice update.
> 
> Do you know what Harry's forum name is? I'd like to ask him about those prints behind the bar!


Just to get back to you on this, we sell them in the shop but the artist details above also does commissions for custom buildings. So many years ago I asked him to do one for my shop and it sort of took off from there. We're hoping to swap the paintings to various shops who stock our coffee as a thank you present for stocking our coffee for a few years.


----------



## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Harry is true to his word - welcome aboard Redemption


----------



## christos_geo (Feb 9, 2016)

Refreshing sense of humour from @Redemption and cunning reverse psychology at play here!

I like it.


----------



## Obnic (Jan 14, 2014)

What a great and meaningful business.


----------



## Redemption (Jul 7, 2017)

christos_geo said:


> Refreshing sense of humour from @Redemption and cunning reverse psychology at play here!
> 
> I like it.


Glad you like it! As I think I mentioned to you we were a bit down when our first week, after spending all our savings and decking the place out, we got a flurry of really odd bad reviews that we're pretty sure were from another nearby business. Things like 'wow so much worse than x place round the corner!' 3 or 4 times was a bit suspicious. Some of the other clues were that our milk deliveries were getting slashed (as in, someone in a hoody was coming at 4am when they were delivered and slashing them open with a knife so we couldn't use them) and our shop of course got broken into (not smart with a police station 10 seconds away).

The reviews actually got removed so we're hoping that means we can keep building that good reputation that's so important to what we're doing! I've usually not let bad reviews get me down but with the unique nature of this we really can't afford any.



Obnic said:


> What a great and meaningful business.


Kind of you to say so!

If anyone is interested in our goings on, we've had our first release from the roastery who has been working at our shop. We've also got another of the trainees at the roastery moving on to the final stage of their training, where they develop their own single origin product from a series of knockout cupping rounds. The last time we had this was the Mahango Ugandan single origin which has gone down really well. It's a really crucial final stage of the training, as we invite their family in to see them at the roastery and they can send their roasted beans out to them for christmas / birthdays, really hammering home that your family can be proud of you for your work. For many of them it's the first time they can potentially talk about their work with family at all, and invites the family to encourage them when they are eventually released to stick with it rather than falling back to other sources of income.

It also means we get to cup absolutely loads, which is my favourite job. We had some Panama Geisha on the table and I was really curious to see if the guys, with their trained pallets but lack of awareness for the #Geisha Hype would like it. Turns out it was popular but it didn't win the table against a Kenyan AB, SL28! Quite a relief as the Geisha comes in at £50+ p/kg green


----------



## Glenn (Jun 14, 2008)

Great update. Sad that you have to overcome adversity helping others overcome adversity


----------



## Redemption (Jul 7, 2017)

Glenn said:


> Great update. Sad that you have to overcome adversity helping others overcome adversity


When you put it like that it's rather poetic..


----------



## Obnic (Jan 14, 2014)

@Redemption should you decide to use it as such, this is a very newsworthy story. Could get you some powerful local publicity.

Could involve a couple of interesting figures too eg chief of police, a local sponsoring business, your local MP, Glenn etc.

Not for one second decrying the seriousness of what you are suffering, but sometimes a tribulation can be an asset.


----------



## Redemption (Jul 7, 2017)

Obnic said:


> @Redemption should you decide to use it as such, this is a very newsworthy story. Could get you some powerful local publicity.
> 
> Could involve a couple of interesting figures too eg chief of police, a local sponsoring business, your local MP, Glenn etc.
> 
> Not for one second decrying the seriousness of what you are suffering, but sometimes a tribulation can be an asset.


You're completely right! It's been a steep learning curve for us that everything news related about us has to go through the press office, for good reason, which slows things down massively. We had some features lined up in Sprudge and Caffeine that once press office were required slowed things down by months and potentially years.





. Sorry for the low quality video, thought we had uploaded a better one by now. We don't want to get too political but it was pretty cool to get an endorsement from the highest office in the prison system.

We've got some interesting stuff coming up for December, so hopefully we will get some news about us in the coming months.


----------



## Obnic (Jan 14, 2014)

Wow! Of course, much more complicated than i was thinking. Your one step away from politicians. Sounds like you're an old hand at this. I find myself wishing i had something useful to contribute. I am properly impressed by what you're doing. J


----------



## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

I have to wade in here and say that I guested Redemption at Fed (Rwanda Nyarusiza) for a month and it was an absolute pleasure dealing with them from start to finish. The coffee was incredibly well recieved by all and has been a highlight of the year for me.


----------



## GingerBen (Sep 7, 2017)

Another roaster to add to my 'must try' list. What a fantastic business and opportunity for these young people. Hope it's a huge success


----------



## Ted_Kent (Nov 25, 2017)

Slightly old post but worthy of the bump back up to the top.

I had the pleasure of trying some of your coffee just before christmas, i believe Nyarusiza. It had found its way down to a new deli on the Romney Marsh in Kent and the owners were keen to share it with me. I was very impressed and promptly sent a message on Facebook to pass on my regards. Thought i would give you a thumbs up on here as i was flicking through the pages and found this post.

Im hoping to try the Mahango soon, i have a trip up to london very soon so i will make the time to come in and visit.

I'll send an email to check stock etc.


----------



## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

Ted_Kent said:


> Slightly old post but worth of the bump back up to the top.


Thank you for bumping this thread, without the bump I would probably missed a very interesting and uplifting thread.


----------



## jaffro (Oct 6, 2015)

Batian said:


> Thank you for bumping this thread, without the bump I would probably missed a very interesting and uplifting thread.


Same here, I'll definitely be visiting!


----------



## Redemption (Jul 7, 2017)

jaffro said:


> Same here, I'll definitely be visiting!


We've got the shop in Lamb's Conduit Street which you're all of course welcome to visit and give me a critical review of the coffee! Visiting the roastery is trickier due to it being in a prison but we have heavy features in Caffeine this month with some great photos of the roastery.



Batian said:


> Thank you for bumping this thread, without the bump I would probably missed a very interesting and uplifting thread.


Thanks for the kind words, love the user name. Discovered Batian only recently and already stocked the roastery up with some.



Ted_Kent said:


> Slightly old post but worthy of the bump back up to the top.
> 
> I had the pleasure of trying some of your coffee just before christmas, i believe Nyarusiza. It had found its way down to a new deli on the Romney Marsh in Kent and the owners were keen to share it with me. I was very impressed and promptly sent a message on Facebook to pass on my regards. Thought i would give you a thumbs up on here as i was flicking through the pages and found this post.
> 
> ...


Thanks for saying so, the Nyarusiza was my favourite coffee last year and stock just about finished over the christmas period. Mahango is great as a filter or an espresso, but have to go quite low ratios for both I find. I've roasted some today so if you do visit this week or next ask if there's any fresh roasted as the stuff on the shelves is from the last week of December, fresh stock held until it's had time to breathe.

The big news for us is the moment is finally getting some press attention! We're in the Financial Times and more importantly to me Caffeine Mag!


----------



## Asgross (Jun 14, 2015)

I had a takeaway double espresso from here on Wednesday

Its was excellent

Highly recommended


----------



## Ted_Kent (Nov 25, 2017)

Redemption said:


> Thanks for saying so, the Nyarusiza was my favourite coffee last year and stock just about finished over the christmas period. Mahango is great as a filter or an espresso, but have to go quite low ratios for both I find. I've roasted some today so if you do visit this week or next ask if there's any fresh roasted as the stuff on the shelves is from the last week of December, fresh stock held until it's had time to breathe.


The guy who owns the deli was really looking forward to me going in and trying it, we had an espresso each and were not disappointed.

I may have to come in to the city Tuesday or Wednesday (9th or 10th) i'll drop an email over in the next few days when i know.


----------



## Jon (Dec 3, 2010)

Ted_Kent said:


> Slightly old post but worthy of the bump back up to the top.
> 
> I had the pleasure of trying some of your coffee just before christmas, i believe Nyarusiza. It had found its way down to a new deli on the Romney Marsh in Kent and the owners were keen to share it with me. I was very impressed and promptly sent a message on Facebook to pass on my regards. Thought i would give you a thumbs up on here as i was flicking through the pages and found this post.
> 
> ...


It's also in a Faversham deli/farm shop! Such a pleasant surprise!


----------



## Grimley (Jan 18, 2015)

Jon said:


> It's also in a Faversham deli/farm shop! Such a pleasant surprise!


That's not Macknade by any chance is it? If it is I'll pop in there later in the year.


----------



## Ted_Kent (Nov 25, 2017)

Grimley said:


> That's not Macknade by any chance is it? If it is I'll pop in there later in the year.


On the Facebook page they mention stocking it, but it did say on 31st December that they were opening the last of their guest blend so they may not have any now.


----------



## Batian (Oct 23, 2017)

Redemption said:


> Thanks for the kind words, love the user name. Discovered Batian only recently and already stocked the roastery up with some.


Out of interest, where did you get the Batian from? Is it Batian only or a mix? Do you know anything about its Kenyan origins ie factory/farm/region etc?

And FYO:

Batian was the name of a famous Maasai laibon. The highest peak of Mt Kenya is named after him. The two lower peaks are named after other laibons. Nelion and Lenana.

Mt Kenya is in an area of Kenya that was selected to trial the new Batian strain as the farmers from Meru and its surrounds are renowned experts and the soil and climate (over a very large area) is arguably the best in Kenya.

I spent my teenage years there, so my opinion is slightly (only ever so slightly) loaded in favour!

I have yet to try any pure Batian, but matters are in hand---I hope !


----------



## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

What a great concept, hopefully you'll succeed in turning some young people's lives around. I'll definitely come in for a coffee when I'm back in London in a few weeks.


----------



## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

I'm in London on Tuesday, I'll try to drop in. Bit out of my normal caffeniating area, but hell, the underground exists. Need to grab some coffee to send to my Third Wave Wichteln.... and some for me too.


----------



## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

Thanks for my beans today, @Redemption (I have just emailed you with a query)


----------



## Redemption (Jul 7, 2017)

MildredM said:


> Thanks for my beans today, @Redemption (I have just emailed you with a query)


Thanks for the email, just responding to it now. You must have in your hands there one of the last ever Nyarusiza peaberry. Hope you enjoy it, might need to be a 1:10 ratio for filter to bring out the ginger notes.

Bit of a fun update; we were on ITV News recently!


----------



## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

Redemption said:


> Thanks for the email, just responding to it now. You must have in your hands there one of the last ever Nyarusiza peaberry. Hope you enjoy it, might need to be a 1:10 ratio for filter to bring out the ginger notes.


Thanks! Ahh I didn't realise it wasn't suitable for espresso . . .


----------



## Redemption (Jul 7, 2017)

MildredM said:


> Thanks! Ahh I didn't realise it wasn't suitable for espresso . . .


Believe the team have got you covered and are sending out the 1847 Espresso blend complimentary.

Perks of coffee forum membership.


----------



## MildredM (Feb 13, 2017)

Redemption said:


> Believe the team have got you covered and are sending out the 1847 Espresso blend complimentary.
> 
> Perks of coffee forum membership.


Yes Thanks







everyone has been really helpful!


----------



## Ted_Kent (Nov 25, 2017)

Enjoyed my visit to the shop on Wednesday, not cracked into any of the coffee i came away with yet but will in the next few days.

My mate Matt really enjoyed his latte, he is a costa lover and over the day we visited you, ozone and caravan so i have opened his eyes a bit i think.

Lovely shop with a great staff, really enthusiastic and chatty (something that i find is becoming less common in many retail outlets, be it food or products.

Well worth a visit if you are in London.

I am hoping to get to the London Coffee festival in April so if you are there i will come say hi, if not i shall come to the shop again.


----------



## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

Enjoyed my all too brief visit last tuesday. V60 of the Rwandan Nyarusiza went down very well on a damp, drizzly day.

Will really have to drop in again and try a few more things.


----------



## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

There's a write up in the Christmas edition of Caffeine mag about these guys. What a great idea to use coffee to inject some positive purpose into people's lives when they need it.


----------



## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

@Redemption I'm coming to check out the coffee shop tomorrow, looking forward to it!


----------



## Nopapercup (Nov 6, 2016)

Great coffee shop, I had 2 espressos, I'm not usually a massive fan of blends but I really enjoyed the 1897 they where serving and both where really well extracted. The coffee shop has a really nice atmosphere and the staff where super friendly.


----------



## Redemption (Jul 7, 2017)

Nopapercup said:


> Great coffee shop, I had 2 espressos, I'm not usually a massive fan of blends but I really enjoyed the 1897 they where serving and both where really well extracted. The coffee shop has a really nice atmosphere and the staff where super friendly.


Really glad you had a nice time! I'll pass on your kind words to the team.


----------

