Roaster Spotlight: Farmhand Coffee

Farmhand Coffee Roastery are a small team of professionals based in Ireland who have been sourcing, roasting and serving coffee since 2018.

Their main roaster is called Steely Dan, and is the secret hero behind their work.

You’ll find Farmhand on the menu at some of our favourite Dublin hot spots: including Two Pups Coffee, The Fumbally, and Brother Hubbard North, with reach as far as Waterlilies in Carlow.

If you haven’t yet tried Farmhand, we strongly recommend that you correct this with a visit to one of these exceptional locations. You will not be disappointed.

We first met Farmhand at the Dublin Coffee Festival a few years ago and have been enjoying their coffee and following their story and growth since.

Their micro roastery is situated on the Northside on Capel Street where they roast in small batches, made to order each week.

Curious to learn more about their processes and history, we met with Farmhand’s owner Pete and asked him some questions.

How did you get into roasting coffee?

I worked as a barista on and off for about 10 years before getting into roasting specialty beans. I had visited other European roasters for years, read what was available and did an excessive amount of awful roasts before set on the path I have been following now.

What’s a typical day like as a roaster at Farmhand?

The day starts with tasting coffees brewed as espresso and also with filter methods. We then cup the roast selection from the previous roast day. In between, we roast, package and send out our orders, and it finishes off with chats about beans and farms, and our future projects.

What roaster (machine) do you use, and is there anything about it that suits how you like to work?

We have been mostly working with Giesen equipment. Our main roaster is called Steely Dan. It has excellent build quality, a lot of good steel that we like to keep hot, plus we’ve been able to upgrade her with some nice features and add-ons over the years.

How do you choose who you buy green coffee from?

We have been working with people we either personally know or we have engaged with online previously.

What’s one thing about how specialty coffee is roasted that most coffee drinkers wouldn’t know?

The current opportunity for our generation to access this wide range of excellent beans from all around the coffee belt is unique in our history. Coffee is an agricultural product grown and cared for by everyday people like ourselves, and their location, knowledge and expertise play a vital role in the quality of the processed beans.

It takes years of intense, dedicated work to start growing highly prized specialty lots consistently year on year. It’s by no means an easy journey for these farmers, as risks are high, both on the growing and selling side. It’s a fragile structure that, despite the challenges, is currently offering the opportunity to the curious coffee lover to taste many different varieties of coffee, grown at multiple locations, processed in interesting ways, with great attention by skilful farmers.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve taken from roasting coffee?

It’s inspiring to be a small part of a chain that showcases the maximum potential of an agricultural product by paying careful attention to each step. Dedication, hard work and trust can build strong foundations for human collaborations, while we must be sensitive and careful of how we impact the environment, both as a group and as individuals.

Where do you think specialty coffee is going in the future in Ireland?

I hope it’ll keep being a platform for communities to engage with each other. I feel the Irish specialty coffee scene has provided inspirational fuel to the country’s people, by highlighting an everyday ritual and bringing it to the next level. I believe in the power of the local coffee shop as the catalyst of collaborations between strangers, that has proved helpful many times when going through challenging times.

Follow their story at farmhandcoffee.ie, and you can also visit [roaster: Farmhand — not found] on MapMyBrew.

If you're a roaster or café owner and fancy a chat about being featured, get in touch, we'd love to hear your story.