The Gentlemen Baristas

As we move into 2024 (a year marking ten years of The Gentlemen Baristas!), we wanted to celebrate just a few highlights and achievements from a year filled with milestones, and give thanks to those who have been a part of making this year so fantastic.

The year started off with a bang; we re-launched subscriptions in January, making it easier than ever to guarantee you have a constant supply of our well-mannered coffee at home 🏡We also partnered with .club at the Classic Car Show in February, and our Head of Coffee, Roosa, took a trip to El Salvador in March to visit some past, current and future coffee farmers 🇸🇻

Cut to April and we were ready to open our brand new, state-of-the-art roastery in London’s East End 🎊We had a marvellous time celebrating with a big opening do, and then moved straight into launching our branded airstream at sunny weekends at . May also marked the 5th birthday of our Park Street coffee house, which called for even more festivities with the team and local Borough Market community!☕️🎂

In June, Ilandra from .cocatrel , the collective of female farmers who produce our Deerstalker House coffee, visited our roastery. We also went on to launch our Partnership, as well as coffee partnerships with . 🎩 It was a busy summer for coffee collaborations, and we continued the theme by launching our Hats off For… Pride coffee and hosting a Well-Mannered Latte Art Throwdown Fundraiser alongside . Our Pride campaign raised £2000 for , along with £200 for 🥳🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️

In late summer, our Head of Coffee paid a visit to coffee farmers in Brazil on another Origin Trip 🇧🇷 Whilst here at the roastery we launched our No Waste Coffee!♻️

We celebrated nine years of The Gentlemen Baristas in October, and the milestones continued in November, when we hit a whopping 20,000 batches roasted 🏆

And, to end the year, this month we’ve launched our Winter Exclusive (by ), as well as our Good Cause Christmas Coffee, benefiting and ! 🎄🎁❄️

Here’s to a well-mannered 2024… Happy New Year!!🥳

When it comes to varieties, the Brazilian Pink Bourbon is widely considered to be like the hidden gem of specialty coffee.

Rarer and more challenging to grow than conventional Brazilian varieties (which are usually associated with being nutty and chocolaty), our limited-edition Pink Bourbon coffee is produced by Boram and Stefano Um who work on their family owned Fazenda Um coffee farm, in a region well-known for producing some of the best coffees in Brazil. It’s a showcase and a celebration of the now and next of Brazilian Coffee, and how they are constantly looking to raise the quality bar.

Pink Bourbon coffees are characterised by a vibrant and crisp acidity, with nuanced floral and fruity notes - all of which have been elevated and accentuated by this seasonal crop’s fertile soils, lush climate, meticulous picking and the controlled fermentation process it lovingly goes through.

This Pink Bourbon has been fermented for 48h in anaerobic environment to enhance the fruity flavours in the cup. After the fermentation the coffee is dried in a temperature and humidity controlled dark room for 45 days to preserve all the beautiful flavours this coffee has to offer.

Our Winter Exclusive Pink Bourbon coffee is competition quality, but at a price that’s right for you.

It is a joy to behold - a true cup of excellence.

Check the link in our bio to order!

We’re getting to the last of our Costa Rican Racer from , and it’s been a solid favourite of ours; full bodied with a rich mouthfeel, this Racer truly packs a punch; it’s juicy and crisp like a fruit salad, with tasting notes of tinned peach, marmalade and sherbet lemon, with some chocolatey undertones 😍

We’ll be posting a video this week showing how we brew this coffee with a cafetière, so be sure to order yours ahead of time so you can follow the tutorial! 😎😋

Did you know you can order beans via to pick up directly from our roastery in Stratford?

We’ll even give you a tip; use the code TGBCOFFEE10 for 10% off of ‘pick up’ orders from The Gentlemen Baristas Roastery in the Embargo app - we’ll see you soon 😎

Another beautiful illustration of our Coffee House by - thank you, Katherine! Be sure to check out their other incredible illustrations 💙

The Coffee House (and The Gentlemen Baristas) turned 9 years old yesterday, and to celebrate, we’re offering 20% off coffee in our online store (www.thegentlemenbaristas.com) using the code ‘GBBIRTHDAY’ to say thanks for all the support - grab yourself some AND get free delivery on orders over £15 - we can’t say fairer than that! ☕️

Today’s the day! It’s , but it’s also… our birthday!🥳

The Gentlemen Baristas turns 9 today; specifically our original Coffee House, opened by Ed and Henry in 2014.

It’s seen many transformations over the years, and pictured in this carousel is The Coffee House’s journey from just an idea born by two mad hatters, to opening day on October 1st 2014.

We’ve welcomed some truly wonderful people to our coffee houses, we’ve met and worked with and had the pleasure of training some of the most remarkable baristas, and we can’t thank everybody enough for all the support we’ve received since throwing open our doors and hoping the people of SE1 would like our coffee. Here’s to many more years, and many more coffees! 🎉☕️

To say thank you, we’re offering a 20% discount on all coffee in our online store - apply the code GBBIRTHDAY at checkout and get your hands on some . Offer applies until October 8th! ☕️

www.thegentlemenbaristas.com

Ever wondered how to make the perfect cup of coffee? Or how to get the most out of your state-of-the-art DeLonghi home coffee machine? Even how your local baristas perfect their unbelievably impressive latte art techniques?

Our Brewtorials are friendly and well-mannered guides (tips, hacks and nuggets of information) to upping your brew game, to create the finest, barista-worthy, drips and sips at home.

Each and every one of them is delivered with love from members of The Gentlemen Baristas team, because we are ‘in the know’. You’re welcome.

In this edition, learn how to up your latte art game with a quick introduction to latte art with our Group Barista Trainer, Ernie!

Subscribe to start your home-brewing journey today, with a discount on select De'Longhi machines when you subscribe to our well-mannered coffee: https://www.thegentlemenbaristas.com/pages/the-gentlemen-baristas-x-de-longhi

LATTE ART WITH ERNIE ☕ The Gentlemen Baristas Brewtorials: Helping You Up Your Home Brew Game Ever wondered how to make the perfect cup of coffee? Or how to get the most out of your state-of-the-art home coffee machine? Even how your local baristas pe...

After seven years at The Gentlemen Baristas, the time has come for our beloved ‘babes’, a.k.a Mamma Abdula, to move on to pastures new. We’re sad to announce that today is Abdula’s last day at 11 Park Street, and saying we’re going to miss him is an understatement!🥺❤️

Anybody who has visited our coffee house next to Borough Market will know and love Abdula. Maybe one of the most unique, genuine and downright hilarious people you’ll ever have the pleasure of meeting, Abdula’s passion and talent has always been building community. He’s watched this site and the community around it bloom for five years, and now, it’s time for him to pass on the baton…

The good news is, Abdula is handing 11 Park Street over to a very familiar face; Cecile! 🥳

Cecile has been with The Gentlemen Baristas for four years (one of our longest-standing team members), and has been working over in our original Coffee House at 63 Union Street, just around the corner from Borough Market. She not only makes absolutely delicious coffee, but she’s an utter joy to be in the presence of and has excellent music taste - not to mention her latte art skills, which we’ll let you experience for yourselves!😎☕️

We hope you’ll join us in giving Cecile a big warm welcome to Park Street (and congratulations on taking on her first site as a Manager!), along with bidding a very fond farewell and thank you to Abdula - there’s still a little time to pop by and see him before the end of the day!💙

Kenyan coffee is back on our menu after three years, and it’s tasting better than ever!

Our new Fully Washed Kenyan Boater is from the Karimikui Coffee Factory in Kirinyaga County, Kenya, taking pride in its meticulous processing methods, ensuring that the exceptional quality of the beans is preserved from farm to cup.

It’s jammy, crisp and juicy and perfect for a summery cup - we’re loving brewing it as a filter in our roastery!☕️

Have you tried our new Boater yet? Let us know what you think ☀️😋

Tomorrow is World Chocolate Day, and in honour of this tasty holiday, we want to give a huge shout-out to our chocolate suppliers, , for providing us with quality chocolate for our hot chocolates and mochas. Keep reading to find out get your hands on a free bar of chocolate, too!

Our friends at Islands Chocolate personally manage every step of the journey of their award-winning chocolates, and offer not only high quality artisan chocolate, but also unrivalled ethical assurances: wages seven times over the Fair Trade Pledge, 150 direct employees at source and over 1 million trees planted to date. In an industry full of dirty secrets, where layers and layers of intermediaries is the norm, Islands are unique in being BOTH the farmers and the makers of our chocolate. Managing their supply chain from start to finish means not only do they have perfect traceability, but directly supporting the livelihood of over 150 Vincentians.

When the dark or milk buttons are melted down and combined with milk, they form a creamy, velvety smooth hot or iced chocolate, with unique, fruity Caribbean flavours. Not too rich, not too sweet, just right.

If good chocolate wasn’t enough, tomorrow, July 7th, when you buy a Mocha, Hot Chocolate or Iced Chocolate/Mocha at participating Gentlemen Baristas sites, you’ll get an Islands Chocolate bar for FREE to celebrate World Chocolate Day*

P.S.: Be sure to look out for the link to Islands Chocolate Spotify playlists included on the back of the packs, too - that’s maybe our favourite hidden easter-egg, we’re often playing them in our coffee houses!

*whilst stocks last, offer is available exclusively at our Holborn, Hammersmith, Piccadilly & Union St, Borough coffee houses on July 7th

We are extremely sad to announce that we’ve now closed the doors to our beloved coffee house. The space is about to undergo extensive and transformative building works, so regrettably we’re moving out. We want to say a big thank you to all the folk who made our days brighter at Jerwood Space - friends, family, colleagues and customers.

In the words of Tom Petty: “I won’t say goodbye, my friend, for you and I will meet again ” … probably just down the road at 63 Union Street - our original coffee house! We look forward to welcoming you there with open arms!

Thanks to everybody in SE1 for the support over the years! ❤️

We’ve always believed that being well-mannered means being friendly and welcoming to each and every one of our customers, respectful to our suppliers, and generous to our neighbours regardless of creed, colour, sexuality or gender identity. It means always thinking about others and putting them at ease.

As we’ve mentioned before, it’s definitely not a gender thing, it’s a behaviour thing.

We firmly believe that promoting diversity and fostering inclusion helps to push The Gentlemen Baristas forward. For us, who you love or how you identify should never be an issue. Whether you’re at one of our coffee houses, at your place of work or walking down the street, we wholeheartedly believe every LGBTQ+ person deserves to be safe and to feel safe.

This Pride Month, we want to celebrate our friends and loyal customers who are part of the LGBTQ+ community - acknowledging the challenges they face in the fight for equality - in the way we know best, by launching a limited-edition Pride coffee.

In fact, we’re fundraising for by donating £2 from every bag of our Hats Off For...PRIDE coffee sold (and 50p of all filter coffee sold in our coffee houses) until July 31st.

Head to the link in our bio to buy & find out more.

Some things were just made to go together. Peanut butter and jam. Milk and cookies. Love and marriage. Rock and roll. Spaghetti and meatballs. Chips and ketchup. Perfect pairings. Delicious duos.

Here at The Gentlemen Baristas, we believe the coffee machine you use should be just as awesome as the coffee you put in it. We know our coffee is incredible, but coupled up with a state of the art, domestic coffee machine, we are unbeatable.

Which is why everyone here at The Gentlemen Baristas is supremely proud to be partnering with - the world's leading maker of fabulous, domestic coffee machines - to offer you lovely people £100 off selected coffee machines* when you take out a 12-month home coffee subscription with us.

*T&Cs apply. Read more at the link in our bio.

The 2023 SCA U.K. Coffee Roasters Championship takes place this week, and we’re excited to see one of our roastery’s own Good Eggs competing: Senior Roaster Alexandru-Catalin Marin ()!

Taking place at Pharmacie Coffee Roasters (11 Cliffe Industrial Estate, Lewes, BN8 6JL) from June 7th - 9th, the 2023 U.K. Coffee Roasters Championship will decide the U.K. Coffee Roasters Champion, who will then go on to represent the U.K. at the World Coffee Roasting Championship in Tapei, Taiwan, in November this year.

As much as we love having Alex around at the roastery every day, we’re excited for him to get out and compete, and we’re crossing all our fingers and toes for him this week.

We caught up with him at our new state-of-the-art roastery in Stratford to find out more about his journey in roasting so far, and how he’s preparing for this competition. Check the link in our bio to read, and join us in wishing Alex luck this week - we're rooting for him!

Here at The Gentlemen Baristas, we like to think we know a thing or two about hats. Our first coffee house in London’s Southwark was the historical home of hat making. The bowler hat was originally designed there in 1849 by Bowler & Bowler. Across the road was a top hat maker. So, naturally it’s where the idea of naming our coffees after hats was born.

So, it seems fitting that we have teamed up with - the trailblazing Godfather of British hat making - to craft a limited-edition specialty Tophat coffee.

Available throughout June. Shop online or in our coffee houses.

One of the little gems in The Gentlemen Baristas crown, our rather wonderful Park Street coffee house is celebrating its fifth birthday today. Formerly the 'Little Dorrit' café and -before that - the Borough Café, there’s been some sort of café on this site since 1831. The site has even appeared in Howards End, a 1992 period romantic drama film, and Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. A welcome diversion from the hustle and bustle of - a vibrant community, well known for its relationship with best-in-class food and drink - Park Street wants to thank each and every one of the lovely people who has popped in for some Well-Mannered over the last demi-decade. We couldn’t have done it without you.

We caught up with another of Park Street’s gems, GM Abdula, about his time at the site - having opened the site and worked through all manner of catastrophes and celebrations; from the London Bombings to Covid, from Jubilees to Street parties and many a laugh had on our quant little corner of SE1.

Head to the link in our bio to read our full interview with him, but we’ll leave you with a soul-stirring quote:

“Obviously you need a fantastic product in a coffee house, but most important is to create a sense of homeliness; people should be walking into a place that you feel at ease in, you feel welcome in, and the customers and team can both enjoy themselves and have fun. It’s all about great music, great coffee and a sense of love. I wanted to run a place where people leave feeling happier than when they came in. I knew when I started five years ago that I wanted to stay here, nurture the community and watch it grow.”

Be sure to pop by to celebrate - the first 40 visitors today will get free cake with their order!🥳😋

Nothing marks the onset of summer than outdoor festivals, eating and drinking al fresco and park living. For us here at the Gentlemen Baristas, it really is our favourite time of year. Which is why we are stoked to tell you that we’re taking our award-winning coffee house experience and knowledge to the UK’s ultimate celebration of food and music, feasting and partying: this summer.

We kicked off this weekend in Wimbledon, and it's a busy summer ahead! We'll be at every event, so be sure to visit the link in our bio for more information on tickets & dates. We'll be treating visitors to our exceptional coffee and top-notch service - by our lovely, highly-trained professional baristas - from our custom designed Airstream coffee bar. We’ll be serving up our full range of hot drinks and cold brews on what will hopefully be hot summer days. Coffee bags and discounts on our home subscription service will also be available to purchase.

The biggest food and music festival tour in the UK, Pub In The Park is the brainchild of , with each festival celebrating everything there is to love about the glorious British pub; delicious food, award-winning chefs, epic live music, great drinks but above all else a fantastic time with friends and family.

We can’t wait. See you in a park near you soon!

Thanks to for this beautiful gift left at our Borough coffee house! We absolutely love it, and hope you had a wonderful time celebrating your birthday! 🥰🎂

We don’t mind saying, we were absolutely overwhelmed with the incredible turnout on Wednesday night as we flung open the doors of our brand-spanking new roastery - in London’s Maryland.

We can barely express our collective appreciation to you - our dear friends, family, colleagues, partners and customers - for helping us celebrate this momentous event, which we believe marks the beginning of a new era for everyone here at the Gentlemen Baristas. If you enjoyed the shindig anything as much as we did, then a stupendously good time was had by all.

Whether you were supping delectable cocktails; indulging in the delightfully palatable food, bakes and cakes; dancing the night away; partaking in the ever so competitive coffee sack race or just getting the lowdown on the roastery and our SCA standard training school, the shindig just wouldn’t have been the same without you. And we doff our hats to each and every one of you lovely people.

We would also like to express our deep gratitude to the wonderful folk at Leytonstone Tavern (), Mermaid Gin () for keeping our bar stocked, and to Tom Byrne () for being the best bartender ever, to Bryan & the team at Minor Figures () for your support, to Hackney Gelato () and Longboys () for some lovely sweet treats, and to Ally & Pattn ( / ) for some particularly excellent DJing on the night. We couldn’t have done it without you all.

We’re on a mission to create extraordinary coffee experiences - ones that serve, reflect, inspire, and improve the lives of our partners, one cup at a time. We believe that in order to achieve our mission we have to build a team around us just as passionate and dynamic as our founders, Henry Ayers and Edward Parkes. The Gentlemen Baristas is only as good as its people.

Embodying the Gentlemen Baristas' spirit and ethos in spades, we are tremendously delighted to give you the lowdown on three upstanding folk who have come aboard our ever-expanding wholesale team, joining , , and our Group Trainer, .jr_.

Driven to propel us and our partners (because success is greatest when shared) to the next level by delivering exceptional customer service and coffee excellence, .daws joins us our Head of Wholesale , with and as Regional Wholesale Managers. And we’re as pleased as Punch to have them.

On International Women’s Day, the GBs would like to salute all the women who have helped us raise the coffee bar and paved the way for a better future in our beloved industry. We believe that creating well-mannered coffee means being friendly to our customers, respectful to everyone who crosses our threshold and generous to our neighbours. It means being upstanding - behind the counter and in the community, embracing everyone as equals. It means always thinking about others and putting them at ease.

It’s definitely not a gender thing, it’s a behaviour thing.

So, on International Women’s Day let’s celebrate women’s achievements and contributions to our business and the wider coffee community together. This is about raising awareness about discrimination. And taking action to drive gender parity.

IWD belongs to everyone, everywhere. International Women's Day is powered by the collective efforts of all. Collectively we can (and should) all . Get behind it, it matters. A lot.

If you visit one of our coffee houses today, be sure to look for hidden Good Egg cards!

These are redeemable for a free coffee, and we’ve hidden over 100 of them across our coffee houses today to celebrate Day! 🎉

Here are some hints to get you started - be sure to tag us if you find one, and tell us about your Random Act of Kindness today! 💙

We fancy our Marble Arch coffee house something of a hidden gem. Located just around the corner from Marble Arch station, just off of Bryanston Street, it’s a must-see - the perfect spot to slow down with a pour-over brew made with our fun and fruity Propeller roast.

What’s more, if you fancy a break from the hustle-and-bustle of Oxford Street and Hyde Park, we’ve set up a corner for board games to make you feel right at home in our newest coffee house.

The GBs have been satisfying the most discerning coffee lovers' palates since 2014. Our London-based Roastery pays attention to every bean roasted, so you can be sure our coffee is exceedingly well-mannered.

Whether our coffee comes to you from our coffee houses, from one of our partners, or if you’re brewing our coffee at home, we’re on a mission to create extraordinary coffee experiences, one cup at a time. ☕️

What’s with all the hats, you say?

The Bowler hat is said to have been designed in 1849 by the London hat-makers Bowler & Bowler, which was just around the corner from our original Union St. Coffee House in Borough. When we opened our doors in 2014, we were just across the road from a tophat-maker, an echo of the historic trade on this street!

So, naturally, the idea of naming our coffees after hats was born. Like the hats that inspired us, each and every one of our coffees has its own distinct character too. And hat’s the way we like it.

Baristas are blessed to be in one of the most social jobs going. Our coffee houses see hundreds of wonderful people through the doors each day, and with them come hundreds of stories.

You may not have noticed this lovely letter just by the door to Coffee House. It’s from the wonderful Patrick, a regular since 2014 - back when our original Coffee House in Borough had just opened its doors. It’s framed because we think it shows exactly what makes what we do so special.

We can rave about coffee all day long (and believe us, we do), but above all else, it’s the baristas and the atmosphere created by you that truly make a coffee house shine. ☕️💙