There are many world-famous coffee brands. Some are mainly operated in the form of chain stores, with unified raw materials and unified standards, so the quality of coffee production will be relatively stable; some are operated as independent coffee shops, and these stores will provide different coffee products for customers to choose from. As the coffee atmosphere becomes more and more intense, both chain companies and independent stores have launched their own roasted coffee beans. Here is a list of the most representative coffee brands.
front street coffee Frontsteet Coffee
Origin: China
Established:2013year
As a local coffee brand in Guangzhou, Front Street Coffee was founded in 2013 and is definitely a time-honored brand. It mainly sells its own roasted coffee beans and provides more than 50 categories of fresh coffee, which can be purchased online through Tmall flagship store and Taobao store. For many years, the Front Street Coffee public account has been publishing articles on a daily basis, sharing coffee knowledge ranging from coffee beans, coffee equipment, production to flavor. Many details encountered in making and drinking coffee have been elaborated and discussed by Front Street Coffee.
Since the store opened, Front Street Coffee has still maintained its original intention - to focus on making good coffee. Therefore, the store only provides coffee, paired with a small cookie, and no other desserts, cakes and other food. At the same time, because there are many varieties of coffee beans, from light roast to dark roast, from floral aroma to caramel, from fruit fermentation flavor to mellow and rich taste, from Italian blends to hand-made single products, customers can easily choose their favorite beans here.
The Barn
Origin: Berlin, Germany
established: 2010year
The Barn's philosophy is quite simple: sourcing, roasting and brewing good coffee, and firmly establishing a stable relationship in all aspects of coffee is its attraction. Ralf Ruller's four coffee shops and roasteries are all pursuing this philosophy. The first step is to get good beans, which means they have to be of high quality (The Barn often sources directly from farms and farmers who have won Cups of Excellence) and use sustainable growing methods.
The Barn does not hesitate to pay a high price for high-quality coffee beans, which may sound like a matter of course, but it is actually quite rare in the entire coffee world (the competition between specialty coffee and ordinary coffee market illustrates this). The coffee beans supplied are also "slow roasted", which is to allow the coffee beans to express more of the flavor of their origin through light roasting.
Coffee Superme
Origin:Wellington, New Zealand
established:1993year
As the inheritor of the flame of specialty coffee in New Zealand, Coffee Superme may be one of the most charming coffee companies. It has repeatedly won awards for packaging design, store design, etc., and is very good at displaying its coffee. If you don’t believe it, you can try their coffee.
Coffee Superme has been ahead of most coffee roasters in the world for decades. It has been roasting since the 1990s and supplies coffee from almost all premium production areas and sub-production areas. It has always been at the forefront of coffee sustainability, such as purchasing and selling hybrid varieties like F1, which have rare commercial value but have high industrial energy-saving effects.
Switch Coffee
Origin:Tokyo, Japan
established:2013year
Switch Coffee doesn't belong on this list. It's not a large roaster, consisting of just a single cafe and a Probat roaster, and is led by one person. But the size of Masahiro Onishi's shop belies its advantages.
Onishi learned roasting under Toshiyuki Ishiwata of Market Lane Coffee (another great Australian roastery) and sourcing under Honey Coffee Katsuhide Izaki of another Japanese boutique roaster (he is also a certified Judge of the Merit Cup). René Redzepi signed his own signature in the store to certify its quality. The technology of brewing Switch Coffee only accounts for half of his success, because it is also a small high-end roastery.
Although Japan has many excellent roasters and coffee shops, and we can name more than a hundred, there are only a few coffee shops that can provide such high-level service.
180 Coffee
Origin:Seoul, South Korea
established:2013year
In just a few years, South Korea went from being a nation that primarily drank instant coffee to a nation that craves specialty coffee. In other words, the number of cafes in South Korea has nearly tripled in the past five years alone, making it one of the fastest-growing emerging markets for both specialty and regular coffee.
In a country without much coffee history, 180 Coffee is one of the most respected coffee roasters, and its coffee rivals the best in the world. It is the only Korean roaster to hold two Korean coffee roasting titles (its founder Lee Seung-jin was the first winner) and also has a high profile on the world stage.
Right Side Coffee
Hometown: Castelldefels, Spain
Established: 2012
Spain has a long history of coffee, but it has never been very tasty. Joaquin Parra’s Spanish Coffee Roastery is named after “creativity and passion,” and Right Side Coffee exudes that passion. Parra's father, an importer of green coffee beans, was the Spanish Roasting Championship champion and a regular at the World Coffee Roasting Championship.
While it's nice to receive accolades and win trophies, what really elevates Right Side Coffee is their highly transparent sourcing. Every bag of coffee beans they sell has an "information" label, and when you open it you'll find a short article about the specific farm, origin characteristics and history. Strangely, Right Side Coffee does not have its own cafe, but it has many sales outlets across Spain. If you come here to visit, you can check its sales outlets here or order online.
Gardelli Specialty Coffees
Origin:ItalyForli
established:2010year
If there is a Michael Jordan in the coffee world, it must be Rubens Gardelli. He is praised as the most successful roaster of all time. He has won the World Baking Competition four or five times, the most recent being the Italian Roasting Competition for four consecutive years. He has also inexplicably won multiple coffee brewing and World Brewing Competition trophies in Italy. No roaster's achievements can compare with him.
Gardelli specialty coffees are all lightly roasted, fully respecting the bean itself rather than letting the roasting determine it. Its ever-evolving products, which you can buy online, include Ethiopian Gesha coffee from the Letters, of which Gardelli is the only roaster in Europe.
Solberg & Hansen
Origin:Oslo, Norway
established:1879year
In the world of young people, Solberg & Hansen is definitely considered an old man. Founded 139 years ago, the company was Norway's first coffee roasting company and quite possibly the best.
The company's roasting team is now led by Simo Christidi, a top-five winner at the 2012 World Coffee Roast Championship and multiple Norwegian and Nordic coffee roasting competition champions. Its concept store in Oslo’s Mathallen specialty food court is a showcase for its philosophy, a pure coffee shop dedicated to showcasing the power of coffee’s essence, so you won’t find milk or sweetener here.
Drop Coffee
Origin:Stockholm, Sweden
established:2009year
Joanna Alm and Stephen Leighton's coffee company started out as a small coffee shop that didn't roast its own coffee, and a few years later it became a true leader of Europe's third wave coffee movement, and today it is considered one of the best coffee roasters in the world (only Gardelli Specialty Coffees is more often in the top five at the World Coffee Roasting Championship).
In the past five years, the team’s roaster Alm has been named Sweden’s best coffee roaster four times, and its baristas have won the Swedish Barista Championship multiple times. Although there is only a small cafe, the whole operation feels very welcoming. Browsing Drop's online store feels more like flipping through a family photo album than buying coffee. Co-founder Joanna Alm was also very friendly during the interview. What is pleasant is that Drop Coffee is almost at the top of the coffee world, but there is no trace of old-school coffee power.
Square Mile Coffee Roasters
hometown:London, UK
established:2008year
Square Mile was founded by specialty coffee experts Anette Moldvaer and James Hoffmann, who had one goal: to make London famous for its coffee. With a strict implementation of sustainable practices, multiple awards and titles, and basically a team of British coffee all-stars, Square Mile particularly excels in one area where no one else excels: sourcing specialty coffee beans from promising regions.
exist10For a week at the end of the month, the east London coffee shop features specialty coffee beans from China and Myanmar, two origins that are hard to find in other coffee shops around the world (not even used by the roasters on this list.) The company's coffees can be purchased online, and their products change regularly.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
