People
Ffion and Marc opened Grindhouse in 2016 with a second-hand roaster and a borrowed espresso machine. Amara joined three years later and now trains everyone who makes a coffee here, or anywhere we supply. Eight more on the counter and the oven.
Head roaster and co-owner
Ffion learned to roast in Melbourne and came home to open Grindhouse with Marc in 2016. She buys the green coffee, roasts every Tuesday, cups every batch, and has visited both of the farms we buy from directly. The house blend profile is hers and has not changed since the first week.
Co-owner. The café, the accounts, the van
Marc ran a café in Bristol for eight years before this one. He runs the counter most mornings, looks after the thirty-eight wholesale accounts, drives the Thursday round and decided the wholesale prices should be on the website, against advice.
Head barista and trainer
Amara joined in 2019 and runs the bar: she dials in the espresso each morning, trains every new barista here and at the wholesale accounts, and teaches the home brewing and home espresso courses with Owen. Her rosetta is the one on the sign.
How we work
Roast date on every bag, never a best-before. We rest espresso for seven days and filter for four, and we will not sell you a bag that is older than a month.
Because the first coffee of the day is the one that matters. Batch filter is on by 7:30 and the oven has done the buns by eight.
A flat white is £3.40 with any milk. A 250g bag of the house espresso is £9.50. Wholesale prices are on the website, which most roasters would rather you did not see.
All welcome. Water bowls by the door, plugs at the back wall, high chairs, and a corner that is quiet before ten. Laptops are asked to move on when it is full at the weekend.
Open from half seven on weekdays, roasting in the window on Tuesdays, cupping on Saturdays at ten. Beans by the bag in the café or on a fortnightly subscription; wholesale from £24 a kilo with the price list online.