Monmouth Coffee Company

Overview

Monmouth was founded in 1978 by Nicholas Saunders and Anita Le Roy in the basement of 27 Monmouth Street in Covent Garden — a Grade II-listed 18th-century terrace where they roasted on a small UNO and then a 1930s Whitmee direct-flame machine for thirty years. Le Roy took over the business and steered it toward single-farm and cooperative sourcing once UK importer Mercanta opened in 1996; alongside Mercanta, Monmouth is widely credited as a foundation of London's third-wave coffee scene, and many of London's leading independent roasters trace their training back to its bar.

Known for

• Pioneer of London single-origin and direct-relationship coffee buying since the 1990s
• Helped regenerate Neal's Yard in the late 1970s and Borough Market in 1999-2001
• Bermondsey roastery in five railway arches at Spa Terminus running Loring smart-roast machines
• Strict no-paper-cup policy: ceramic for stay, reusables for takeaway
• Founder Anita Le Roy is widely cited as the dean of British specialty coffee

Why it matters

The oldest continuously operating specialty roaster in London and a foundational training ground for British third-wave coffee. Without Monmouth, the lineage running from Square Mile to Workshop to Caravan would not look as it does.

Production

destoning

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head roaster

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color sorting

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roaster machine

Loring (multiple)

filter equipment

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cupping frequency

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roastery location

Spa Terminus, Bermondsey, London SE16

espresso equipment

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annual volume tonnes

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Café

27 Monmouth Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9EU; 2 Park Street, Borough Market, London SE1 9AB

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monmouth_Coffee_Company
• https://www.monmouthcoffee.co.uk/our-history
• https://www.thewaytocoffee.com/roasters/monmouth-coffee-company/
• https://freshcup.com/the-once-and-future-coffee-capital/
• https://archello.com/project/monmouth-coffee-company