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Sydney · Australia

Sample Coffee

Since 2011 · Reuben Mardan

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Overview

Sample Coffee was founded in 2011 by Reuben Mardan as a single-shopfront espresso bar on Devonshire Street in Surry Hills, after he had spent more than a decade roasting and working bar at Mecca and Single O. In 2015 he added the St Peters Pro Shop and roastery — built around a 60-year-old Probat UG-15 — and Sample has been a B Corp since 2019, with Mardan named Good Food Guide Best Barista in 2014.

Known for

  • Founded 2011 by Reuben Mardan as a Surry Hills espresso bar, with the St Peters Pro Shop and roastery added in 2015
  • Roasts on a restored 1958 Probat UG-15
  • B Corp Certified since 2019
  • Reuben Mardan named Best Barista at the 2014 Good Food Guide Awards
  • Australian launch partner for the James Hoffmann × Caravela Coffee Decaf Project

Why it matters

Sample is the small, focused roaster Sydney's specialty scene built around accessibility rather than gatekeeping — Mardan came up under Mecca and Single O at a time when Australian coffee was professionalising fast, and he built Sample as a deliberately calmer, no-nonsense alternative whose B Corp status, transparent producer relationships and brewing-window-by-coffee retail education program make the technical seriousness invisible to the customer.

Production

destoning
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head roaster
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color sorting
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roaster machine
Probat UG-15 (1958, restored)
filter equipment
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cupping frequency
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roastery location
St Peters, Sydney Inner West
espresso equipment
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annual volume tonnes
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Café

Suite 1.03, 75 Mary Street, St Peters NSW 2044 (Pro Shop & Roastery); 118a Devonshire Street, Surry Hills (original espresso bar)

Recognitions

  • B Corp Certified (2019)
  • Reuben Mardan – Good Food Guide Best Barista (2014)

Sources

More roasters