Over 330 years ago in 1690, Coffee House Lane, adjacent to the then busy trading port of Waterford, boasted what is long believed to be Ireland’s first ever coffee house. Green coffee was traded at the port, then roasted, brewed, and sold at John Aikenhead’s Coffee House on what became Coffee House Lane of Waterford.
Our range is not just inspired by the name, but also by the ethos of coffee roasting and brewing back in 1690. This ethos is the cornerstone of our business – we select only the finest green arabica coffee beans from all over the world and slowly hand roast them, to a medium-dark roast in small batches, in our Toper Roasters here in Waterford. Our smooth and rich flavoured coffee is filled with heritage and know-how…We roast by sense, by watching, listening, smelling and tasting each and every roast, as roasters would have done in 1690.
We launched the business in 2014 to help meet the growing demand for quality coffee in the city. At that stage, myself and my father had been employed in the coffee industry for the best part of 20 years as agents for imported coffee brands. My father’s first job was with then local coffee roasters Chapman’s on The Quay in the early 1960’s, & since they closed in the 1990s there was a serious lack of quality locally produced coffee. So..we decided to do it ourselves, and the rest is history! I must raise a mention to the Supervalu Food Academy, as being listed in Supervalu nationwide after only our first year of business was invaluable. Since then, we have made appearances in the Grow with Aldi programme, along with other Bord Bia Initiatives – again which have been a great help.
We have a total of 11 coffees in our core range, including signature blends & single origins. We offer Wholebean & Freshground varieties, as well as private label opportunities. All our coffees pay tribute to Waterford’s rich history, and celebrate the locality – such as 1690 Blend, Viking City Roast, Copper Coast & more
We want every stage of our coffee to get the best of treatment, which is why we offer full support from machine to bean for our foodservice customers. This includes machine sales & servicing, barista training, consulting & more. Our main competitors in Waterford would be Trá Coffee Roasters, however we have a healthy relationship & prefer to engage in co-operation rather than rivalry. Nationwide competitors would include Velo, Badger & Dodo, Ariosa, & Bell Lane.