I love how you take care of employees musculoskeletal health by minimising manual handling. This is beyond regulatory compliance. It takes an employer who really cares and is committed to ensuring a safe and healthy working environment. I love the sight of the processes and the equipment. I love how clean and organised things are there. It's so good to be doing what you feel passionate about. Love, love, love.
@ConfusedOilPainter the thing is, it's 60 to 65 kg, if it were up to 20, then maybe it would be healthy. 60 and bad form would be asking to pull a muscle or more
@ConfusedOilPainter so like, people can both have aid lifting exceedingly heavy objects (we're talking lifting 100s of pounds multiple times a day) and have muscle. How you might ask? (With your tiny and feeble mind that is so so sorely underdeveloped, unlike your muscles I'm sure!) Working out and active hobbies! Most people have lives outside of work. Many people play football, the other football, basketball, baseball, do skiing, do snowboarding, go snowshoeing, play tennis (squash or pickle ball!) People have so many hobbies that would get them active! Some people like to work out too, doing it for pleasure. Bold of you to assume coffee and working out can't be two interests one holds. Beyond that, you're just wrong! A lot of intense manual labour has been proven to cause long term joint pain (as well as excessive jogging **on hard surfaces**) and ask any old fisherman or manual labour worker, they all have bad backs. A good example is my dad. He wears a brace now or he throws out his back. I hope this helped you be educated on a topic you spoke so valiantly on, but I'm worried, seeing as you seem to be more concerned with being strong enough to hurt others into submission, instead of understanding how to think critically. Nevertheless, I hope your muscles make your day better every day. I'll stick to understanding what I'm talking about personally.
@ConfusedOilPainter It's not about removing all manual labor, it's about removing repeated heavily repeated movements to reduce strain injury. It makes the job safer and reduces work related injuries.
BurgundyandBlue1111 Scale makes your adrenaline pump up? The bigger the better? is that good better? Good that you can't smell it in HDR 1000 levels here! TH-cam, not that good jet...
At first I thought the "building within a building" was excessive, but as a corporate employee who occasionally visits manufacturing plants I recall seeing far too much office space that feels like a drab and noisy afterthought. Now that I see how it all works and feels, I'm totally sold :) plus you can pretty much dissassemble and take your office with you if you ever need to move into a different warehouse space.
I remember when I worked for Farm Collective on Poyser street prior to opening a branch and we'd come along to you guys for coffee in exchange for food and I remember you training me to make coffee. Glad to see you've still got that probat roaster running in your new space!
Congratulations Sir. It seems that the design choices for your videos can be seen evidently throughout the space depicted in the video. Its obvious that your personality goes into making your videos and indeed has gone into the new building. A motif of cleanliness, tidiness and minimalism and efficiency. I hope/am sure this space, with all those fancy machines will bring square mile the success you all deserve. All the best for 2020
It must be so proudful standing on that balcony and watch the work flow of what you've created from the scratch, brick to brick. You inspire me a lot James, you're awesome. I love you
I have a sister who's an accountant. She got a job at a roastery, maybe a little bigger than Square Mile, and of course did inventory and stock audits. Little did she know when she got her degree that she would one day become quite literally a bean counter.
Love all the details. Especially, from a personal standpoint, the small things like good logistics for lifting. Reduced impact on employees. Something I wish previous places I have worked had, because at only 35 I'm feeling the lifelong affect of terrible work practices from bosses/supervisors that didn't care, that pushed and pushed instead of allowing us to work smarter rather than harder. Much respect!
Sounds about right. I did stovetop for a while after I visited a coffee shop that had 5 lb bags of green beans and I figured I wanted to dabble. Then I got a popcorn popper and used that for a long time. And now my Behmor is my most used appliance in my house. And more than once I've debated looking at something that has closer to a 3-5 lb capacity. It is a fun hobby. And probably the only one that has ever me money. The place I used to get my beans used to be about $40-45 for 3 lbs counting shipping (local places could be even more and I liked the guys that owned that shop that I ordered from). Average order from Sweet Marias for me is $110-130 for 20 lbs. Say I lose 25% to weight and call it $120/order. So $120/15 lbs or about $8/lb for roasted coffee. Plus it makes a decent gift for friends and family that appreciate it. My wife is talented when it comes to make things like quilts so I was never able to do something "hand made" like that before. I've even had a few friends order beans from me from time to time (which is why I keep debating the larger capacity roaster). If you love in the States, Sweet Maria's has a popcorn popper that is $20 and comes with 4 lbs of assorted unroasted beans. Great way to get started. I've gotten a few friends in to home roasting that way. One I think eventually got her and her boyfriend a FreshRoast. I only have the Behmor due to liking drum setup and the 1 lb (results in about 390-420g roasted weight) capacity. Not always a huge fan of how much they charge for upgrades (the recent update that costs about $100 to add a bit of functionality... aka 25% of the original cost to just add a beep to the warning timer when you have to hit start or risk it going in to cooldown prematurely. But my response is skip that upgrade and I just use a timer on my phone to warn me when I need to start paying attention). But at least they seem to be fairly friendly towards right to repair. Just expensive.
Some roasters told me that some neighbors complain about the filtered air emissions that has a slight coffee smell. It blows my mind they would complain about that, considering the emissions that come from the internal combustion engines of the vehicles they drive.
"some roasters", "some neighbors", "filtered air", "slight smell" ... yeah, way to downplay the fact that coffee roasters smell like filthy burning shit, with your mealy-mouthed infantile excuse making. blows your mind indeed. well, i often notice coffee roasters smelling remarkably more obnoxious than traffic fumes, so you can stick your piously blown mind where coffee isn't the most noticeable odor. it's not a "coffee smell". burning rubber would be closer. i'm not actually bothered by it, but seeing coffee apologists dismissing the issue with arrogant delusion chaps my nips
Have you been to a roaster while coffee is being roasted? Or outside of the building during the process? The smell is kind of like burnt caramel but not really the ‘coffee’ smell we all love to fill our kitchens with.
This may get me banned from here, but what’s the difference between coffee roasted for espresso and coffee roasted for filter, which l guess is an aeropress too?
Great question! Generally roast times are longer, and slightly darker, for espresso. The idea being that longer roast times help reduce acidity in the coffee and make it easier extract with the small amount of water an espresso uses. Not all roasters subscribe to this philosophy but we feel it is best to tailor roast to brew style.
@@jameshoffmann am i a heathen for quite enjoying espresso style roasts in my aeropress sometimes? i generally try and get the whole pouring, flipping and plunging process done a little quicker so they dont overextract. but it still tastes quite different to filter style roasts.
@@jameshoffmann am i a heathen for quite enjoying espresso style roasts in my aeropress sometimes? i generally try and get the whole pouring, flipping and plunging process done a little quicker so they dont overextract. but it still tastes quite different to filter style roasts.
I'm slowly becoming more and more of a coffee fanatic. My wife bought me a new espresso machine for Christmas (and my next few birthdays combined ££!!) and between work projects I find the process of grinding, extracting and drinking to be my perfect escape before getting back to it. Mr Hoffmann, your video's are fantastic and since being introduced to your channel by my local coffee shop barista I'm a regular viewer. Enjoy your new space, it looks bloody great! Looking forward to ordering my first bag of 'Red Brick' as soon as I've got through my current bag, if my wife see's another bag come anywhere near the house before then I'm in trouble.
I can smell this video. It's beautiful James, very nice tour. I hope to visit it one day (if it's possible). By the way, if you ever get tired of coffee or you wanna change carrier, try narrating documentaries . Your voice is perfect for it :)
I’ve worked in the production side of coffee for quite some time now. I have worked at small shops, well-known shops and huge businesses. I’ve gone on workers comp because my company required us to make hundreds of bags by hand everyday along with hand scooping bags all day. This video gives brings me to tears.
I mean I am a 17 boy from Guatemala, but watching this made me see what I want when I'm 34. Currently studying to be a bilogist but I love coffee the way I love every other tree. Also was able to kinda be a roaster assistant for half year, best time in my life.
Just recieved my first ever order of Red brick and have to say its one of the best coffees i have ever tasted, will be gettin more in the future. Ordered it on tuesday and recieved it yesterday, incredible service and incredible coffee.
Beautiful, James. It looks like a solid move with plenty of room to grow. I make a point to stop by Prufrock every time I'm in London and have been a Square Mile online consumer for the past year. Now if only the Italians would start brewing specialty coffee in my area!
@@jameshoffmann I'm near Cortina d'Ampezzo (lots of tourism, but unlikely to be a good place to introduce better coffee at this time). There is definitely interest in northern Italy though. Specifically, around Bergamo, where specialty coffee shops (such as Bugan Coffee Lab) have been popping up over the past couple of years. They'll come around eventually!
This is an absolute dream facility. This gives me the happies for you. The design is tops. Modern, yet steeped in history. Form meeting function. Congratulations.
LQUARE MILE... goodness dude this looks like a blast. I know it’s post-produced and all but it’s so wonderful, the possibilities are endless for the homies at Square Mile. Keep goin James!
Thanks James. Great tour. A real inspiration and great to see a dream realized. The papal balcony was a little weird, but such is the nature of character.
I love this film. It shows the effects of years of egagement, effort and sacrifise, gathered knowledge and bravery in risk taking. I really like it. And the effect looks amazing. Good Luck!
Building within a building.. Genius.. Love a project to be fully realised like this. Taking the physical labour out as much as possible is awesome. What a treat. Saves more time which is better spent brewing or learning about coffee! Looks setup for a healthy future. So proud for you mate.
Rick Astley every cup some other taste you need! low level carp....cheap! try 2 cracks in a pan on some thermostat hub, manage that process, then you understand it is not possible at home! every cup the same taste?
I really like how you give a proper detailed recipe for each of your roasts. This is very helpful as a starting point instead of faffing about from the generic and wasting 100g dialing in.
Great content, James. And what a dream work place. I'm enjoying your coffees at home and i hope soon to use them professionaly. Greetings from Thessaloniki, Greece;)
Makes my local roastery look like a dirty dungeon! Nice guys though 😂 Thanks for the tour. Is it weird that I was mostly excited about the bagger that makes its own bags 🤔 Takes all kinds of weirdos I guess ...
I absolutely cannot imagine how such a machine comes to be. Like, it must have been built to order, right? It’s too specific to be ‘off-the-shelf’ - but then, like, who does that? Where do you find a person to whom you can say, “I need a machine that does this series of complex tasks,” and they’ll say “Right” and build it for you? It’s uncanny wizardry. 😨
That was an incredibly informative video James. Since there is no local roaster near me and because I am a do-it-yourself type, I am a huge fan of the heat gun/dog bowl method for roasting my coffee at home. It is an art and once you get good at it, you have as much control as the most expensive roasters. Cost: $20 - Heat gun $10 - Dog bowl (lg steel) $1 - Wooden spoon
Been following this channel for a while (since ~ the Wilfa Svart grinder review, which I now have), really great stuff. So today I’m clearing out some storage, getting ready for a house move.. oh, a big hardback book, about coffee, [flips through, sees some stuff about Aeropress, oh ok, so it’s not too old then..] cool. Will have to try their AP and V60 recipes for sure. Looks at the cover.. “by James Hoffmann”. What??! I had NO IDEA I had this. WHERE DID I GET IT FROM. Loooool amazing xD
Thanks for taking the time to show us round your new space, very interesting and quite groovy. It’s lovely to be invited in to see how the filter blend I just bought is going to be processed.
Hey James, I've been following your channel for quite a while,even checked out some of old TH-cam videos about your Barista Championship), but only after this video I found out,that you have such modern and nifty roastery! In the moment like this I regret ,that I'm not living in the UK and can't go for a tour. Nevertheless,it was an interesting highlight of your business and I'm looking forward to see more!
@@juho6877 Doubt it will ever be a threat to a good larger scale roastery or coffee shop. More of a niche market and I am definitely part of that niche. More of a fun hobby than something that would take more than a very small fraction of business from roasteries. Heck worst case scenario is if it ever impacted places like this, the business could cater more towards that equipment and green beans in addition to the other things they do. But I doubt places like Sweet Maria's in the US are costing smaller operations much and are probably not even a blip on the radar to big places/chains.
Juho of Turku I think Mr Hoffmann is very confident about his craft. When home roasting become popular it will only provide more inspiration for real professional roasters to further evolve!
I love love love love love LOVE LOVE the bagging machine. Turning a sheet into a sealed, repeatable bag! It's also amazing to see the pride you put into the entire place!
I've never quite understood how blending works. Say you take two batches and 'blend' the beans together after roasting, how can you be sure that the eventual bag of beans actually contains 50/50 and further along, that your scoop of beans that you grind at home will?
Ultimately, the maths behind all this says you can't guarantee it. The larger the bag the more likely it is that it contains the intended ratio, and there are a lot of beans in a 350g bag. You'll get some small shot to shot variation but not enough to really mess up the taste of the shots. It's one reason we like simple blends with large percentages of each coffee. Some people will have 5% of a coffee in a blend, and will be much more variable shot to shot.
We're doing some experiments in our shop with roasting different coffees separately and then blending them before grinding, but still, different coffees will have different extractions, predicting a stable profile proves difficult
re: blending before roasting vs blending after roasting: the maths are the same. there's never any guarantee that a particular scoop will that the exact ratio of beans, especially since the ratio of the size of the coffee beans vs the size of the scoop is smaller. obviously the beans are much smaller than a bag, so the ratio is larger, and the chances are also similarly better that the larger container will contain the proper blend. blending works the same whether it happens before or after roasting.
MsBurasuka; the City of London (the small part of London which is the original city) is known informally as the "square mile", and the boundary of the City is marked by statues of silver dragons (not gryphons), which also appear as supporters on the City’s heraldic arms. If you search "City of London dragons" you will find many pictures of the statues.
Really amazing beautiful and thought out layout! I have seen small and big roasteries and this definitely looks like one of the best designed ones! One question though: how do you keep the pipes clean that transport coffee from the roaster to the packaging area? Wouldn't there be a buildup of oils eventually that would get rancid and impede the taste?
One word comes to mind, FANTASTIC. I "grew-up" in the chemical and plastics industry. So, I am familiar with your set up and equipment. Congratulations on the bigger space. Thanks for the plant tour. So sorry I could not enjoy the smell of roasting coffee. Regards, Leon of RSA
@@jameshoffmann thats awesome room for growth and even more awesome that you are not in a hurry to get to that point. Slow and steady! Since I started to phase my way out of the tech world and focus more on my small business growth I've gained a new appreciation for slow growth and taking a path that offers more opportunity to develop rather than grow.
Thoroughly enjoyed my tour through the roastery from Oli last September! The training room and trophy wall in the hallway were some of my favourite parts. Loved it!
Love your vids James, anyway you could do a “James Hoffmann method” setup video for a Breville Barista as it is one of the most common beginner espresso maker people tend to have/ get?
It's amazing! I say that as someone who works with a roasting company all of us here aspire to achieve the level of detail he is. Our business is growing quickly and thats thanks to the drive to evolve the industry Hoffman helped spark.
I just wanna say the efficiency you've established in this system is impressive and aesthetically pleasing. I imagine that's a wonderful place to work.
Re-watched this video as I am designing a roastery project for my master's degree in architecture. Such an insightful video to see the process from storage to roasting and testing. Thank you:)
Hi! Just wanted to say i love your videos and i think it would make for an interesting video about how Melbourne became regarded as the capital of coffee!
I’ll be in Melbourne next week, but not long enough to make a video really answering that question but it is certainly worth chatting about when I’m there
I do not profess to be a coffee expert, but I do enjoy good tasting coffee. (Aeropress user). I cannot taste the subtle nuances of chocolate, honey, blueberry, etc, but notice freshness and acidity. I bought coffee beans from a local roaster here in Lancashire and also direct from you. Even opening the pack, I noticed the difference from freshly roasted coffee as apposed to coffee that has been roasted and standing for a long time on shelves. For me to notice, it must be significantly different. So thank you for supplying freshly ground coffee at a very acceptable price. Absolutely loving it.
This just makes me miss my job as a roaster, the atmosphere in a roastery is so different from working inside a cafe. don't get me wrong, I love both, but man do i miss the workflow and smells from the roastery!
What an operation! I had no idea what the inside of a roaster facility looked like. It is beautiful and I can see why you are proud of it. I didn’t realize a larger roaster would roast the orders for the day. That must require good planning to meet your customers needs. We want to travel back to the U.K. sometime. I’ll make sure we enjoy coffee at your coffee house.
I'm a new subscriber and seeing my first alert for a new video on the channel I've been binge-watching all week got me legitimately excited. Congrats on the new digs!!!
That is a beautiful, well thought out work space. I saw the BWT monitor panel. I have BWT under sink in the large Premium filter. It is now less expensive to just refill 5 gal containers that are re-mineralized RO available everywhere. This water is only for coffee and indoor garden. Hats off to you, James.
damn that office building looks nice as hell. really nice all in all. I had to cope with the idea of having a buliding inside a building, but i do get it. Its just so no german xD
I love it wenn people are proud to be wired! You cane be proud of your self to find so much passion in production. This video just made me order espresso from your shop.
That is such an incredible space and an absolutely marvellous production line. Pristine, organised and well oiled. Congratulations and continued success.
We are not open to the public during the day, because we aren't really staffed to accommodate people. We do run events that are open to the public, and are trying to provide more opportunities for people to visit. If people are in the industry then we generally ask them to make an appointment and we try and make time.
@@jameshoffmann Do you do cupping classes for the public or anything like that? The roaster I worked for had (pending COVID-19) public tours of their roastery with cupping classes scheduled, and it was a great way to create coffee interest in the community.
James congratulations on the new space. I am from the Chicagoland area (suburban Chicago, Illinois, USA) and drink locally roasted coffee when possible. I recently discovered your channel and have been binge watching out of order.Only this morning I discovered you are part of a coffee roasting business that had to move. Then I swiped up to find that you now have a gorgeous new space. Thanks for the great videos.
Green coffee that is being roasted doesn’t give off that delicious aroma one usually associates with coffee - that “wake you up” smell of a freshly-opened bag of beans. It’s a whole different set of smells that you probably wouldn’t identify as coffee. Enjoyment of the roasting scents truly is an acquired taste. It took me about a month of roasting my own coffee before I started enjoying the different smells.
This is truly one of the best designed roasteries I have ever seen. Thanks for your focus on improving ergonomics at every step; so many coffee roasters could use your guidance! Congratulations to you and the Square Mile Team on your new home.
I love how you take care of employees musculoskeletal health by minimising manual handling. This is beyond regulatory compliance. It takes an employer who really cares and is committed to ensuring a safe and healthy working environment. I love the sight of the processes and the equipment. I love how clean and organised things are there. It's so good to be doing what you feel passionate about. Love, love, love.
@ConfusedOilPainter the thing is, it's 60 to 65 kg, if it were up to 20, then maybe it would be healthy. 60 and bad form would be asking to pull a muscle or more
@ConfusedOilPainter so like, people can both have aid lifting exceedingly heavy objects (we're talking lifting 100s of pounds multiple times a day) and have muscle. How you might ask? (With your tiny and feeble mind that is so so sorely underdeveloped, unlike your muscles I'm sure!) Working out and active hobbies! Most people have lives outside of work. Many people play football, the other football, basketball, baseball, do skiing, do snowboarding, go snowshoeing, play tennis (squash or pickle ball!) People have so many hobbies that would get them active! Some people like to work out too, doing it for pleasure. Bold of you to assume coffee and working out can't be two interests one holds.
Beyond that, you're just wrong! A lot of intense manual labour has been proven to cause long term joint pain (as well as excessive jogging **on hard surfaces**) and ask any old fisherman or manual labour worker, they all have bad backs. A good example is my dad. He wears a brace now or he throws out his back.
I hope this helped you be educated on a topic you spoke so valiantly on, but I'm worried, seeing as you seem to be more concerned with being strong enough to hurt others into submission, instead of understanding how to think critically. Nevertheless, I hope your muscles make your day better every day.
I'll stick to understanding what I'm talking about personally.
@ConfusedOilPainter It's not about removing all manual labor, it's about removing repeated heavily repeated movements to reduce strain injury. It makes the job safer and reduces work related injuries.
iPad sales france
@ConfusedOilPainter you are quite ignorant
The engineer in me was especially satisfied to see the plant and large scale roasting process. Congrats on the new space!
That's what you call multitasking.
BurgundyandBlue1111
Scale makes your adrenaline pump up? The bigger the better? is that good better?
Good that you can't smell it in HDR 1000 levels here! TH-cam, not that good jet...
@@lucasrem what
Okay is anyone else DYING to see James’ office now? What a tease. 😂
As the great "can-do" guy Genghis Khan once said, "We'll either FIND a way into his office... or we'll MAKE a way!" 😂
If you like and subscribe… maybe the next video 😛
plot twist, he doesn't actually have an office, cause he doesn't work! lmao
Two things don't make sense about James: 1 mess in office or anywhere? Wt? 2 no espresso machine at home (said so in another video)...
At first I thought the "building within a building" was excessive, but as a corporate employee who occasionally visits manufacturing plants I recall seeing far too much office space that feels like a drab and noisy afterthought. Now that I see how it all works and feels, I'm totally sold :) plus you can pretty much dissassemble and take your office with you if you ever need to move into a different warehouse space.
I absolutely LOVE that I found out James had a roastery through happenstance and not through product placement and pushing 👌
I remember when I worked for Farm Collective on Poyser street prior to opening a branch and we'd come along to you guys for coffee in exchange for food and I remember you training me to make coffee. Glad to see you've still got that probat roaster running in your new space!
I clapped my hands at the crane set up, really great to see more of them being implemented into roasteries. Thanks for the tour!
Congratulations Sir. It seems that the design choices for your videos can be seen evidently throughout the space depicted in the video. Its obvious that your personality goes into making your videos and indeed has gone into the new building.
A motif of cleanliness, tidiness and minimalism and efficiency. I hope/am sure this space, with all those fancy machines will bring square mile the success you all deserve.
All the best for 2020
Thank you!
Agree on that 👌
Same. I admire the minimalist look. Very clean, modern and efficient. Bravo!
It must be so proudful standing on that balcony and watch the work flow of what you've created from the scratch, brick to brick. You inspire me a lot James, you're awesome. I love you
I have a sister who's an accountant. She got a job at a roastery, maybe a little bigger than Square Mile, and of course did inventory and stock audits. Little did she know when she got her degree that she would one day become quite literally a bean counter.
Love all the details. Especially, from a personal standpoint, the small things like good logistics for lifting. Reduced impact on employees. Something I wish previous places I have worked had, because at only 35 I'm feeling the lifelong affect of terrible work practices from bosses/supervisors that didn't care, that pushed and pushed instead of allowing us to work smarter rather than harder. Much respect!
6:44 This is the first time I've seen BWT outside of being Racing Point F1's sponsorship.
same here and it's improved my perception of them as well!
*looks at my stovetop roaster
Mehh. Close enough.
I use a popcorn popper ahhahahhah
Sounds about right. I did stovetop for a while after I visited a coffee shop that had 5 lb bags of green beans and I figured I wanted to dabble. Then I got a popcorn popper and used that for a long time. And now my Behmor is my most used appliance in my house. And more than once I've debated looking at something that has closer to a 3-5 lb capacity.
It is a fun hobby. And probably the only one that has ever me money. The place I used to get my beans used to be about $40-45 for 3 lbs counting shipping (local places could be even more and I liked the guys that owned that shop that I ordered from). Average order from Sweet Marias for me is $110-130 for 20 lbs. Say I lose 25% to weight and call it $120/order. So $120/15 lbs or about $8/lb for roasted coffee.
Plus it makes a decent gift for friends and family that appreciate it. My wife is talented when it comes to make things like quilts so I was never able to do something "hand made" like that before. I've even had a few friends order beans from me from time to time (which is why I keep debating the larger capacity roaster). If you love in the States, Sweet Maria's has a popcorn popper that is $20 and comes with 4 lbs of assorted unroasted beans. Great way to get started. I've gotten a few friends in to home roasting that way. One I think eventually got her and her boyfriend a FreshRoast. I only have the Behmor due to liking drum setup and the 1 lb (results in about 390-420g roasted weight) capacity. Not always a huge fan of how much they charge for upgrades (the recent update that costs about $100 to add a bit of functionality... aka 25% of the original cost to just add a beep to the warning timer when you have to hit start or risk it going in to cooldown prematurely. But my response is skip that upgrade and I just use a timer on my phone to warn me when I need to start paying attention). But at least they seem to be fairly friendly towards right to repair. Just expensive.
do you have a destoner?
@@voidremoved Yes, they do. It was noted in the video.
I use a carbon steel pan on my barbeques side burner. It's about as manual a process as it gets, but makes seriously tasty coffee.
FRESH POTS! Grohl's reach has even blessed Hoffman!
We will never let the scream of "Fresh Pots!" die...
Some roasters told me that some neighbors complain about the filtered air emissions that has a slight coffee smell. It blows my mind they would complain about that, considering the emissions that come from the internal combustion engines of the vehicles they drive.
you try to concentrate to work all day in continuous coffee smell without being able to have a cup in hand
@@hannuala-olla4302 reasonable explenation
"some roasters", "some neighbors", "filtered air", "slight smell" ... yeah, way to downplay the fact that coffee roasters smell like filthy burning shit, with your mealy-mouthed infantile excuse making. blows your mind indeed. well, i often notice coffee roasters smelling remarkably more obnoxious than traffic fumes, so you can stick your piously blown mind where coffee isn't the most noticeable odor. it's not a "coffee smell". burning rubber would be closer. i'm not actually bothered by it, but seeing coffee apologists dismissing the issue with arrogant delusion chaps my nips
billy huda explanation
Have you been to a roaster while coffee is being roasted? Or outside of the building during the process? The smell is kind of like burnt caramel but not really the ‘coffee’ smell we all love to fill our kitchens with.
This may get me banned from here, but what’s the difference between coffee roasted for espresso and coffee roasted for filter, which l guess is an aeropress too?
Great question! Generally roast times are longer, and slightly darker, for espresso. The idea being that longer roast times help reduce acidity in the coffee and make it easier extract with the small amount of water an espresso uses. Not all roasters subscribe to this philosophy but we feel it is best to tailor roast to brew style.
Man, don't be shy to ask Questions :)
James Hoffmann and what’s the deal with omniroasts? What do you think about them?
@@jameshoffmann am i a heathen for quite enjoying espresso style roasts in my aeropress sometimes? i generally try and get the whole pouring, flipping and plunging process done a little quicker so they dont overextract. but it still tastes quite different to filter style roasts.
@@jameshoffmann am i a heathen for quite enjoying espresso style roasts in my aeropress sometimes? i generally try and get the whole pouring, flipping and plunging process done a little quicker so they dont overextract. but it still tastes quite different to filter style roasts.
I'm slowly becoming more and more of a coffee fanatic. My wife bought me a new espresso machine for Christmas (and my next few birthdays combined ££!!) and between work projects I find the process of grinding, extracting and drinking to be my perfect escape before getting back to it. Mr Hoffmann, your video's are fantastic and since being introduced to your channel by my local coffee shop barista I'm a regular viewer. Enjoy your new space, it looks bloody great! Looking forward to ordering my first bag of 'Red Brick' as soon as I've got through my current bag, if my wife see's another bag come anywhere near the house before then I'm in trouble.
I can smell this video.
It's beautiful James, very nice tour. I hope to visit it one day (if it's possible).
By the way, if you ever get tired of coffee or you wanna change carrier, try narrating documentaries . Your voice is perfect for it :)
Mau ro how can he be tired of coffee? It has quite a bit of caffeine.
But I would buy an audiobook from him even if it was on tea.
I'd watch the hell out of Planet Earth narrated by James Hoffmann
I’ve worked in the production side of coffee for quite some time now. I have worked at small shops, well-known shops and huge businesses. I’ve gone on workers comp because my company required us to make hundreds of bags by hand everyday along with hand scooping bags all day. This video gives brings me to tears.
"There is more to talk about here, but before I do that, I do need to talk about the sponsor of this serie, which is Square..... Mile!"
I mean I am a 17 boy from Guatemala, but watching this made me see what I want when I'm 34. Currently studying to be a bilogist but I love coffee the way I love every other tree. Also was able to kinda be a roaster assistant for half year, best time in my life.
"The outside of this building is not particularly beautiful"
Just think of it like a Tardis. Grungy on the outside, awe inspiring on the inside
Satoru
You never need the smell, so move to your industrial area!
Keep the beautiful places free of industrial crap! Greta!
The team cupping room sounds fun
Just recieved my first ever order of Red brick and have to say its one of the best coffees i have ever tasted, will be gettin more in the future. Ordered it on tuesday and recieved it yesterday, incredible service and incredible coffee.
Amazing! Would love to hear your full story of your business' journey .... we need to vote you onto Joe Rogan!
That would be both terrifying and amazing
@@jameshoffmann 3...2...1...Boom and we're live, Hey, what's up James..... let's make it happen
Joe "Ever had coffee with DMT in it?" Rogan
@@AllDayBikes "can we brew coffee with ayahuasca?"
Peter Guliano could put in a word for ya
Great demo, worked for a roaster for years. This bring back memories - most of our recipes were pre-mixed. Love the central building in building.
Beautiful, James. It looks like a solid move with plenty of room to grow.
I make a point to stop by Prufrock every time I'm in London and have been a Square Mile online consumer for the past year. Now if only the Italians would start brewing specialty coffee in my area!
Where are you?
@@jameshoffmann I'm near Cortina d'Ampezzo (lots of tourism, but unlikely to be a good place to introduce better coffee at this time). There is definitely interest in northern Italy though. Specifically, around Bergamo, where specialty coffee shops (such as Bugan Coffee Lab) have been popping up over the past couple of years. They'll come around eventually!
This is an absolute dream facility. This gives me the happies for you. The design is tops. Modern, yet steeped in history. Form meeting function. Congratulations.
Thank you!
Well-edited video always. So clean. So compact. Looking forward to watch your documentary James!
LQUARE MILE... goodness dude this looks like a blast. I know it’s post-produced and all but it’s so wonderful, the possibilities are endless for the homies at Square Mile. Keep goin James!
I love that you still keep the original Probat in use. So great.
German engineering at it's best. We should focus more on roast equipment then cars with fake pollution stats....
I'm not sentimental, but we do love that thing still!
It's great to watch a roaster this size working. Thanks to take us through. Cheers.
Hello James, I finally managed to purchase your book after 3 months+ of hunting. I am so happy to get to know more about coffee!
What a treat to view the insides of the roastery and James' voice is oddly soothing.
Thanks James. Great tour. A real inspiration and great to see a dream realized. The papal balcony was a little weird, but such is the nature of character.
"Habemus caffeum"
i don't know shit about coffee, i just watch these because your videos have such a nice vibe. it's like a smooth cup of coffee for my ears
I wish I could go into this kind of job.. it's so cool seeing how it's all done. I'm used to just grinding, brewing, and drinking.
As a process engineer, I'm incredibly impressed at your care with workflow and your attention to ergonomics! Well done!
I have bean waiting for this.
Leave. Now.
Ok, I'm four years too late.
I love this film. It shows the effects of years of egagement, effort and sacrifise, gathered knowledge and bravery in risk taking. I really like it. And the effect looks amazing. Good Luck!
Thanks for the tour James.
Building within a building.. Genius.. Love a project to be fully realised like this. Taking the physical labour out as much as possible is awesome. What a treat. Saves more time which is better spent brewing or learning about coffee! Looks setup for a healthy future. So proud for you mate.
I'd love to see a video on home roasting at some point, it's an idea that interests me massively
Rick Astley
every cup some other taste you need!
low level carp....cheap!
try 2 cracks in a pan on some thermostat hub, manage that process, then you understand it is not possible at home! every cup the same taste?
I really like how you give a proper detailed recipe for each of your roasts. This is very helpful as a starting point instead of faffing about from the generic and wasting 100g dialing in.
Amazing! I love how organized and tidy it is. You guys did a great Job :)
Thank you for being so open and sharing about your product, how it’s made and the environment you created to bring it all together.
Great content, James. And what a dream work place. I'm enjoying your coffees at home and i hope soon to use them professionaly. Greetings from Thessaloniki, Greece;)
Wow!! I'm probably going to watch this video over one hundred times for pure motivation! Love it! Such a well thought out and beautiful space!
Makes my local roastery look like a dirty dungeon! Nice guys though 😂
Thanks for the tour. Is it weird that I was mostly excited about the bagger that makes its own bags 🤔 Takes all kinds of weirdos I guess ...
No no! I love that thing! (When it works, which is thankfully most of the time)
I absolutely cannot imagine how such a machine comes to be. Like, it must have been built to order, right? It’s too specific to be ‘off-the-shelf’ - but then, like, who does that? Where do you find a person to whom you can say, “I need a machine that does this series of complex tasks,” and they’ll say “Right” and build it for you? It’s uncanny wizardry. 😨
That was an incredibly informative video James.
Since there is no local roaster near me and because I am a do-it-yourself type, I am a huge fan of the heat gun/dog bowl method for roasting my coffee at home. It is an art and once you get good at it, you have as much control as the most expensive roasters.
Cost: $20 - Heat gun
$10 - Dog bowl (lg steel)
$1 - Wooden spoon
Been following this channel for a while (since ~ the Wilfa Svart grinder review, which I now have), really great stuff. So today I’m clearing out some storage, getting ready for a house move.. oh, a big hardback book, about coffee, [flips through, sees some stuff about Aeropress, oh ok, so it’s not too old then..] cool. Will have to try their AP and V60 recipes for sure. Looks at the cover.. “by James Hoffmann”. What??! I had NO IDEA I had this. WHERE DID I GET IT FROM. Loooool amazing xD
Architectural wise, this roastery design are so cool and clean!
wow
ace space
well thought out
peaceful functional areas
and production also a well organised flow
good job
Thanks!
I bet you would like our roastery... thank you letting us look into yours! wish you a lot of success. take care!
6:04 "There is also the office space, which is not very exciting ..." - look at the beautiful dog!!!!
Thanks for taking the time to show us round your new space, very interesting and quite groovy. It’s lovely to be invited in to see how the filter blend I just bought is going to be processed.
Hey James, I've been following your channel for quite a while,even checked out some of old TH-cam videos about your Barista Championship), but only after this video I found out,that you have such modern and nifty roastery! In the moment like this I regret ,that I'm not living in the UK and can't go for a tour. Nevertheless,it was an interesting highlight of your business and I'm looking forward to see more!
I am always grateful for a reminder that the Fresh Pots video exists.
would you please review some cool home roasting machines like the korean BOCABOCA or GENE cafe
I'd like to look at this stuff more!
Good call, Ikawa too. The fluid bed concept and the adjustable temperature / time profile sounds cool.
Careful there, are you trying to make the man lose his business?? :0
@@juho6877 Doubt it will ever be a threat to a good larger scale roastery or coffee shop. More of a niche market and I am definitely part of that niche. More of a fun hobby than something that would take more than a very small fraction of business from roasteries. Heck worst case scenario is if it ever impacted places like this, the business could cater more towards that equipment and green beans in addition to the other things they do. But I doubt places like Sweet Maria's in the US are costing smaller operations much and are probably not even a blip on the radar to big places/chains.
Juho of Turku I think Mr Hoffmann is very confident about his craft. When home roasting become popular it will only provide more inspiration for real professional roasters to further evolve!
I love love love love love LOVE LOVE the bagging machine. Turning a sheet into a sealed, repeatable bag! It's also amazing to see the pride you put into the entire place!
I've never quite understood how blending works. Say you take two batches and 'blend' the beans together after roasting, how can you be sure that the eventual bag of beans actually contains 50/50 and further along, that your scoop of beans that you grind at home will?
Ultimately, the maths behind all this says you can't guarantee it. The larger the bag the more likely it is that it contains the intended ratio, and there are a lot of beans in a 350g bag. You'll get some small shot to shot variation but not enough to really mess up the taste of the shots. It's one reason we like simple blends with large percentages of each coffee. Some people will have 5% of a coffee in a blend, and will be much more variable shot to shot.
We're doing some experiments in our shop with roasting different coffees separately and then blending them before grinding, but still, different coffees will have different extractions, predicting a stable profile proves difficult
James Hoffmann can You tell me a meaning of a logotype? :-) Why this gryphon?
re: blending before roasting vs blending after roasting: the maths are the same. there's never any guarantee that a particular scoop will that the exact ratio of beans, especially since the ratio of the size of the coffee beans vs the size of the scoop is smaller. obviously the beans are much smaller than a bag, so the ratio is larger, and the chances are also similarly better that the larger container will contain the proper blend. blending works the same whether it happens before or after roasting.
MsBurasuka; the City of London (the small part of London which is the original city) is known informally as the "square mile", and the boundary of the City is marked by statues of silver dragons (not gryphons), which also appear as supporters on the City’s heraldic arms. If you search "City of London dragons" you will find many pictures of the statues.
This is the most beautiful video I have ever watched. Thank you.
Really amazing beautiful and thought out layout! I have seen small and big roasteries and this definitely looks like one of the best designed ones!
One question though: how do you keep the pipes clean that transport coffee from the roaster to the packaging area? Wouldn't there be a buildup of oils eventually that would get rancid and impede the taste?
One word comes to mind, FANTASTIC. I "grew-up" in the chemical and plastics industry. So, I am familiar with your set up and equipment. Congratulations on the bigger space. Thanks for the plant tour. So sorry I could not enjoy the smell of roasting coffee.
Regards, Leon of RSA
Congrats, that is a beautiful space. How much growth do you think that space can support? will you eventually have to build a larger space?
I think we could double in size here, but we are in no hurry to do that!
@@jameshoffmann thats awesome room for growth and even more awesome that you are not in a hurry to get to that point. Slow and steady! Since I started to phase my way out of the tech world and focus more on my small business growth I've gained a new appreciation for slow growth and taking a path that offers more opportunity to develop rather than grow.
I saw this in my subscription feed and I have never been more excited! I have always wanted a look inside a roastery!
This is so interesting! Is the coffee moved around the pipework pneumatically?
Yeah, there are little vacuum units that pull it around the place.
Thoroughly enjoyed my tour through the roastery from Oli last September! The training room and trophy wall in the hallway were some of my favourite parts. Loved it!
Love your vids James, anyway you could do a “James Hoffmann method” setup video for a Breville Barista as it is one of the most common beginner espresso maker people tend to have/ get?
It's amazing! I say that as someone who works with a roasting company all of us here aspire to achieve the level of detail he is. Our business is growing quickly and thats thanks to the drive to evolve the industry Hoffman helped spark.
Lowkey hyped to see you at the Eagle One launch on Thursday.
I just wanna say the efficiency you've established in this system is impressive and aesthetically pleasing. I imagine that's a wonderful place to work.
Literally everything a roastery should aspire to be! Incredible! Hopefully square mile will have a flagship cafe
Re-watched this video as I am designing a roastery project for my master's degree in architecture. Such an insightful video to see the process from storage to roasting and testing. Thank you:)
Hi! Just wanted to say i love your videos and i think it would make for an interesting video about how Melbourne became regarded as the capital of coffee!
I’ll be in Melbourne next week, but not long enough to make a video really answering that question but it is certainly worth chatting about when I’m there
@@jameshoffmann Awesome, enjoy your stay!
@@jameshoffmann do you do any meet up or will you be in any cafe at any particular time in melbourne? will be glad to drop by and say hi!
Ultimate
Overwatch, Melbourne, green beans????? Amazon only!
D.VA are stupid tanks, shooters......
@@lucasrem I haven't played overwatch in 2 years just cant be bothered changing haha
I do not profess to be a coffee expert, but I do enjoy good tasting coffee. (Aeropress user). I cannot taste the subtle nuances of chocolate, honey, blueberry, etc, but notice freshness and acidity. I bought coffee beans from a local roaster here in Lancashire and also direct from you. Even opening the pack, I noticed the difference from freshly roasted coffee as apposed to coffee that has been roasted and standing for a long time on shelves. For me to notice, it must be significantly different. So thank you for supplying freshly ground coffee at a very acceptable price. Absolutely loving it.
This just makes me miss my job as a roaster, the atmosphere in a roastery is so different from working inside a cafe.
don't get me wrong, I love both, but man do i miss the workflow and smells from the roastery!
What an operation! I had no idea what the inside of a roaster facility looked like. It is beautiful and I can see why you are proud of it. I didn’t realize a larger roaster would roast the orders for the day. That must require good planning to meet your customers needs. We want to travel back to the U.K. sometime. I’ll make sure we enjoy coffee at your coffee house.
Every time you move to a new warehouse: This is huge we've got so much room to grow!
Next year: ...Shit
I'm a new subscriber and seeing my first alert for a new video on the channel I've been binge-watching all week got me legitimately excited. Congrats on the new digs!!!
Maniacal cackling while standing on the balcony and surveying your demesne?
Most days...
Hello are fine please I ask 1 question how to know where come from coffee
That is a beautiful, well thought out work space. I saw the BWT monitor panel. I have BWT under sink in the large Premium filter. It is now less expensive to just refill 5 gal containers that are re-mineralized RO available everywhere. This water is only for coffee and indoor garden. Hats off to you, James.
Ugh, wonderful
Keep an eye on our socials, we often do open events
Yep. About as cool as I expected. 😊 Thanks for the tour.
Can you live here?
It would be frowned upon...
James Hoffmann Elon musk does it. Haha
@@brandonb9452 Elon Musk is a dickhead though
were is here?
lucas rem at his work
Living the dream. Well done. The design of the building-within-a-building is brilliant and well executed!
damn that office building looks nice as hell. really nice all in all. I had to cope with the idea of having a buliding inside a building, but i do get it. Its just so no german xD
I love it wenn people are proud to be wired! You cane be proud of your self to find so much passion in production.
This video just made me order espresso from your shop.
Ceyms abi, kaça tuttunuz depoyu. Co'qüsel olmuş.
That is such an incredible space and an absolutely marvellous production line. Pristine, organised and well oiled. Congratulations and continued success.
Hey James! Can we visit the roastery as customers or just as curious people? 😬
We are not open to the public during the day, because we aren't really staffed to accommodate people. We do run events that are open to the public, and are trying to provide more opportunities for people to visit. If people are in the industry then we generally ask them to make an appointment and we try and make time.
@@jameshoffmann customers muahahaha......Patrion people get free bags only.....
Never let them come near!
@@jameshoffmann Do you do cupping classes for the public or anything like that? The roaster I worked for had (pending COVID-19) public tours of their roastery with cupping classes scheduled, and it was a great way to create coffee interest in the community.
Seeing all those beautiful beans flowing through the machinery soothes my soul in a very strange way. I bet it smells amazing in there 😊
L'quare Mile sounds almost French, but not quite
James congratulations on the new space. I am from the Chicagoland area (suburban Chicago, Illinois, USA) and drink locally roasted coffee when possible. I recently discovered your channel and have been binge watching out of order.Only this morning I discovered you are part of a coffee roasting business that had to move. Then I swiped up to find that you now have a gorgeous new space. Thanks for the great videos.
Imagine working in one of the other buildings with the smell of a coffee roastery nextdoor and drinking cheap machine coffee...the horror.
Coffee roasting smells like crap.
Green coffee that is being roasted doesn’t give off that delicious aroma one usually associates with coffee - that “wake you up” smell of a freshly-opened bag of beans. It’s a whole different set of smells that you probably wouldn’t identify as coffee. Enjoyment of the roasting scents truly is an acquired taste. It took me about a month of roasting my own coffee before I started enjoying the different smells.
This is truly one of the best designed roasteries I have ever seen. Thanks for your focus on improving ergonomics at every step; so many coffee roasters could use your guidance! Congratulations to you and the Square Mile Team on your new home.
Thanks for welcome us to your roastery... you´re the best.
Looks amazing. A big change from your original roastery!
A huge change! This feels like a factory for adults, and I often don't feel like I belong...
A great look behind the curtain! Thank you for sharing.
You say you're proud James and rightly so; an incredible achievement. I'm looking forward to finding time for a visit.
Wow that view from the top looking down is awesome!