Tom’s Top 14 Coffee Beans UK
I’m Tom and here at Batch Coffee, myself and the team are always on the lookout for the finest coffee beans in the UK.
I receive coffee from independent roasters, which our team of industry professionals taste and review.
Below is a list of the best coffee beans I have had the pleasure of sampling over the past few years.
AUTHOR: TOM SAXON
Why trust me
I’m Tom, author of The Home Barista and founder of Batch Coffee Club a UK coffee subscription.
I’ve been working in the coffee industry for over 10 years around the world.
Part of the job is to try and taste the UK’s best coffee beans, some of which are are included in our coffee club.
Find below some of my favourite.
14 Best Coffee Beans UK 2025
Determining what makes the best coffee is challenging and ultimately comes down to personal preference and taste.
Some people prefer fruit-forward lighter roasts that resemble herbal tea, while others favour heavier-bodied brews with a rich, chocolatey mouthfeel.
Delicious coffee has many different attributes, and at Batch, I taste and review coffee using various methods (from an espresso machine to a pour-over) to provide a well-rounded and unbiased opinion.
With over 400 independent coffee roasters in the UK and the ever-changing seasonality of specialty coffee, we are truly spoiled for choice.
Below you will find a selection of the highest-rated coffees in the UK as reviewed by myself and our team.
1. BATCH COFFEE CLUB
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
I’ll be upfront – I’m recommending my own brand here, but after over a decade in the coffee industry, there’s a good reason why Batch Coffee Club tops my list of coffee beans.
The UK has some exceptional independent roasters, but tracking down their best coffee beans meant endless research and plenty of expensive trial and error. Plus you end up discovering a great coffee only for it to be on the menu for 2 months before it runs out.
So I decided to do the legwork for everyone else. Every fortnight, I handpick two exceptional coffees from different independent UK roasters.
Each delivery comes whole bean (or ground to your preference), perfectly suited for your brewing method of choice, whether you’re a cafetière devotee, filter fanatic, or espresso enthusiast.
I keep the approach friendly and accessible, but I’m deadly serious about the quality.
It’s essentially my personal curation service – all the expertise from years of tasting, writing, and obsessing over coffee, distilled into two outstanding bags delivered straight to your door.
And more often than not better prices than you’d pay buying direct from the roasters themselves.
★★★★★ 1000s of Coffee Lovers
2. Machina Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Machina Coffee Roasters are one of Edinburgh’s leading speciality coffee roasters.
It all began with an Ex DJ and Coffee professional who bonded over their love for music and this magical caffeinated beverage. It became apparent that the third love the two shared was equipment and that was how Machina coffee as a brand started.
They have a great approach to sourcing which is trying to break away from the conventional wisdom about origin and taste.
They look to dig a little deeper into the origins that they source from and uncover farms and producers that may not have been heard of and hold the prestige of the farm next door.
This is something that sets Machina apart from roaster next door – showcasing certain unique coffees that you may not see elsewhere.
Read the full Review of Machina Coffee Works
3. Origin Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Origin coffee was founded over 15 years ago by Tom Sobey and roast their coffee in Cornwall.
Having worked closely with his fathers coffee business growing up, he has always been involved in the industry.
After a trip to Australia in the early 2000’s where coffee culture reigns, Origin was born.
Since then Origin coffee Cornwall has evolved into a full team of industry professionals, a world class coffee program, 6 coffee shops and an ever evolving product range.
They are one of the founding fathers of third wave speciality coffee in the UK and are amongst the front runners in the industry.
Origin coffee source direct from the farms. A practice that is true to speciality coffee and one that rewards the people who grow the coffee rather than the many middlemen.
Through their direct trade practice they’re able to support their farm and mill partners directly, giving their customers full traceability of the coffee in their cup.
They attempt to visit the farms at origin every year in El Salvador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Brazil.
The relationships that they have built over the years of visiting these coffee growing regions means they are able to ask questions and provide support to workers and their families.
What sets certain coffee roasters apart for me is the stories that they tell through coffee.
Origin coffee does exactly that, the quality of their coffee is matched by the stories behind it and it’s easy to see why these guys are paving the way into the 4th wave.
Read the full Review of Origin Coffee
4. Assembly Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Assembly are the customer focused and quality UK coffee roaster based in Brixton, London.
They are one of the few coffee roasters in the UK that are pushing the boundaries of each aspect of their business.
The Assembly roastery is housed in a 19th century fire station in the heart of London. The Loring roaster alongside a state of the art coffee sensory lab and a couple of event spaces to hold cuppings is a testament to how serious these guys take specialty coffee.
Launched in 2015 during the annual London coffee festival, Assembly are now showcasing their coffee on a global scale.
The biggest difference in how Assembly operates for me is their collaborations.
When talking to their business manager, Ed, he explained how the team is in constant conversation with their customers, whether it’s a retail customer purchasing a 250g bag every other week or a wholesale cafe that orders dozens of kilos per week.
This conversation enables Assembly not only to build strong long lasting relationships and understand their customers wants and needs but also keeps their finger on the pulse of the specialty coffee industry.
Read the full Review of Assembly Coffee
5. Foundation Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Foundation coffee roasters are an independent roastery and equipment supplier based in St Ives, Cornwall.
They began their coffee journey with a mission to create quality and high-grade speciality coffee while at the same time using the best possible ethical practices that have a minimal impact on the environment.
This transcends from the sustainable relationships they build at source all the way through to the Omni-degradable and home compostable coffee bags that they showcase their coffee.
Foundation focus on honesty and transparency throughout their business – two things that we hold extremely important too. Their involvement at origin stems from these two ethics as they prefer to deal with coffee farms and mills directly.
Read the full Review of Foundation Coffee Roasters
6. Volcano Coffee Works
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Kurt Stewart is the man behind Volcano coffee works which was founded in 2010.
Kurt grew up in coffee-mad New Zealand and created Volcano to bring the great tasting coffee he had grown up with to the UK.
He did this while supporting the livelihoods of the communities who grow and produce it.
Volcano started life as a coffee cart that graced the streets of West Norwood but has now grown to a team of 30 passionate coffee people that operate out of their state of the art coffee roastery in Brixton.
The first batch of the day is always roasted by Kurt who is still the beating heart of the coffee business.
Volcano consistently produce some of the best coffee available in the UK at such a high volume.
Volcano Coffee Works believes in complete Supply Transparency, which means they insist on knowing where their coffee is from and visiting many of their farmers annually.
Read the full Review of Volcano Coffee Works.
7. Blossom Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Blossom Coffee are a new and exciting coffee roaster that has emerged over the last few years and showcase some of the best coffee beans in Manchester.
The quality of their coffee is outstanding, they purchase the finest green (raw) coffee from a small selection of importers and roast the coffee in a way that maximises the sweeter notes while highlighting the interesting complexities and natural characteristics that many speciality coffees possess (great coffee beans for pour over).
With a Q-grade certified team, Blossom certainly knows their stuff in the speciality coffee world and it’s no wonder they have caused a bit of a buzz in the coffee scene.
As the brand is still fairly young they are still working towards a few of their goals, however, Blossom has started as they mean to go on, creating a sustainable and environmentally conscious coffee roastery.
Read the full Review of Blossom Coffee
8. Symposium Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆ 6/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Symposium Coffee Roasters are based in Norwich, Norfolk.
The owner Steve has a real passion for high-quality coffee and is helping spread the word of speciality coffee throughout the UK.
Symposium source the majority of their coffee from East Africa. A region that is famed in the speciality coffee scene for producing world-class washed coffees that produce some extraordinary flavour notes, however, it is also a region of poverty and exploitation of people and the land.
Symposiums sustainable coffee sourcing model focuses on direct trade & sourcing through carefully selected coffee importers that encourage producers to improve the quality of their coffees meaning a higher price.
This can make a huge difference to household incomes as well as protecting the forests in East Africa. When farmers can build profitable coffee businesses, they don’t have to clear trees to create space for agriculture.
Read the full Review of Symposium Coffee Roasters
9. Old Spike Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Old Spike was set up in early 2015 in a small cafe in Peckham. Their vision was simple; to use coffee as a vehicle for change and offer their customers something more than just delicious tasting coffee.
Their mission is to train and employee homeless people across our business.
Whether they work in their cafe, assist in their coffee production or deliver their coffee to all their wholesale customers – every bag of coffee you buy goes some way to ending homelessness here in the UK.
Their passion for coffee and their inspiring mission to give back to the community is why these guys are one of the best London roasters.
They not only source coffee that promotes sustainability and ethical practices at source but also contributes to problems that are faced in the coffee consuming country.
Read the full Review of Old Spike Coffee
10. Horsham Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Horsham Coffee Roaster is based in Sussex, UK. Back in 2012, there were a fraction of the speciality coffee roasters there are today. With their 1kg roaster in their garage, Horsham wanted to showcase the amazing results they were able to achieve on their small-batch roaster.
They have come a considerable way from the garage back in 2012, although they are still a small team their drive and focus is still the same.
Their story starts over three hundred years ago when the London coffee house cemented itself as the quintessential melting pot of political, philosophical and creative debate.
They were the stomping ground of the rich and famous but also the leading thinkers of the day. A coffee house back then was a place for enlightenment, the coffee being the stimulus that sparked many discoveries.
These guys roast coffee for any method, however if you’re on the lookout for cafetiere coffee beans these are your ticket.
Read the full Review of Horsham Coffee
11. Pilgrims Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Pilgrims coffee roasters are based on Holy Island, Northumberland.
Originally set up in a small yurt in the garden.
Andrew began roasting coffee in 2014 and simply aimed to supply the cafe with delicious, high quality and sustainably sourced coffee.
Andrew still heads up operations at the roastery and ensures all of the beans are of the highest quality arabica.
Their state-of-the-art roaster ensures they bring out the distinctive characteristics of the beans and produce top quality coffee, every time.
A fantastic roastery with fantastic morals that transcend all the way from the country the green coffee is sourced, to the eco-friendly bags they sell the roasted coffee in.
Some of the best Ethiopian coffee that I have ever brewed came from Pilgrims.
Read the full Review of Pilgrims Coffee Roasters
12. Balance Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★★☆ 9/10
Balance Coffee the colourful new roastery based in London.
Founder James has worked in the coffee industry for 8 years and wanted to create a coffee brand with a mission to inspire people to drink better quality coffee at home.
The coffee that they showcase is focussed on the healthy coffee end of the market, they stock coffees such as lions mane coffee. Checkout our article on the benefits of black coffee for more info
With really clean and slick branding their eye-catching watercolour design is a clue about the style of coffee that they offer.
They are not afraid to showcase an unusual origin and may provide that unique bag of speciality coffee you are looking for.
Balance offer a few different espresso options and an espresso taster pack that lets you try all of their blends at once.
Read the full Review of Balance Coffee
13. UE Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
UE coffee roasters are an independent family run business from Oxfordshire.
UE has been around for quite a while when it comes to speciality coffee roasters. 2009 to be exact was when Dominic and Daniella opened their doors to showcase the delights of freshly roasted coffee.
Their brand is built on the relationships and the community that they have nurtured over the past decade and now are looking to elevate UE roasters to the next level.
The coffees that they rotate on their single-origin menu (What is single origin coffee?), as well as their blends, are of that quality and premium nature deserving that beautiful branding.
These guys don’t just roast delicious coffee and post sexy Instagram photos though, they also give back.
The barista foundation was launched to make use of the resources and relationships that UE coffee roasters have forged over the last decade and to help groups around the world.
Read the full Review of UE Coffee Roasters
14. Carnival Coffee Roasters
Coffee Quality ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Variety Of Coffee ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 7/10
Value For Money ★★★★★★★★☆☆ 8/10
Carnival Coffee Roasters, are an eco-friendly, speciality coffee roaster based in the heart of Penge, South East London.
Their love for life resonates through their bright and bold branding that always brings a smile to our faces each time they pop up on our Instagram feed.
Carnival are an inspirational team. Their focus on providing an eco-friendly product is a great example for future roasters to follow. Their ethics transcend all the way from the Colombia coffee farms where they support sustainable coffee projects all the way to South East London where they offer local delivery on a bicycle.
Their story started in Medellin, Colombia where they grow and produce coffee on their family farm. The farm has been in the family for generations ever since Juan’s Grandfather won a mountainside on the outskirts of the city in a very lucky game of cards.
Even more luckily the conditions were ideal for growing coffee.
Read the full Review of Carnival Coffee Roasters
