Having both spent a year in Uganda, Edwin and Magda decided to shun the usual 9-5 and  made it their aim to bring quality coffee to the UK.

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Their plan was simple: GREAT COFFEE and the rest will fall into place. However now that Curious Roo is up and running, they realise they are working 5-9 instead of the usual 9-5!

The name Curious Roo comes from their curiosity to explore different flavours within coffee; whilst having a nod to Magda’s home Australia – as well as their little boy’s favourite character in Winnie the Poo being Roo!

They are based in a converted warehouse in Chiswick, and as an independent small batch roastery they source specialty grade coffee from origins around the world.

They are known for supplying free on going and awesome coffee training through the Artisan Coffee School.

If you want to know more, they are always happy to sit over a coffee and chat about their journey and help others on theirs.

Find the best places to buy coffee in the UK with our Coffee Roasters Map UK.

The El Recuerdo coffee from Curious Roo Coffee Roasters originates from the Nueva Segovia region of Nicaragua.

Marcos inherited El Recuerdo farm in 2015.

The farm is roughly 1.5 hectares and is part of a bigger farm in Mozonte that was divided between Marcos and his siblings.

Each of them has between 2 and 3 plots of land where they all grow coffee. During the harvest they help each other and take turns to complete all the work in every plot without hiring external workers.

Marcos grows caturra, red and yellow catuai and maracaturra under pine and citrus-tree shade. As the farm is located at 1,600 m, the harvest happens a little later than most farms around and runs from January to April.

The coffee from El Recuerdo is processed as washed, honey and natural. Once the cherries are harvested, they are taken to Cafetos de Segovia in Ocotal, to be processed.

Cafetos de Segovia is a dry mill located in Ocotal and surrounded by coffee land, making it easy for producers to deliver the wet parchment the same day as they harvest and process it.

In 2015, a local producer family realised that the prices paid for coffee cherries in the region were too low and that they could produce high-quality coffee on their own farm.

They decided to create a dry mill to add value to their product, and that mill is now run by sisters Martha and Ana, along with their team. The family own a few farms that were inherited from Martha and Ana’s father.

Like many properties in the area (in the north, bordering Honduras), the story of the farms’ ownership is a complex one. From 1975-1979 the Nicaraguan revolution hit the entire country, but it was even more intense at the Honduran border, forcing the family to emigrate to the USA.

They returned to Ocotal six years later to find that their house and much of their farmland had been seized by the government. Only the house was returned to them – they had lost more than 70ha of coffee farm.

The dry mill services their farms and greenhouse – which they built in 2020 to grow experimental lots and more delicate varieties – but also the coffee of some relatives and a few non-related producers from the area.

In total, 47 other producers work with Cafetos de Segovia. Up to 30 people work at the mill during the season. Most of the coffee is delivered as wet parchment or cherries and 80% of the lots are washed.

Cafetos de Segovia submits lots to the national Cup of Excellence every year, and always ranks highly.

Here’s an idea of what to expect from this delightful Nicaraguan coffee from Curious Roo coffee roasters.

Team Batch brew method of choice - Cafetiere

If you loved this coffee and want it to have it in your life again order directly from Etude Coffee Roasters now.

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