OUR STORY

In 2012, Francis Bradshaw, inspired by a family heritage in the coffee and tea trades spanning four generations, commissioned a Probat Coffee Roaster in a small barn in his backyard and began roasting at night after a day’s work. By the light of the moon and under the watchful gaze of the village owl, Fran set about developing roast profiles for carefully selected beans. Before long he was supplying freshly roasted coffee to local people and businesses. And so Moon Roast was born.

In 2017, Moon Roast moved to our purpose-built roastery in converted Grade 2 listed outbuildings on a working farm nearby, where an additional roaster was installed.  We also have barista training facilities and a kiosk, where our customers can purchase freshly roasted beans and a cup of expertly brewed coffee.

Team Moon Roast now numbers 10. Passionate about our craft, our time goes into exploring ethically sourced, seasonally selected Arabica beans, from various origins world wide and roasting beans to bring out the very best of their natural attributes.

Hand roasting small batches of specialty coffee every day ensures the freshest roasts reach the customers’ cup. Paying close attention to detail, we focus on rigorous cupping post-roast to discover the tastiest roast profiles and to ensure quality and consistency. 

Today Fran is blessed with the same passion and enthusiasm for coffee as Day 1 and is even beginning to get away from the roastery to visit our producers at source. This year he travelled with his son Tom, to the heart of the coffee growing region of Peru and met with farmers to experience first hand the agricultural techniques and drying processes used and understand something of the lives and environment of our producers.

A Family Heritage in tea and coffee...

The Bradshaw passion for fine coffee began in the late 1800s when Richard Goodwin Bradshaw, the son of a London publican, swapped the family pub, The Shades Tavern, for a milder brew. ‘RGB’ as he was known, joined Wilson Smithett, the principal City of London tea broker as a taster and then became a broker. Later he became an expert in trading and blending tea from Ceylon.

RGB’s son Dorman Bradshaw, Francis’s grandfather, continued in his father’s footsteps as a broker.

Haydon, Francis’ father began his career in tea, then moved to the coffee industry. Working for Nestlé he became Britain’s leading coffee specialist, and also worked as a coffee consultant for famous brands like Waitrose.

The purchase of our Loring roaster was made possible through the Leader Programme and funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development.

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