Ask the Roaster - Nicola from Taylors Discovery

 

How was the Roastery founded, what was the inspiration?

You might know Taylors of Harrogate for sourcing and roasting some of the best specialty grade coffee you’ll find on Supermarket shelves. Or for making Yorkshire Tea!

Taylors Discovery is a little different. We only roast small batches of coffee, we only sell directly to consumers through our website, and we only roast the best coffee we can get our hands on. We like to take risks with coffee, to have more fun with coffee, and to build a vision for the future of coffee. Through our producer relationships, we’d always had access to delicious coffees. And through our friends, we’d always had interesting collaborations in the pipeline. We just needed a place, a team and a shop to start making these things happen.

What's your favourite part about working at the Roastery?

Discovery is just a team of 3 people, Will, Jenny and Nicola. So here are each of our favourite things:

Will: I like that a lot of the company don’t know we exist or don’t understand what we do, it all feels a bit clandestine and maybe a bit secret service... While the main production is roasting 600kg of Lazy Sunday we could be roasting a 1kg batch of Enzymatic Gesha. It's bizarre in the best way.

Jenny: I love the team feeling we’ve got going on, everyone is happy to muck in. Some cheesey songs and good company with the smell of fresh roasted coffee and a good brew. Some days work really doesn’t feel like working.

Nicola: I love a big packing day, when Jenny and Will call on me to stick labels on bags and fill them with beans. Everyone is busy, the tunes are on in the roastery, and vibes are great. Dog and Hat roasting and packing day will be one of those days!

What's your proudest accomplishment?

People accepting us as part of the crowd at festivals is a great feeling. We also recently released a limited-edition coffee vodka called Huila Spirit in collaboration with Harrogate Tipple. It’s a project that has been long in the making, it genuinely tastes delicious and is a product we are super proud of.

What three words best describe your Roastery?

Uncool - Cool - Uncool.

What’s your favourite place to enjoy a coffee, and what coffee would that be?

Jenny can often be found wandering about with her camera and brewing an AeroPress up at mountain in all weathers. Jenny’s favourite coffee would be fruity and floral Ethiopian.

Will has both an EK43 grinder and a Fender Jaguar guitar in his house, so he enjoys his exceptionally well extracted coffee at home in the company of some heavy rock. Will’s favourite coffee is typically a complex washed Colombian.

Nicola’s favourite place to enjoy a coffee is in an independent coffee shop, post -workout when she’s too tired to make her own. Nicola’s favourite coffee would be a washed Kenyan on filter

Finally, what Dog & Hat combination would you choose?

Great Dane in a Beret. Can you imagine anything cooler.