Member Article

Leeds’ first micro-roastery makes a buzz on the Northern coffee scene

North Star Coffee Roasters is a speciality coffee roastery based on a small industrial estate in Meanwood, and the first one to exist in Leeds, founded by directors 20 year old Ellis Hall and 24 year old Alex Kragiopoulos.

With money borrowed from family and friends who are now shareholders, Ellis and Alex from North Star Roast have created a unique speciality coffee offering in Leeds offering high quality roasts and training services to the hospitality industry.

Working with Harrogate-based speciality green coffee importers, Falcon, headed up by Mike Riley who has over 25 years of experience in the industry, they together ensure that the coffee is not only certified, but of the highest quality, and can create bespoke blends for clients.

With only a few other micro-roasteries in the North, including Manchester, Newcastle, Hull and Huddersfield, West Yorkshire was largely left untouched.

Alex and Ellis saw their opportunity in Leeds and North Star was born in September 2013.

Specialising in seasonal coffee - their main blends being Czar Street Seasonal espresso (at this time of year sourced from Rwanda and Peru) and Dark Arches. With a good foundation of wholesale customers, North Star seems to be going from strength to strength.

They supply to various independent coffee houses in Leeds and the surrounding areas which include Westmoreland Coffee house, Out of the Woods, Hepworth’s Deli and Outlaws Yacht club.

Bdaily asked the inevitable question of what made two guys in their 20s start a coffee roastery, they had an interesting story to tell.

Alex studied History at Northumbria University, and, in his final year started a dissertation on the slave trade which co-incided with his girlfriend’s Human Georgraphy course on the coffee trade.

They went abroad to Malawi, working in an orphanage there, and the Nyeri region in Kenya, where Alex saw firsthand the impact fairtrade had on the farmers and communities.

Although chocolate was initially his main area of interest, the lack of traceability and difficulty in asserting origin became a factor in North Star’s decision to ensure fairly traded products, where those involved in the supply chain are guaranteed minimum wages, hours and environments to work in.

Ellis worked at LMDC in Harrogate, learning the barista trade, and though self-taught has already amassed a wealth of knowledge on the science behind what makes a good roast, the perfect temperatures at which coffee beans should be roasted, and the flavours that make up the best coffees.

They have already been featured in Caffeine, the industry’s main publication, and are looking to do more pop up cafe’s after being featured at Buy Yorkshire

Ellis said: “The coffee industry is always evolving and people are really starting to become aware of how accessible speciality coffee is, and if people are willing to learn, then we are willing to help”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .