Volcano Coffee Works
Location: Greater London
Established: 2008
No. of coffees: 15
Kurt Stewart's Brixton roastery, where a Kiwi chef's curiosity grew to 19 million cups a year
Volcano Coffee Works began with Kurt Stewart, a New Zealand-born chef, wheeling a vintage Piaggio Ape cart along a West Dulwich pavement and serving espresso to whoever fancied one. That spirit - unpretentious, curious, quietly determined - has carried through to a London roastery, two south London cafés, and a team built around the idea that good coffee should do good in the world as well as taste good in the cup.
Their Coffee Range
The range reflects Kurt's background in the kitchen: an instinct for layering flavour, where balance and texture matter as much as origin. The Mount Blend is a good place to start: a low-acidity South American blend of Brazilian, El Salvadorian and Colombian coffees, roasted in small batches in Brixton, with milk chocolate, red grape and caramel in easy balance. The Firehouse Blend pushes a little darker - Brazil, Colombia and Tanzania together, dried orange and forest fruits threading through a full-bodied chocolate base. For espresso drinkers who want something bolder still, The Brixton is a single-origin Brazilian from the Mió farm, roasted dark, with cacao, orange rind and liquorice.
Move away from espresso and the range opens up considerably. The Kamavindi is a natural-process Kenyan from the slopes of Mount Kenya - raspberry, red wine and elderflower, complex and fruit-forward. The Hermosa from Costa Rica takes a honey-process approach, landing somewhere warmer and nuttier: peach, almond and a silky milk chocolate body. And if caffeine isn't the point, the Decaf is a Brazilian from Vale de Grama with maple syrup, green grape and dark chocolate - proof that going decaf doesn't mean going dull.
More About Volcano Coffee Works
It began in the late noughties with a vintage Italian Piaggio Ape cart on a West Dulwich pavement. Kurt Stewart - a Kiwi, a seasoned chef, and someone who already knew what good coffee tasted like - set up on Rosendale Road and started serving his Full Steam Espresso. People kept coming back, so Kurt kept going. Today Volcano Coffee Works has a roastery and café in West Norwood, a Brixton headquarters and café, and a team of 56. Kurt still roasts the first batch of the day.
The ethical commitments have grown alongside the business. Volcano pays above Fairtrade prices as standard, works directly with farming communities in Uganda, Brazil and Colombia, and was one of the first coffee companies in the UK to achieve B Corp certification - now sitting in the top 30% of B Corps worldwide. Their work with AMECAFE in Brazil, a group of 50 female farmers co-founded by Leticia Seda, saw Volcano pay 125% above the price her neighbours had been accepting on the local market. Head Roaster Claire Wallace leads production and quality control from the Brixton roastery, while the sourcing team - guided by principles of sustainable livelihoods, social progress and environmental good - decides who Volcano buys from and why.
