We have been doing business with Extract Coffee since they started, they have grown from a company of three into over 25 people. In this Coffee and a Chat we meet Mhairi, who is Production Roaster at Extract.
How long have you been in business and how did the idea start?
I’ve not long joined Extract but the roastery has been going for 10 years. It started as a shed for a roastery and a coffee cart on College Green, Bristol, growing to the awesome roastery we have today. The coffee cart has been retired for a long while but we now have 4 hand restored roasters, Betty, Bertha, James and Barry. The business was the idea of our Directors Marc, Samm and David who all concocted the plan together and have never looked back.
What’s your favourite thing about living in your town?
I’ve not long moved to Bristol myself, still looking for those hidden gems and asking for insiders’ information. What I can tell you is when I first came to Bristol, it felt like coming home. This place has such a good vibe. There is so much to do and there are so many diverse communities from coffee to music, cycling to skate boarding, baby groups to countless allotments across the city. It doesn’t matter where you think you fit in, you’ll do fine here.
How do you take your coffee?
For me the new has got to be short and black.
What’s your favourite brewing method?
I really enjoy hand brewing methods as well as the odd Espresso. For that reason I tend to enjoy naturally processed coffees more. I always look for the ones I haven’t tried yet. Next time you see a coffee from Myanmar, Thailand or Panama, get your gums round it and let it blow your socks off.
What’s life outside roasting like for you?
When I’m not at work I’m a mum. My kid is the apple of my eye but I’m always planning the next big thing. The half marathon next year, the sportive in the spring, saving up for the next tattoo, working on the set for the festival in the summer or sometimes just wondering when I’ll get to disappear into the wilds with my tent again.
