Coffee with heart in a North Wales Roastery
If you visit a speciality coffee shop in North Wales there is a high chance that Heartland Coffee is what you will be drinking. We stopped by their roastery midweek to try it ourselves from the source.
With the Great Orme rising in layers of grey and gold strata on the horizon, the Welsh town of Llandudno sprawls along the seafront of the iconic headlands shores. Amongst the coffee shops that line the main street there is a common feature. Heartland Coffee is the headliner, drinks menus declaring it loudly and bags of their beans filling up counter space and shelves. With the roastery itself tucked just around the corner on Builders street, one can easily see why it is so widely featured around the town. What I wanted to discover was why it was so loved, and so, on a cloudy morning, I found myself walking towards an industrial looking building, unsure as to whether or not I was in the right place. Luckily I had a local guide on hand and we peeked our heads around the orange door to see what was inside.
Established originally in London by duo Mal and Tara in 2005, Heartland Coffee Roasters made the move to Llandudno in 2012. Their coffee bar opened a few years later, in 2018, with the expansion of the roasters into a bigger unit and it was this unit that we walked into during the week. High ceilinged and grey walled, the space feels quite industrial. The working of the roastery are laid bare, with stacks of brown cloth coffee bean bags piled high and computers blinking with ever changing data from the sleek silver roasting machines. The coffee bar sits at the back of the open space, wooden panels and colourful posters adding a necessary warmth to the nook. An array of brewing decives caught my eye on the shelves, along with a diverse coffee menu that would cater to every coffee fiends desires. While you may be tempted to stay a while and try more than one, the seating choices of a few wonky chairs or a palette may have you reconsidering. Hedging our bets and buttocks on the palette, we ordered two flat whites. I opted for the Landmark blend- a mix of Peruvian, Brazilian, Guatamalan and Columbian beans. The most popular of Heartlands coffees, it was well suited to the flat white, which was beautifully made. With notes of chocolate and a lingering nuttiness, it was well rounded and smooth, though perhaps a little lighter than I anticipated. We also tried the Honduras Abeja Honey blend, which, as the name suggests, is made utilising honey processing. According to Heartland this involves using a combination of both natural fermentation and a wash process, with the beans being left in cherry longer than usual before they are washed, to retain more sweetness. This was a new concept to us and we were excited to give it a try. With milk again perfectly executed, the honey flavour really comes through in the flat white. While slightly overwhelming at first, it does mellow out as you drink and an acidic undertone comes in to add balance.
With an emphasis on sustainable practises and fair trade ethos, the popularity of this roastery in North Wales is easily understood. The roastery being their main focus, the coffee bar did lack atmosphere and aesthetic, but if you’re after a good coffee to go its a superb option. With their vast array of blends and roasts on sale, do yourself a favour and grab a bag of beans on the way out. Freshly roasted, we stuck with their Landmark and it proved just as flavourful on a home machine. For dynamic coffee underlined with ethical values, Heartland has made a well deserved name for itself in North Wales and beyond.
https://www.instagram.com/heartland.coffee?igsh=MWo5OG8xYnRmNnV1ZA==
