A founding blend created by David Thomson in 1841, we flame-roast this mix of high-grade Brazilian, El Salvador, and Indian beans to its original 170-year old recipe.

1841 Half & Half

When Thomsons first opened its doors in Victorian Glasgow’s Renfield Street as a purveyor of the finest coffee, the car, telephone and light bulbs had yet to be invented. Our flame-roasted coffee remains one of the constants in an ever-changing world. All our coffee is hand-prepared by our Master Roaster. The traditional method of flame-roasting adds the unique character and depth of flavour that has attracted generations of discerning coffee lovers.

Thomson's Coffee

Blue Mountain Blend

Brazil / Paraiso

Colombia / Cafe Granja La Esperanza Sweet Valley

Colombia / El Meson

Colombia / Excelso

Colombia / Suarez

Colombian Dark

Costa Rica / San Antonio

El Salvador / San Ernesto

Ethiopia | Gedeb Chelchele

Ethiopia | Gemeda Elias Dube

Ethiopia / Mocha Djimmah

Full French

Guatemala / El Fogon SHB

Guatemala / SHB Huehuetenango

Half French

Kenya / AA Blue Mountain

Mexico / Los Hermanos Luna

Monsooned Malabar

Old Brawn Java

Renfield 35

Rwanda / Cocatu

Rwanda / Muraho

St. Vincent Roast

Sumatra Mandheling

Swiss Water Decaffeinated

Tanzania / Iyenga School Project

Team

Clean, very sweet, bergamot like. A classic washed Ethiopian taste profile designed for filter and espresso.

The Hafursa Haru washing station is located close to Yirgacheffe town, not far from the boundary with the Oromia zone. The area itself has a population of just over 195 thousand, of which only 8% are urban dwellers. There are 12 standardized fermentation tanks at the washing station, and over 169 drying beds. This allows for fast turnaround whilst keeping traceability of the lots, something that is becoming more and more a part of processing in Ethiopia as trade opens up. This coffee came from drying bed 160.

The varieties themselves are often referred to as heirloom, though, having high genetic diversity means that what is heirloom in one area is not a guarantee of the same characteristics as an heirloom from another region. Kumie (kurume, kudhume) is often labelled as Yirgacheffe or Yirgacheffe type, and is quite a small bean, whilst Dega is more widely spread and Wolisho typical in the highlands.

Wet processing itself was introduced in to Ethiopia in the 1970’s with Yirgacheffe being the site of the first one. Continuing to push for quality, TDS and pH of the water is taken, to better control fermentation times. The water here is 7.7pH, slightly more alkaline than neutral. The cherries are picked and thenn hand sorted to remove any noticeable defects. Pulped and allowed to ferment, beans are then washed in clean running water and dried down to a humidity level of 11.5% on raised beds. The parchment coffee is stored locally until it is transported to the dry mill facility in Addis Ababa where it is hulled, laser colour sorted, and bagged for export.

VARIETALS: Dega, Kudhume, Wolisho

Ethiopia - Haru

This lot is particularly rare. Rwanda is not well-known for its naturally processed coffees, as the government’s coffee program (post-1990s turmoil) has typically focused on wet processing as a means of achieving higher quality. As such, washing stations have been dissuaded from using the natural method, due to its traditional association with lower grade coffees. With the rise of specialty coffee, of course, it has become apparent that when undertaken with care and attention, natural processing can result in coffee of astonishing and unique quality. This exceptional lot illustrates the best that natural processing has to offer perfectly. It’s boozy, fruity profile is clean and sweet without a trace of over-ferment. The very high quality can only be attributed to Buf’s staff’s diligent attention to detail.

VARIETAL: Red Bourbon

Rwanda - Buf Umurage

The Musasa Dukunde Kawa cooperative has three washing stations lying high in Rwanda’s rugged northwest. Nkara – the cooperative’s third washing station - was built by the co-op in 2007 with profits earned from their first two washing stations, Ruli & Mblima and a bank loan. The washing station lies at 1,800 metres above sea level and serves farmers within the Ruli Sector of Rwanda’s Northern Province.

The level of care that Musasa Dukunde Kawa Nkara takes over the processing is impressive. Cherries are hand-picked only when fully ripe and then pulped that same evening using a mechanical pulper that divides the beans into three grades by weight.

After pulping, the coffee is fermented overnight (for around 12 hours) and then graded again using flotation channels that sort the coffee by weight (the heaviest – or A1 – usually being the best). The wet parchment is then soaked in water for between 18 and 24 hours to stabilise moisture content.

In addition to the great work that the cooperative does with quality improvement and assurance, they also have various social programs that greatly contribute to the livelihoods of their members. School fees and medical insurance are provided along with training in quality and productivity in cultivation of coffee. The cooperative also gives cows as bonus payment for quality cherry. These cows not only produce milk for cheese, which helps improve diets and provides supplementary income for farmers, they also provide fertiliser for coffee! The cooperative has also invested in a fleet of tailor-made bikes that help smallholders deliver their cherry to the cooperative's washing stations. This not only reduces the labour required for producers but also means that it is easier to deliver cherry on the same day as picking, which helps ensure greater quality.  

VARIETAL: Red Bourbon

Rwanda - Musasa Nkara

Kigutha Estate coffee is a high grown top quality coffee from the slopes of the famous Aberdare mountain range, close to Kiambu town, north of Nairobi. The annual production of the farm produces roughly 60% AA and 35% AB each year, with a small amount of under grade sold separately.

Blue grass is grown in between the lines of coffee to reduce water loss and soil erosion, with rainwater collected from the processing unit and sent to the nearby run off collection dam, home to government protected hippopotamus. A number of differing trees are grown in the nursery to form shade cover which helped the farm gain RFA status back in 2009. Shade grown coffee is uncommon in Kenya and the bird life benefits greatly from a differing height of tree cover.

In the true Kenyan style, cherry is picked, washed and fermented before undergoing a soaking -an additional 24 hours under clean water that allows amino acids to build, and is attributed to giving the clarity of flavour and syrupy body we have come to know and love. The beans are then sun dried on raised beds until ready for dry milling and exporting.

VARIETALS: Sl28

Kenua | Kigutha AA

Red El Carmen was set up to achieve stable and sustainable prices for community coffee lots through improved quality control, shared knowledge, and a connection to the specialty coffee market. Red in Spanish means network, representing the producers and roasters working together to create a sustainable value chain. Read more...

Sugarcane Ethyl Acetate (E.A.) Decaffeination is a natural process that not only maintains astonishing integrity of green-coffee flavor, but also allows to offer decaffeinated coffee that follows an integrated vertical supply chain, as the growing, processing, and even the full decaffeination process all happens at the source in Colombia.

Colombia / El Carmen (Sugar Cane Decaf)

Roasted dark this is a strong cup of coffee with moderate body and gentle acidity, punctuated with notes of dark chocolate and roasted nuts. A classic dark roast it works well through milk.

Coffee from the Djimmah region of Ethiopia is famous for its individual character. 

VARIETALS  Heirloom

Dark Roast / Ethiopia Mocha Djimman

For the dark roast of the moment we select one of the coffees from our range and develop the roast close or to second crack to bring out gentle smoky notes and dark chocolate aftertaste in the cup.

Note: This is the dark version of El Salvador | San Ernesto.

Dark Roast Of The Moment | El Salvador San Ernesto

Five farms make up the Café Granja La Esperanza: Cerro Azul, Las Margaritas, La Esperanza, Potosi and Hawaii. With a reputation for producing competition winning coffees, processes are matched with varieties to produce unique flavour profiles.

Tres Dragones gets its name from three furnaces that are used to generate the heat for drying the coffees on the Potosi farm. Located in Caicedonia and comprising of 52 hectares, 34 hectares goes in to producing the Colombia variety that this lot is comprised of.

They produce a few lots here; Tres Dragones, Sidra, Tabi, Burila, and the main contributor to Sweet Valley. This is the original farm, and has produced some of the most exciting lots for us over the last few seasons.

The Colombia varietal is a commonly found hybrid between Hybrid-de-Timor and Caturra, great for rust resistance and with a high yield potential. When picked, the coffee is fermented for 19-22 hours before pulping and fermented again an additional 35 hours. Transported to a silo and left to dry 48 hours before finally being taken to the solar driers where it will rest for around 15 days.

Colombia | Cafe Granja La Esperanza Tres Dragones

Cooperativa Agrícola Integral La Nueva Era, R.L. is located in the village of Jumaytepeque, near Nueva Santa Rosa city. Falling under the Fraijanes Plateau type coffees, a higher potassium level in the soil tends to bring extra body to these coffees. Fraijanes is it’s own distinct region and actually one of the first areas to grow coffee in Guatemala. Volcan Jumaytepeque forms part of the chain of volcanoes in the area, though is not really active, and the village where the coop is based lies in the foothills of the volcano.

For the natural processed coffee, time under the sun is affected by the altitude. Farmers drying their cherries at a beneficio around 1000masl find it will take 10 to 12 days for the coffee to be ready; those with higher altitude facilities can expect an extra 5 days for the correct drying to be reached. The dried cherry is then collected and transported to the nearest warehouse the co-operative owns, before being transported to the dry mill facilities of Fedecocagua in Palin.

Thomson's Coffee

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Thomson's Coffee

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Coffee Roasts

1841 Half & Half

Blue Mountain Blend

Brazil / Paraiso

Colombia / El Carmen (Sugar Cane Decaf)

Colombia / Excelso

Colombia / Suarez

Colombia | Cafe Granja La Esperanza Tres Dragones

Colombian Dark

Dark Roast Of The Moment | El Salvador San Ernesto

El Salvador / San Ernesto

Ethiopia - Haru

Ethiopia | Gemeda Elias Dube

Ethiopia | Haru Natural

Full French

Guatemala / El Fogon SHB

Guatemala / SHB Huehuetenango

Guatemala | La Nueva Era

Half French

Kenua | Kigutha AA

Kenya / AA Blue Mountain

Monsooned Malabar

Old Brawn Java

Renfield 35

Rwanda - Musasa Nkara

Rwanda | Kinini

St. Vincent Roast

Swiss Water Decaffeinated

Tanzania / Iyenga School Project

Team

Coffee archive

Colombia / Cafe Granja La Esperanza Sweet Valley

Colombia / El Meson

Costa Rica / San Antonio

Dark Roast / Ethiopia Mocha Djimman

Ethiopia / Mocha Djimmah

Ethiopia | Gedeb Chelchele

Mexico / Los Hermanos Luna

Rwanda - Buf Umurage

Rwanda / Cocatu

Rwanda / Muraho

Sumatra Mandheling

New Coffee Review