Best Coffee's roastery guide is a compilation of the very best, tried & tested coffee roasters from around the world. We’ve hand-selected a small collection of amazing coffees for you to sample. Not all coffees are created equal, and not all coffees make it into our shop. So we’re starting a series of articles shining a light on our chosen roasteries to explain why we picked them for your drinking delight.

Hasbean Coffee

Where: Hasbean are based just outside Stafford, UK

Who: Hasbean was founded by Steve Leighton. However, Steve stepped down in 20220 after the company merged with Ozone Coffee Roasters.

Since when: 2005

Why: Hasbean have long been on our radar as a roastery producing some really delicious coffee, so we’re excited to finally be featuring their coffee in our subscription service! Hasbean have great values, especially when it comes to treating people fairly. We also love how accessible they make coffee; their website is packed with handy brewing guides, resources, and informative articles.

What’s the story: Founder Steve Leighton had been a coffee fanatic for a long time, even asking for a filter machine for Christmas aged 7. It’s not surprising, then, that he dreamed of working in coffee as an adult. Hasbean started life as a market stall, before transitioning through café, small roastery to the large roastery they currently inhabit. In recent years, Hasbean has merged with coffee giants Ozone, with Steve stepping down a couple of years later. Hasbean still retains its unique and distinct identity.

Sustainability credentials: Hasbean has a published Ethical Policy on their website, pledging a variety of ways in which they intend to trade fairly and directly (where possible) with coffee producers, putting people and relationships at the heart of what they do.

Closer to home, Hasbean are a certified Living Wage Employer, meaning they pay their workers a minimum wage based on the calculated cost of living, rather than what is legally deemed the minimum wage.

When it comes to packaging, Hasbean use recyclable and re-used materials wherever possible. Their coffee bags are recyclable but must be sent to a special processing plant to do so. They encourage customers to send coffee bags back to their HQ so they can send them on and ensure they are processed and repurposed into new products.

Our favourite coffee:

Nicaragua Finca Las Escondida

Origin: Nicaragua
Coffee varietal: Red Catuai
Process: Washed
Tasting notes: Red apple, caramel, cocoa

Finca La Escondida translate literally to mean ‘hidden farm.’ Screened from the road by native forest, the farm appears to blend right into the side of the mountain. This hidden gem of a coffee farm produces some wonderful small batches of beans, including this Red Catuai. Fresh red apple balances wonderfully against sweet caramel, while the chocolatey finish rounds off this well-balanced coffee perfectly.