Heart & Graft is an independent speciality coffee roaster in Manchester. Their ethos is simple: coffee is for everyone. They want speciality coffee to feel inviting, not intimidating, and they supply some of Manchester's busiest bars, restaurants and coffee shops as well as home brewers across the UK.
How it started
James Guard started roasting in his garage in 2012 under the name The Coffee Circle, teaching himself the craft with the aim of making great coffee approachable. Sean Fowler, meanwhile, had become the youngest Q Grader in the country (a certified coffee taster) while working as an assistant buyer at Lincoln and York, a large commercial roastery, where he visited coffee origins and tasted a huge number of coffees.
Wanting to build something special in Manchester, the two joined forces and created Heart & Graft. Sean still picks the coffees today.
From Salford to Cheetham Hill
Heart & Graft first roasted in Salford, in the Artwork Atelier studios alongside artists and makers, on a gold-and-brass Giesen W15A. As they grew they moved to an old mill in Newton Heath, added a second roaster, a Giesen W30, and resprayed both in Heart & Graft purple. The team calls them Big Purp and Little Purp.
In 2025 they moved again, to Cheetham Hill, to be more central and open the roastery up to the people of Manchester for events and workshops.
Training
Kieron Carney, a certified SCA trainer and UK Barista Championship competitor, joined in 2018 and runs Heart & Graft's coffee training, including SCA-accredited courses for their wholesale partners and home customers. Head roaster Frankie Randall roasts most of their coffees and leads quality control.
Find your flavour: the Archetypes
To help people find a coffee they'll love, Heart & Graft groups its single origins into four flavour styles, or Archetypes:
- Mystere et Prestige: rich, heavy comfort coffees that taste dark without being dark roasted.
- Loveshack: sweet, juicy, all-day coffees from Central and South America.
- Chateau 76: complex, elegant coffees with citrus and floral notes, many from East Africa.
- Crazyhorse: rare, experimental natural-process coffees, full of fruit.
Buy their coffee
You can buy Heart & Graft coffee, subscriptions and training on the Heart & Graft website, and follow them on Instagram.
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