Carrow Coffee Roasters is a start-up roastery based on a family farm in the West of Ireland, perched on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean and circled by ancient forests and Neolithic sites.

We constantly strive to source the best sustainably-grown beans from small-scale farmers, and then use our roasting expertise to maximize their flavour in the cup. We favour light to medium roasts that allow a bean’s intrinsic flavour to shine through.

As well as quality and craftsmanship we value our community. This is why we want our roastery to be a place for our ‘specialty coffee' community to meet and cup amazing coffees. A space to discuss coffee but also the need to preserve the omnipresent nature around us that so strongly defines the place that we live and work.

We do care. A lot.

Living in the West of Ireland means connecting with and respecting nature and those values are at the core of who we are as a business.

We are committed to reducing our environmental impact through the adoption of sustainable practices that will reduce our carbon footprint. For example, we use 100% compostable packaging for our retail bags and we supply our wholesale customers in the Sligo area using reusable buckets, which helps to cut down on packaging in the bin!

As for our roastery, it was essential for us to operate in a low-impact building that sits comfortably within its natural environment. The design was inspired by the intensity of light, colours and elements typical of the west coast: the heather-covered mountains, vivid greens, slate-grey skies, the howling wind and rain and awe-inspiring rainbows.

When refurbishing the building we chose renewable, durable and natural materials such as wood sourced from Irish forests. Larch is a highly resinous wood that seals itself and forms a naturally waterproof barrier against the rain. The untreated larch-clad structure reinforces the link with the surrounding environment and allows the building to age gracefully over time.

Inside plywood workbenches and shelves are rubbed with natural beeswax to make them waterproof, rather than synthetic preservatives. As we don’t use chemical-containing soaps, all water from the sink is returned to fields on the farm. Chaff from the roaster and coffee grinds are used as compost for the vegetable garden.

A step further…

Finally, since we are based on a farm we are committed to growing chemical and pesticide-free delicious vegetables through our sister company Carrowgarry Farm.

Returning to a family farm was part of a life project to improve our quality of life and become more connected with the place we live in. Growing vegetables and supplying our community with local, fresh and seasonal food is a way for us to do something concrete in response to current environmental and climate challenges.