Our Story

Welcome to Carrow Coffee Roasters' website.

We are Paola and Andrew, coffee enthusiasts and founders of this small roasting business, located on Carrowgarry farm beside the Atlantic Ocean in County Sligo, Ireland.

Our aim is to source top quality beans and roast them to the highest standards, favouring light to medium roasts that allow a bean’s intrinsic flavour to shine through.

Our passion for coffee grew in Colombia where we lived for four years, travelling extensively throughout the countryside to visit farms and learn about coffee production and the different processing methods.

It was a fascinating world to discover, especially as our time there coincided with a boom in specialty coffee production as farmers put greater emphasis on flavour and not just volume. Keen to stay in the world of coffee, we hatched the idea of setting up our own roasting business when we returned to Ireland. And here we are!

Andrew’s background is journalism with over a decade’s experience working throughout Europe, South America and Africa, including four years covering coffee for Bloomberg News in Colombia.

While there he developed numerous contacts with coffee growers, exporters and industry experts and started roasting coffee on his Huky 500 in the attic of our apartment in Bogota. He is now a certified Q Grader (coffee cupper), and has taken courses in Roasting and Barista Skills from the Specialty Coffee Association.

Paola is an accomplished project and communications manager in the development cooperation sector. Coffee is in her roots being born in Trieste, one of Italy’s main roasting hubs and a city where coffee aromas waft through the streets.

While in Colombia Paola and Andrew kept a blog that included notes from farm visits, café reviews, beautiful pictures and more. You can read about our past experiences and learn more about us in our blog section.

If you are interested in trying some delicious coffee, you’ll find us at markets and events throughout Sligo and the rest of Ireland.

Follow Carrow Coffee Roasters on social media to receive up to date information. We look forward to meeting you!