Meet the West Sussex coffee roaster offering something a little different

Based at the Modern Moulds Business Centre in Littlehampton for the last 18 months, Kate started the business from her home in Bognor Regis after taking a roasting course post-Covid.

Prior to that, she had worked as a barista, in coffee and coffee machine retail and managed a group of coffee shops across the south east.

Kate said: “I took the coffee roasting course out of curiosity and really enjoyed it. It’s analytical, involves precision and there’s a lot of science behind it.

“So I bought a roaster that I kept on my kitchen table, and I had such good feedback about what I was making that it took over and now I’m here with a big commercial roaster.”

Kate said she is passionate about providing coffee that is different to the typical beans people might buy, and likes to source unusual options for people to try.

She roasts between seven and 12 different types of bean at any one time, and sells them at markets in Sussex, wholesale and online throughout the UK.

Kate said: “The industry is growing, there’s lots of people around, but what I really wanted to make different was being accessible to the home user.

"Lots of people are very geeky about the process, but ultimately the home user just wants it to taste good.

"And when you go into coffee shops as well, they obviously want it to taste good, but the customer just wants to drink a good cup of coffee socially.”

You can find Kate and her Rockhopper Roaster products at Arundel Farmers Market and Petersfield Market, as well as popping up at other Sussex events throughout the year. She always has a coffee of the month, this month it’s from Brazil and last month it was from Congo, and people can taste them on her stall.

She is also sold in Arundel Taphouse, Harbours vegan bakery in Lancing, Little London tea shop in Pagham and Cormorant Coffee in Littlehampton.

“I like to know exactly where my beans come from and I work with suppliers who go out to the farms for me and find out all about the co-ops I’m sourcing them from,” Kate said.

“I do get imposter syndrome still, but I love doing this. It’s not just something I want to make money from. Of course, making money is great, but I love just talking about coffee and making coffee.

“I’ll always have something people maybe haven’t tried before, like from the Congo, or India, just to offer something beyond the beans people have usually heard of.”

Kate said she is always learning as the coffee world is constantly changing because of climate change and people are trying to find new ways to grow good-quality coffee.

"Arabica has been the most popular for great-quality coffee, but now people are looking at special robusta and other varietals such as liberica and peaberry,” she added.

“I don’t tend to push my coffee to people. I want it to be special. It won’t pop up in every coffee shop in the town, I want it to be unique and I want people to discover me in the same way I look for my suppliers.”

The name Rockhopper is a play on words, according to Kate. She said rock could be a bean, and a hopper is the machine the beans go into – plus she likes alliteration.

Kate also offers small group tasting experience events. The 90-minute session is usually hosted at Arundel Taphouse, and will guide people of all levels of experience through coffees from different origins and processing styles using a method called cupping.

Kate took me through a shorter version of cupping, and it was fascinating to try coffees back-to-back and really be able to smell and taste the differences.

I thought I was going to prefer the beans with fruitier notes, but I definitely found myself gravitating towards those with a more chocolatey and nutty taste.

For more information about the tasting experiences, or to make a purchase, see https://www.rockhopperroaster.com/