About - McCabe's Coffee

HANDMADE IN CO.WICKLOW.

Quality is vital to our ethos: quality of product and of service. We roast each day to ensure that the customer receives the freshest flavour and highest quality.

We are committed to outstanding taste, service, and reliability. Our aim is to strengthen our brand of quality and sustainability in Ireland with customers who have a passion for seriously good coffee.

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genuine

We believe that human face is the most important interface and will personalise your contract in order to meet your needs.

experienced

As one of the first micro roasteries in Ireland, we have over 20 years experience of roasting coffee.

craftsmen

We respect the precision and craftsmanship that goes into making the best tasting cup, every time.

…who care

Our job is to work with customers, not against them. We won’t tell you what type of coffee you should like, we’ll roast your coffee the way you like it. If you’re in trouble we’re on the way, any day of the week.

Highly Awarded.

McCabe’s Coffee was voted Best Organic Coffee in Ireland in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, and Best Espresso coffee in Ireland in 2011 and 2016 at the International Great Taste Awards. In total McCabe’s Coffee has been awarded 15 awards in the last 6 years at this trusted and recognised International competition.

WORKING TOGETHER FOR A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE.

The farmers who grow our coffee have to receive a fair price. We work closely with importers who send us samples from different estates in each origin country we buy from. We roast and taste them and select our favourite. We agree on a price with the importer subject to the following criteria and then visit the estate or cooperative.

The price paid to the farmer or farmers in a cooperative must be a minimum of 20% more than the Fairtrade price
Contact details for the farmer or the cooperative must be available.
Typical daily payment for pickers must at least match the legal minimum daily wage.
Water, sanitation, and accommodation must be provided on the farms
Confirmation that no underage workers work on the farms.

This is Sustainable Trade. ‘Direct trade’ claimed by some roasters is also sustainable but has the added risk of payment up front, large container loads of coffee that need to be stored and little come back if it doesn’t match up to the coffee you cupped prior to buying. Importers add a great service in the coffee supply chain and we are happy to pay them for this.

We also use Fair Trade and Organic Certified Coffee. We believe agreeing a higher price than the Fairtrade price as we do for our sustainably traded coffees is better but some customers prefer the external control provided by Fair Trade policy.

After almost 3 years of exploring compostable packaging, certifications, testing, re-sealable containers and re-using bags, all had issues and none worked as well as our existing catering packaging which unfortunately could not be recycled, until now. The process is pyrolysis in which plastics are shredded and melted. The heat breaks plastic polymers down into hydrocarbons, which can be refined into fuel and new plastic products. We are working closely with 2 companies in the UK who offer this service. Pyrolysis can handle complex films, laminates and pouches like our packaging and produces no harmful pollutants. Any oil residue from the coffee on the inside of the film is not a problem.

From meeting management at Panda Waste, the largest waste collection business in Ireland, we discovered that no plastic is recycled in Ireland. We sort waste here and export it to a variety of mainly Asian countries following China’s refusal to take our soft plastics in 2017. So called, recycled packaging offered by some of our competitors is either being incinerated here in Ireland or being shipped to Asia where it is either incinerated or illegally dumped. Incineration does create fuel but dioxin levels have to be carefully monitored and nothing new is created.

A circular plastics economy is a sustainable alternative to the traditional linear model of create – consume – dispose: keeping plastic in use for as long as possible, recovering and recycling it to extract value and regenerate it into new products, creating a make – consume – recycle model. The model eliminates waste plastic into the environment and reduces the requirement for fossil feedstock in plastic production.

Tackling waste is an important component of the Climate Action Plan with some 60% of all greenhouse gas emissions linked to the production and use of raw materials. This is the most sustainable packaging solution we can find and we are very proud to be the first Irish Coffee Roasters to offer this service.

Our Team.

We are coffee enthusiasts who work to live. From a part-time hobby set up in a garage, a small and exciting business developed. We guarantee a great coffee at a great price with great customer service.

Dan packs all our freshly roasted coffee every day and helps with order assembly and deliveries. Dan lives down the road and was born and reared in Co. Wicklow. His favorite coffee is a latte of our award-winning Antigua blend but he doesn’t know we give him a triple shot every morning to make him pack faster!

Robert our very friendly delivery man is from Greystones, the largest town near the roastery. Always happy to help with any query you may have and very fond or a cafetière of our single origin Sumatra Lintong.

Yvonne from Roundwood just a few miles away at the foothills of the Wicklow mountains keeps our roastery very clean and tidy. What we love about Yvonne are the delightful baked treats she brings to work almost every week! Always laughing and smiling her favourite coffee is one of our custom blends for Whelehan’s Wines in a flat white.

Trevor our roastery manager was the first employee at McCabe’s Coffee assisting Stephen with the roasting back in 2010. Trevor has a great passion for the quality and consistency in his roasting and has worked hard developing new and better techniques over the years. A triple shot flat white of our popular McCabe’s blend gets Trevor fired up for a day’s roasting.

Ieva our fully qualified Q Grader never stops thinking about coffee. Her passion for barista training and customer service is clear once you meet her and has now started visiting the farmers who grow our coffee at origin. A keen competitor in all the championships, you’re likely to find her sipping a natural Yirgacheff from Ethiopia on her v60 filter.

Jonathan was the first sales and customer service representative at McCabe’s Coffee. A keen espresso drinker of our Antigua blend he travels all over the country to ensure our customers have everything they need.

Portia looks after accounts but also helps out with packing, deliveries, customer service, IT and is also the head of the engineering section when machines break down! Portia’s favourite drink is a flat white in our award-winning organic blend. She is the prime motivator in our going green department.

Stephen keeps a close eye on all the goings-on at McCabe’s Coffee. Passion for great tasting, well-presented coffee drives Stephen to continually improve and grow every part of the business. Together with Portia, they try to visit the farmers annually that grow all the coffee they roast. Stephen has a real passion for all aspects of the business and has 11 years coffee roasting and sales experience.

Steven is the Order Manager at McCabe’s Coffee dealing with all the invoicing and order assembly. He has many years in the coffee industry as a barista and managing a number of cafes. A flat white of our single origin Sumatran coffee puts a smile on Steve’s face.

Sumba. With just 6 months experience on the job, our latest team member, Sumba has provided great help with green coffee evaluation from origin countries. With outstanding olfactory sense, she can detect the most minor flaws in deliveries from each country we buy from prior to roasting.

RESPONSIBLE AND ETHICAL.

We only purchase top grade 100% Arabica from single estates and small co-operatives in the best growing areas around the world.

We choose to work with farmers who care as much as we do about quality, consistency, and taste. Understanding each other’s needs has helped us produce some amazing award-winning coffees.

Charity.

We are the main supporter of Project 20/20 in Nepal. This is a poverty reduction program establishing a coffee farm for a community in Pokhara. It aims to provide a safe living space for women who have suffered domestic abuse.

The project is a two-acre coffee farm which will provide an income for the participants of this programme, alongside 300 local farmers. It aims to create sustainable livelihoods.
In 2020 the first coffee cherries will be harvested. We update our customers regularly following visits to the Project and we encourage all our customers to join this charity.

MEET OUR GROWERS.

COSTA RICA

We selected Aquiares estate in Turrialba, Costa Rica, for the taste of their delicious coffee, their dedication to the Rainforest Alliance and their community spirit.

Diego Robela manages the estate where pickers own their own houses and a creche, church and shop have been provided. The coffee from this beautiful farm is the main ingredient in our Pura Vida blend.

They have a fascinating varietal garden and a keen interest in experimentation.

INDIA

Prabhakar Baskar and his son Rohan own Pampadampera estate in Kerala, India. We fell in love with this beautiful estate covered in mature trees providing shade for the coffee and natural habitats for bees and birds.

The estate surpasses the Rainforest Alliance criteria by having more trees than required. Particular attention was given by Prabhakar and his team this year to improving quality and yield by way of new organic fertilisers, additional plant husbandry and taller plant height.

KENYA

John has been living on the Jungle estate, Nyeri for 20 years in the foothills of Mount Kenya.

The bright sweetness of this coffee really stood out from other estates we visited.

The rapid expansion of Nairobi had made it difficult to get pickers and farm workers resulting in much higher wages being paid.

We found their dedication to quality and interest in new cross breeds fascinating.