SLOANE Coffee Roastery - “sophisticated” coffee roastery! :)

SLOANE Roastery is really one of the places that put Romania on the specialty coffee map. I have discovered them through Teodora Pitis, the founder and manager of the roastery. During the first lockdown in 2020 she organized her work very well and did multiple live sessions on Instagram with different people working in the coffee sector (both local and international). I found these sessions very cool and insightful, because the information that was presented was not you find out easily, if you’re that type of person that in a cafe doesn’t ask more than his order.

Teodora is a certifiable coffee enthusiast. She obtained her Q Arabica Grader certification, being one of the 2 Q Graders in Bucharest (and don’t forget, around 6000 in the entire world)! This certification is like a PHD in coffee science. There are 22 exams that have to be passed, and every 3 years some more, for recalibration. Having this certificate that she received directly from the CQI (Coffee Quality Institute), Teodora can grade and give notes to coffee, according to the international certification standard of SCA (Specialty Coffee Association). If a coffee receives or not more than 80 points, this being something that will impact its later price and notoriety, only Teodora can decide.

The origin of the name, SLOANE, intrigued me, even if I cannot say I fully understood it from the beginning. “Sloane” has its origins in British literature, it comes from the book of Anthony Wild’s “Black Gold”. In the book we find two remarkable characters, Sir Hans Sloane and Issac Newton who were among the early promoters of coffee and coffee shops in the world, Newton even declaring coffee as “the philosopher’s stone”. They took inspiration from this story where Sloane should also receive praise for his contribution in the coffee industry, Newton being already in the spotlight. A more modern explanation for the term SLOANE can be, Sloane Square in London, that is famous for the good life, with “sloanies” or simply “sloane”, the slang term for sophisticated, highly educated and upper class person.

In order to maintain a place in this upper class, you need more than a great name. SLOANE is going the extra mile by choosing carefully the coffee distributors and by making sure that the sources are the safest ones. They purchase their coffee from green traders, counting on the strong partnerships they built in time with a lot of efforts. This networking proved to be very useful, especially because it brought new relationships putting the SLOANE Coffee roastery in direct contact with producers. Buying the coffee directly from the farms is what makes SLOANE stand out from the crowd. After multiple visits to coffee farms, Teodora declared in an interview:

This is how in the SLOANE roastery you can find different coffee assortments, originary from countries like : Guatemala, Kenya, El Salvador, Colombia, Brazil. Maybe you won’t find them all available at once, but rest assured that in time you will find all of them.

But sophisticated means even more, and I think it suits SLOANE probably the best. Besides the classic coffees that they roast, brew and sell, they have a passion for the coffee lots that are either naturally or experimentally processed. The team prefers the more unusual notes, fruity or exotic fruits, spicy and why not “funky”.

Following this funky trend, I have chosen the Semi-washed Kombucha processed coffee for my January giveaway. After tasting it, I can only say the following: I liked the sweet and sour taste so much, that I didn’t want to eat or drink anything else afterwards, so I won’t lose the aroma. I will tell you more about it, in a later blog.

This is where I end my story about SLOANE Roastery from Bucharest and I hope that it sparked your interest. They deliver both locally and internationally, so feel free to try out their coffee. For that I redirect you to their website : https://sloanecoffee.com

@SLOANE, thank you so much for the help and I cannot wait to meet you all on your terrace on Echinoctiului 45, in Bucharest sector 6.

P.S. Because they are so amazing, they have offered you a 10% discount, if during checkout you use the code : ALL10. This code is available for orders until the 20th of april 2021. Happy shopping!

Hugs, Miruna