— the longer story
Records,
roasts,
a long table.
We opened in the spring of 2014, in the back of an old letterpress shop. The print machines were still there. The coffee machine was second-hand. Most of what's around us now was here on day one.
— record store, friday
— what we believe
Make good coffee.
Play good records.
Keep the door open.
Slow.
We measure in hours, not minutes. Beans rest seven days. Espresso is pulled by hand. The brunch room takes its time.
Loud.
Music is half the menu. Vinyl Friday is the loudest part of the week. The rest of the time, it's jazz, low and slow.
Open.
Long tables, slow wifi, no laptops Sundays. The corner is for whoever shows up first. Pencils are on the bar.
— twelve-kilo batch, tuesday
Twelve kilos. Three times a week.
We roast in a 1970s drum roaster, rescued from a closing factory in Porto. Each batch is twelve kilos — small enough to watch the colour change through the window. We listen for the first crack at four minutes, the second at nine.
Records first, always.
Three thousand vinyls and one turntable. Mostly jazz, sometimes soul, occasionally something a customer leaves behind. The selection changes daily. The volume changes by the hour.
- — MorningsBill Evans, Chet Baker
- — AfternoonsJoni Mitchell, Caetano Veloso
- — Friday nightsWhatever you brought
— side B, midnight
— ten years, five marks
How a back room became a roastery.
2014
A door opens
We take over the back of the letterpress shop. Bring one second-hand espresso machine, three records, a stack of mugs from grandmother's kitchen.
2016
The roaster arrives
Andre buys a 1970s drum roaster from a factory in Porto. It takes nine men to carry it up the stairs. Still here.
2018
Vinyl Fridays start
Mateus brings his record player on a Friday. Friends bring their LPs. By midnight, the doors don't close. Now they never do — on Fridays, anyway.
2021
The brunch room
We knock through the back wall into the print shop. Long table, six chairs. Sunday brunch starts the next week.
2025
Ten years on
Same machine. Same window. Most of the same team. Maybe one new record. The chalkboard is on its forty-third re-paint.
— the small team
Four hands,
ten years.
Most of us have been here since the second espresso machine. We grow slowly, and only when someone joins who already feels like family.
Andre
— head roaster
Mateus
— head barista, records
Inês
— bakery, chalkboards
Sofia
— brew bar, events