Indigo Coffee Project is a business born out of a passion for coffee, not an all-too-uncommon story, I suppose. But the rest is pretty unique.
Carlos, the founder of ICP (no, not The Insane Clown Posse!), was born in Venezuela, and if I dare say, coffee runs in his blood. He grew up around the coffee industry, in his father's coffee shop, and knew from an early age that he wanted in. By around thirteen years old he went through the National Barista School and became the youngest certified barista in the country!
The name Indigo Coffee Project is an interesting one too, Carlos tells me the inspiration comes from the late, great, Canserbero. Rolling Stone’s greatest Spanish-speaking rap artist if I'm not mistaken. Anyway, Canserbero would refer to himself as El Ìndigo, in the context of the New Age beliefs of Indigo Children - those with unique abilities, often deep intuition and a strong sense of purpose. So in Carlos’ own words, it's about striving for excellence, no short cuts, no compromises.
Carlos later moved to Spain, Madrid I believe, where he worked in speciality coffee. He was manager and head roaster at Boconó Specialty Coffee for eight years, fast forward to the present day and he now roasts for himself, in Manchester, where he initially set up Indigo Coffee Project in 2020. Since then he has pushed in all the chips, in September 2024 he went full-time and is focusing on growing his venture.
But I don’t think this is it for ICP, lots of businesses grow and evolve (watch this space, Limited Coffee 2.0 this way comes?), but Carlos has some pretty clear plans for expansion.
With his love of a deeper understanding of coffee, it seems fitting that part of his plan includes a desire to add a training space to his repertoire, alongside a retail space/coffee shop.
But for now, Carlos works his magic by pouring his care and attention into a Bullet 1kg roaster. Small batch roasting in this fashion allows a real element of control, whilst it might mean repetition, repetition to produce the volumes you need, it also means that you have absolute control, ensuring freshness and quality in with every bag.
