Before we get into the Ritual story, we have an anecdote for you!
As we were preparing for drop 4, we were in a bit of a pinch. Samples weren’t arriving, green coffee that should have been part of the samples was being delayed and in one case we got samples but we were waiting for approval that we could showcase this company. TL;DR - we were one roaster short with only a few weeks to go!
We reached out to a handful of local-ish roasters to us asking if they would be willing to accommodate us dropping by 2 days later! Unsurprisingly (albeit annoyingly) almost everyone ignored us. But Callum got back to us pretty quickly and he and Courtney were happy to host us on such short notice and boy are we happy they did.
Not only were we super happy to work with a local roaster and build personal relationships but we also got to see their really impressive operation first hand.
Their space is located on an industrial estate in Cheltenham literally next door to Deya (a deliciously, dangerous place to be) and it’s such a lovely space. It’s super bright, big, airy, nicely designed and the people were extremely welcoming. Behind the brew bar there is the roasting operation and we headed up to their new mezzanine/training area/meeting area for a chit-chat and a cupping session.
They started out roasting in a pretty small location but it was big enough to supply some local businesses and for the horsebox that became their coffee cart business. Then of course COVID hit, crunchtime for all small businesses. They were lucky enough to have a spot next to a bakery which went really (really) well for them. Once things started settling, they took a punt on their current space which was “comically” too big for them a few years ago but now it’s a bustling operation.
Courtney and Callum seem to be a great team. Husband and wife supporting each other and the business they’re growing. They’ve got some hefty accounts on the books and are looking to beef up their roasting capabilities as they grow. Super impressive.
The cupping was super fun! We tried so many different coffees and they patiently explained each of them to us. We’ve picked their decaf and their end-of-run natural which they’ve kindly put aside for us and for you.
