What we're tasting: Blueberries | Lemon Zest | Floral

Named after the Hackney Speedway, based right here in Hackney Wick until, much like everything else in Hackney Wick, it was knocked down to make way for... flats. This Ethiopian bean slaps. It's full-bodied, well-rounded, it's giving lemon zest and red berries with an almost lavander complexity. It's amazing as espresso

Tell us about the coffee

Roast: Light/Medium
Origin: Ethiopia, Sweet Berry, Ranger Coffee
Varietal: Heirloom
Process: Natural
Altitude: 1900-2200

This lot comes out of Ethiopia, mostly from the Yirgacheffe / Gedio zones, grown high up between roughly 1,500–2,200 metres where coffee slows down and actually develops some character. Heirloom varieties, hand-picked, sorted the long way round. Nothing rushed.

It’s a classic Ethiopian setup. Smallholder farmers, loads of them, all bringing cherry into a central system. That’s pretty standard. What’s not standard is what happens around it.

Sweet Berry is part of a wider project run through Ranger Coffee and green coffee buyers who’ve built a premium directly into the coffee price. Not for marketing. For water.

Every lot carries a bit extra that goes back into the communities producing it. Wells, clean water access, basic infrastructure. The kind of stuff that shouldn’t be a luxury but still is in a lot of these places. The project’s already funded water access for hundreds of people across multiple villages.

So yeah, it’s “just coffee”… but it’s also quietly doing a job.

In the cup, it’s exactly what you’d hope from Ethiopia. A bit floral, a bit fruity. You’ll get things like blueberry, stone fruit, some florals like lavender. We find this one very zesty too.

Nothing heavy. Nothing muddy. Just that clean, high-grown profile that does the talking for you if you don’t mess it up on the roast.

But the interesting bit isn’t the tasting notes.

It’s that this isn’t charity dressed up as coffee, and it’s not coffee pretending to be charity either. It’s built in. You buy the coffee, the system works. Farmers get paid, communities get something tangible back, and the whole thing keeps moving.

No big claims. No saviour narrative.
Just a better way of doing something pretty normal.

What about the name?

Speedway coffee is inspired by Hackney’s rich, rebellious history and pays tribute to the Hackney Speedway, once home to the legendary Hackney Eagles motorcycle racing team.

Known for its adrenaline-pumping races, Hackney Speedway was a thrilling part of East London culture from the 1930s to the 1990s. The framed Hackney Eagles programmes in our shop serve as a nostalgic nod to those electrifying nights under the floodlights.

Just like the speedway races, this Ethiopian bean packs a punch! Bold and exciting, this coffee delivers dynamic flavors that honor the fast-paced, rebellious spirit of Hackney's past.

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