Dark Arts Coffee has been a client of Diedrich Roasters in the UK for almost as long as Jamie has been representing Diedrich in the UK & NI. Brad Morrison bought one of the first IR-12s through Jamie back in 2012. It’s great to see clients grow and it’s safe to say Dark Arts are unique; they certainly have an opinion and we love them for that at Rubiaceae Consulting.

Brad was looking for a great roaster to get off the ground and also for some training. He came along to a roasting course at London School of Coffee and left with a Diedrich Roaster on order. Support was key for Brad; he had Jamie’s phone number and that was good enough to get things moving.

The story of Dark Arts

Brad was a classic entry into coffee roasting, he was running cafes, making coffees and knew the importance of roasting great, consistent coffee but also crucially the provenance of choosing, roasting and supplying according to his values. He started in Brick Lane and so wanted to roast in East London. He ended up in a railway arch in Homerton. It’s as hipster as it gets; if that hipster was a six-foot Aussie biker and a former graffiti artist with a love for the occult that is...

Forward to 2020 and Darks Arts

Dark Arts were outgrowing their Homerton Arch and looking to move. Ever the hipster Brad had the perfect solution, an old two-story factory building that needed a lot of (expensive) TLC about 60 meters down the road. So Dark Arts bought the building and needed to get it working asap. This is where Rubiaceae Consulting could help one of its very oldest and best clients. Luckily for Dark Arts, another client was upgrading a 35kg to a 70kg roaster, meaning a used 35kg fully auto roaster was up for grabs and it was less than 3 years old. Brad did not need to be asked twice. He had a growing business and a (soon to be) nice new space, he needed more capacity and to lower his cost per kilo production costs. Alongside his big expenses, he needed a supplier who could work with him and importantly, be flexible.

Why Dark Arts Chose Diedrich Roasters & Rubiaceae Consulting

Brad got in touch in early 2020 to talk through the options and how he could juggle his commitments. He wanted to move forward with Diedrich Roasters as he loved his 12kg; it had roasted a lot of coffee, never let them down and he wanted the same with his next roaster. He’d had services, new bearings and an additional chaff cyclone added to the 12kg, so he liked the support Jamie provided. Roasters are an investment; bigger roasters are even more so. Rubiaceae Consulting were able to structure payment over nearly two years to help Dark Arts manage their cash flow. The availability of a great nearly-new 35kg, on good terms, made the decision to move ahead simple for Brad.

How Rubiaceae Consulting responded

The main concern for Dark Arts was their operating risk going forward. They had many changes to manage other than a new roaster, which is enough on its own. The 35kg was much larger than the 12kg they were used to, so there was a lot to plan and consider. Shipping, unloading, gas, ducting, compressed air, installation, commissioning, training, and a new set of roast profiles to work on are just the main considerations. Brad was keen to know that Rubiaceae Consulting would be flexible to fit in with Dark Arts and would be there to support when needed; be it a late-night text to answer a technical question or on-site at short notice for training.

The results

Dark Arts continue to go from strength to strength with the extra capacity and reduced roasting costs helping them grow. So much so that the guys also invested in a linear weigher from Rubiaceae Consulting, to speed up the growing amount of packaging they were now dealing with. Today the roastery looks beautiful and the site in Homerton is a great place to visit and get a coffee. If you want some great life advice and occasional videos created to save James Hoffman the trouble, then just head to their Instagram account.

If you’re looking to expand your roastery and maximise your growth opportunities, then Rubiaceae Consulting have the experience and products to make that happen.