Flatmountain Coffee Roasters pays tribute to Cape Town heritage and craft culture through their flavourful brews, made at their coffee haven in Woodstock. The brand is inspired by authentic coffee origins and a lifestyle of new experiences and adventure. CTE.com chats to co-founder Bradley Sinclair to find out more.
When was Flatmountain founded and what inspired it?
We love Cape Town for its dynamic craft lifestyle and community. We thought it appropriate to include this inspiration in our name, thus Flatmountain was birthed. But although the Flatmountain brand only took root in 2013, we have been roasting and developing the craft since 2011. We’re constantly inspired by ‘ordinary’ people pursuing what they enjoy and living a life that’s unexpected.
How do you feel the brand fits in with the Cape Town coffee culture?
There’re so many great coffee roasters in Cape Town. I’m sure we are similar in some ways to others, but we like to focus more on community and living a lifestyle around coffee. By this I mean not just drinking coffee at a coffee shop but learning to brew a great cup at home and including it in your active lifestyle: brewing coffee on top of a mountain, just before a surf or in a kayak out of the bay. These are the experiences with coffee we encourage.
How are the beans sourced?
After I left school I moved to a rural area in Zambia and lived in a tent for two years. This experience definitely influenced my focus on African coffee and my desire to ultimately work with the communities and farmers we get the beans from. Admittedly, we are still small and can’t bring in the quantities to change communities completely, but we strive for that.
At the moment we get two stunning coffees from Ethiopia, a great bean from Malawi and hopefully a new Kenyan in the next few weeks. We also have a house blend that combines these single origins with a stunningly smooth Central American coffee. It just works, we don’t know how.
What’s your favourite brew?
That’s like asking a lady what her favourite shoes are … exactly how am I supposed to answer that? Coffee is amazing because you can make beautiful coffee taste different in so many ways. My favourite experience and brew is more situational. For instance, my favourite brew experiences are when I’m hiking or fly-fishing in a small stream up the mountain with an aeropress and a flask. A coffee shop can never replicate that experience no matter how good the cup is. Now I’m amped to get out again – look what you’ve done!
You’re fairly new on the block. What has the reception been like?
Great! The community has been so good to us and the support has been so appreciated. It would be pointless to pursue coffee and not have people to enjoy it with. We’ve enjoyed seeing other coffee lovers use Instagram to show their own journey with our coffee, especially when done outdoors!
OF NOTE
Where 5 Lewin Street, Woodstock
Trading Hours Monday to Friday 6 am – 3 pm, Saturday 9 am – 1 pm, closed Sundays
Contact +27 74 115 8441, [email protected], flatmountainroasters.co.za
Photography Rory Keohane/HSMimages.co.za
By far the best cup of coffee I’ve had and the only one that I never put sugar with
Amazing Bradley Sinclair and Flatmountain Roasters 🙂
CapeTownEtc guys! So kind of you. Thanks for the love.
CapeTownEtc FlatmtnRoasters best quote of the piece: “What’s your favourite brew? That’s like asking a lady what her favourite shoes are”
capecoffeebeans CapeTownEtc it’s true though, right??
FlatmtnRoasters CapeTownEtc so true! If you could pick a favourite, then it would be so much less interesting anyway.
capecoffeebeans CapeTownEtc I’m sure a man has something he couldn’t choose between!? It makes sense.