First Class Coffee
Lucy Bale meets the experts at Wild Pen – a local, small batch coffee roastery. Photography: Richard TK Hawke and Lisa Vidal
I felt very happy with myself trotting home from the Wild Pen roastery in Barrowford after my first visit, with four bags of their delicious coffee beans under my arm.
As Tom and Milly got ready for another trip to Costa Rica to visit the Aquiares Farm, we caught up again and I was reminded just how important the end-to-end process is to them as an independent small batch roastery.
Visiting the source of the product they roast and sell ensures they meet the quality and traceability their loyal customers have come to know and love.
It should also come as no surprise that Wild Pen are equally as passionate about the people behind the product and protecting the environment in which the coffee cherries are farmed. Keep an eye out for the little frog you’ll see on the coffee packaging and on the website, denoting that the farm in Costa Rica is Rainforest Alliance Certified and as such, ensures the people and environment of Aquiares are protected through best practices.
If high quality, hand-picked, sustainably sourced coffee is up your street, then you’ll certainly be interested in how you can get some delivered straight to your door!
If you visit their website, wildpencoffeeroasters.com, you can peruse what they have to offer either as a one-off purchase or using their subscription. What really sets the Wild Pen subscription apart is the personal touches you receive as Tom and Milly happily interact with you to make sure the subscription package works for you. If you need to pause because you’re going on holiday or really enjoy a particular roast, they’ll tailor your plan so you are receiving exactly what you want – when you want it!
With Christmas fast approaching, their subscription would make the perfect gift for anyone coffee-curious, or a coffee aficionado in your life – I hope my dad isn’t reading this – spoiler alert! A bonus if you’re local and make an online purchase choosing to collect rather than get it delivered, Tom or Milly will make you one of their delicious coffees at the site where the beans are roasted!
In addition to the coffee available at your fingertips on their website, Wild Pen supplies freshly roasted coffee to Blondie Brownie Cafe in Colne, so if you fancy trying their coffee pay them a visit!
For other customers, cafes and restaurants with interest in the Wild Pen ethos and in coffee roasted in small batches, reach out to Tom (tom@wildpen.coffee) to chat about how they can supply you with freshly roasted Cafe de Costa Rica!
No doubt you’ll agree, the beautiful pictures tell the story of the ethos at Wild Pen and really show the value of the work at Aquiares Farm, where the cherries are all handpicked by skilled harvesters. I’m looking forward to seeing what this story will look like in the future as Wild Pen grows, keeping the Rainforest Alliance and Aquiares farm at its heart!
