The Who
Hi, I'm Matthew, founder and operator of Fourways Coffee Roasters. I'm a coffee industry professional who starting roasting a few years ago. At the outset, I wanted to learn to roast simply because it seemed interesting and as a way to access and understand a wider range of coffees. Eventually I started selling coffee to friends and family before working with small businesses too. There's tons I want to do in the industry and Fourways is my vehicle for doing so.
What's in a name?
Fourways was the name of my grandparents farm in County Down and I would spend my childhood summers on the farm. My grandad was a shipyard welder and grandma a baker. Both used a combination of manual skill and machinery to produce things for people. In his way I feel a connection to my family's past through coffee roasting - using heat, machinery, raw materials/ingredients and skill to produce things for people. I hope that through this connection with the past I can find meaning for my own future.
Beginnings
After working with a few cafes for the last year or so, I'm excited to finally launch a webshop and start working on projects that bring me closer to customers directly. I've grouped the coffees I currently have into 3 groups - "Classic", "Filters", and "Experimental. I'll save a separate post to go into the ideas behind these groupings and plans going forward, but I'm hoping they're relatively intuitive.
Currently, Fourways is based in the West Midlands, and hopefully you'll see at least some retail offerings in Cafes throughout the region soon. I ship across the England, Scotland, Wales, and the Island of Ireland. New (August 2026) EU packaging laws provide an short-term obstacle to EU shipping. However, I've no plans to expand to EU shipping for the time-being. From an environmental perspective I can't really get behind shipping roasted coffee around Europe, plus buying relatively local is always more rewarding.
Thanks for stopping by!