The Costa Story
Bruno & Sergio Costa set up their famous coffee roastery in Lambeth, London in 1971, supplying local caterers and Italian coffee shops with an exciting coffee, slow-roasted the Italian way. People couldn’t get enough of it and by 1978 the first Costa espresso bar opened in Vauxhall Bridge Road in London. To this day we still use the same method of slow-roasting our coffee beans, serving the brothers’ authentic blend of 6 Arabica beans to 1 Robusta in 500 coffee shops all over the world.
To serve the best coffee in the true Italian style, we focus on quality control at every stage of the coffee making process from bean to cup. Unlike any other coffee company in the UK, we have our own roastery to ensure our unique blend is perfect every time.
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The Beans & the Blend
The Italian Coffee Masters
In their raw form coffee beans are relatively odourless, tasteless and indigestible. It's the roasting process that is all important, drawing out the aroma and flavour of the bean.
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There are only three Italian Master Roasters in the UK and they all work at the Costa roastery in Lambeth. They ensure Costa only buys the cream of the world's coffee crop and roast only the best coffee
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We produce the finest blend of coffee using 6 parts arabica beans and 1 part robusta
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Beans are pre-blended before roasting. This ensures consistency of roasting and reduces damage to the beans which leads to loss of flavour.
The Roasting Process
We slow roast every bean
It’s an outrage that so many coffee makers still flash roast their beans for just six minutes. We know it takes 18 to 22 minutes to do it properly. The faster the roast, the higher the temperature and that creates unevenly cooked beans that make bitter coffee. Great coffee is naturally sweet, that’s why we refuse to sacrifice taste for speed.
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this slow roasting process is unique to Costa
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it reduces naturally present harsh and bitter acids
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it ensures greater flavour and aroma retention
Locking in the Flavour
Faster for a fuller flavour
We package our beans as soon as they’re roasted.
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After roasting, coffee beans release carbon dioxide gas for up to three days.
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In ordinary roasteries, beans are left exposed for a number of days to allow the gas to escape.
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This causes the beans to deteriorate - losing aroma and flavour.
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Our packaging features a one way valve that allows the gas to escape without letting air in.
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Costa's coffee is therefore truly roastery fresh.
