London Grade Coffee

London Grade Coffee

London Grade Coffee is a small family run business importing single estate organic coffee from Tamil Nadu, Southern India and roast the beans beside the Thames.

Our Story

We buy all of our coffee from a single, organic coffee estate in Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, South India. The Nandanvan Estate is at 5000 feet in the hills south of Nilgiri, in the lee of the Western Ghats, where the cool temperatures and light monsoon help give the coffee sweetness and depth of flavour. Three generations of the Mariwala family have grown coffee on these 30 acres of hillside, home to elephants, Indian bison and black squirrels. Elephants roam the unfenced estate, regularly eating the bamboo rooves of the drying huts. Although leaving the land unfenced comes at a cost, the estate replaces the roof, as the wildlife make the land, and the land makes our coffee. The coffee cherries grow alongside cardamom, chilli and lemon trees, and those notes appear in our coffee.

We found the estate two years ago and began importing their coffee beans, through Mumbai to London. We deal with the estate directly and pay them the price they need to keep producing exceptional coffee beans, and they are proud that their coffee can be sampled in cafés and homes across Europe. The past couple of years, we have built a strong relationship with them, and so can guarantee our customers consistent excellence in every cup of coffee. We then roast it in small batches at the Tate Roastery on Millbank, and then deliver it.

At LGC we have reduced our negative impact to a minimum. Our coffee bags are made from recyclable kraft paper, and our sugar cane paper labels are compostable. All of the packaging that we use to despatch the coffee to our customers is made from recycled paper, making us plastic free.

Our Values