MEET OUR BANGER TEAM
WHOLESALE ACCOUNT MANAGERS
TEAM ROASTERY
TECH SUPPORT TEAM
OUR STORY
The Badger
Australian Brock Lewin is the Badger in Badger & Dodo, Broc being Irish for Badger. Brock first pulled a shot of coffee in 1993 whilst at Uni’ in Sydney but really came to terms with speciality coffee whilst living in Melbourne from 2005-08.
He relocated with his wife to Fermoy Co Cork and established Badger & Dodo on his in laws’ farm in July 2008.
The Dodo
Dodo is the father-in-laws’ childhood nickname. Dodo is a bit of legend in himself. We wouldn’t be where we are without this man.
He’s a cross between a retired chicken farmer, Teagasc scientist / inventor come MacGyver !
THE BADGER'S SET
We started roasting back in 2008 in Dodo’s old chicken sheds, but in 2013 we rebuilt the roastery thanks to a local Avondhu / Blackwater Partnership enterprise grant and built a whole new building, double insulated and ventilated for perfect humidity – crucial to green bean storage and airflow roasting requirements.
At the roastery we keep our beloved set of roasters – a 30Kg Joper (‘Dr O’ – see below), a 25Kg Probat, a 3kg Mill City and various sample roasters. We do all bagging, packing, cupping and quality control here as well as some short term storage. We also have a separate dedicated technical workshop where we carry out all machinery bench testing, repairs and maintenance.
“DOCTOR O” AND THE 3RD WAVE
Dr O is our customised cast iron, 30Kg roaster. Roasting via a fluid bed of hot air gives a more even roast which is smoother & richer in flavour. All our coffees undergo scrutiny:
- rigorous blind cupping of samples,
- moisture readings on arrival and before roasting,
- humidity monitored and controlled warehousing,
- roast profile refinement – this last stage involves cupping and refining roast profiles continually until we have it 100%. We are the only micro roaster in Ireland to employ a Q grader (a highly trained and tested specialised sensory master) to do this. This process of refinement would not be possible without our modulating coffee roaster, the only one of it’s kind in Ireland, basically this means that the roaster has 100% consistency according to the roast profile because the roaster controls the roast according to the profile we give it. Once we find that ideal roast profile we lock it in so that particular coffee gets roasted for exactly the same time at exactly the same temperature for every second it roasts – and it does this the exact same way every time it’s roasted. There is no other roaster like it in Ireland.
In an industry where ‘consistency is king’ this is a vital piece of technology. 3rd wave coffee refers to the latest approach to coffee sourcing and roasting. 1st wave is typified by ‘Italian’ roasters who traditionally would have had little regard to roasting or sourcing, 2nd wave roasters would be typified by dark roasting under the illusion that this would bring strength. ‘3rd wave’ coffee roasters:
1) Roast in smaller roasters simply because it allows much greater control over heat. We understand that heat needs to be tamed to bring out the unique characteristics of every crop.
2) Having a small roaster and relatively smaller customer base limits output. Hence this allows us to source smaller & more exclusive coffees, and, form closer relationships with our limited number of wholesale customers.
3) Baristing standards and espresso machines have also developed exponentially in line with wanting to get more from such high quality coffees.
Why do we call ourselves Boutique’ Coffee roasters?
The idea behind this is, like a fine womens’ clothing boutique, we have a range of coffees chosen for their outstanding qualities, to present a range of coffee with profiles for everyone. All of our single origins are Arabica and Speciality – that is, scoring 85+, and we only buy current crop coffee..
In 2018 we went to Brazil and Colombia to meet farmers and began shipping coffee straight into port of Cork – no longer via England or further afield. This means more for the farmer, more for the Irish economy and fresher & better coffee.