The team behind West Beverly and California Coffee has unveiled a new £12,000 state-of-the-art coffee roaster - which it says makes it the only Altrincham business to roast its own coffee on the premises.
Co-owner Justin Orozco has always had a small-batch coffee-roasting operation in the cellar of California Coffee since the Oxford Road cafe opened in 2018.
The process was laborious, however, so he has now decided to invest £12,000 in a Valenta 7 coffee roaster, shipped from Idaho, which he says is the first one sold to a UK customer.
The new all-electric machine - which has been installed at the top of West Beverly on Shaw's Road - allows Orozco to drastically upgrade his coffee-roasting capabilities - and more efficiently supply his three Altrincham outlets: West Beverly, California Coffee and the newly-opened California Express at Two Four Nine.
But Orozco is determined to ensure that the community benefit from his investment, in the form of coffee-roasting masterclasses and an expanded retail offer.
"It's a really exciting moment for the community," he told Altrincham Today.
"I roasted coffee at California Coffee but it was on such a small-batch level where I could only do three kilos an hour - now we can do 15-18 kilos an hour.
"The vision is to spread more Cali love across Altrincham, whether it's to offices or residents who want to buy wholesale from us, or through a new masterclass where we'll show coffee enthusiasts how to roast coffee using their own coffee beans."
The new masterclasses would also include lunch or a coffee, plus a goodie bag to take home, he added.
Orozco said he had been inspired by James Freeman, founder of Blue Bottle Coffee Company, who started roasting coffee beans in his garage and has now built up one of the leading coffee brands in America, with hundreds of stores.
Orozco said the new roaster would also allow him to focus on what he loves doing most of all.
"I'll be able to spend more time with our guests and get to know more people," he said.
"It's been great to see so many new faces at West Beverly and to introduce them to what a freshly-roasted cup of coffee tastes like, compared to one that has been sitting on the shelf for the last month."
