Roots Coffee Roasters is a passion-fuelled micro roastery and coffee bar in the serene end of Bangkok’s Soi Ekamai district.
Open to the public on weekends, this roastery was founded in early 2013 by Varatt “Tae” Vichit Vadakan (2014 Thailand Barista Champion), Korn Sanguenkeaw, and Somdej “Ake” Luengtaviboon. Together, their goal was to introduce great coffees to the emerging specialty coffee market in Thailand. “We hope to make specialty coffee easy, accessible, and fun for general consumers,” says Tae.
Roots Coffee Roasters was designed from the ground up as a dedicated space to roast, taste, and develop coffees for its own coffee bar and retail customers. “On weekends, our little roastery is open for people to come experience our freshly roasted coffees, pastries, and bakery products,” says Head Roaster Korn.
Roots Coffee Roasters’ flagship Bruna espresso blend is sweet, balanced, and a little lively at the end. It’s a favourite among espresso lovers. It also offers seasonal single origin espressos that change every two to three weeks. With filter coffees, customers are given three unique sensory adventures with coffees from different origins with distinct characteristics. Lastly, Roots Coffee Roasters has ready-to-drink cold brew that is most suitable under the hot tropical climate.
Tae began roasting coffees four years ago, and founded the highly popular, award-winning Roasts Coffee & Eatery. Roots Coffee Roasters is a natural extension. With the new roastery, Tae and his humble team hope to bring consumers closer to nature by expressing the best flavours in the coffees and through the interior design of his roastery.
“Our philosophy for roasting is to create coffee that is sweet and balanced, while at the same time keeping the inherent characteristics of the different origins. For our filter coffees, we try to avoid toasted flavours, but at the same time we push the roast to the most developed stage. Most people will find our coffee very balanced and easy to drink, with slight acidity to keep things fresh and lively,” Tae says.
Contrary to the latest trend in Thailand, which places the highest priority in creating the most unique and beautiful environment, customers at Roots Coffee Roasters will feel the authenticity in their quality-driven approach. “We focus on sourcing, roasting, and making the most delicious cup of coffee, everything else comes secondary,” Tae says.
Roots Coffee Roasters invites its customers to engage with the baristas while they work at the four-metre-long bar. A talented craftsman is responsible for the beautifully reclaimed wood finish. “We want the consumer-barista barrier to disappear and invite people into our world of specialty coffee,” says Tae.
Roots Coffee Roasterse is equipped with a modest 1999 two-group La Marzocco Linea, two Compak conical grinders, Mahlkoenig Tanzania and EK 43 grinders, and a Giesen W6 roaster. Tae, however, believes that it is important to show his customers that the most important tool in brewing great coffee is “understanding and knowledge, and not just equipment”.
Roots Coffee Roasters is a great place to learn about the latest coffee trends in Thailand. It also works very closely with many farmers and producers in northern Thailand and will be featuring a lot of micro lot coffees from many interesting Thai farms in 2015.
