“Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you?”

As a coffee company we get to build friendships with a huge variety of interesting & talented people who are embarking on new adventures every day. From coffee lovers through to coffee farmers, we get to connect these people & it is such a humbling & inspiring privilege.

Since starting out in 1999, we have invested in our product, people & community. Back then we were just three passionate people roasting out of a small shop in London. Today, the only real difference is we have a lot more friends around the globe to learn things from & to share ideas with. 

Our Philosophy is Understanding what we are really selling.

Too many businesses, including coffee shop owners, don’t fully understand the need they are really satisfying for their customers, and so they often concentrate on the wrong parts of their offer. Customers frequent a coffee shop for many more reasons than just hunger and thirst. There is the escape from a stressful office, the chance to maintain or grow a relationship, a place to get away to do some reflective work, a chance to engage with familiar coffee shop staff at a particularly lonely time, or as a place to do business and reach an agreement. Understanding the needs you are really catering to will help you better construct your offer and make decisions that keep your customers returning and so maintaining the coffee shop’s success.

David Lynch’s Philosophy on Drinking Coffee

Hi David. You immediately came to mind because the topic of coffee is pretty…overwhelming. Do you remember the first time you drank a cup of coffee?

David Lynch: I don’t remember the first time exactly, but I’d like to think that I was loving coffee from an early age.

How early are we talking here?
I’m not sure, but I might have been quite little. Maybe three.

Three?
I’m not sure about that, but as a kid I always loved the smell of coffee roasting and brewing.

OK, so what do you consider a ‘good’ cup?
For me, it’s the flavor. It should have no bitterness, and it should be smooth and rich in flavor. I like to drink espresso with milk, like a latte or a cappuccino, but the espresso should have a golden foam. It can be so beautiful, Helen.

What’s inside of a bad cup?
A bad cup will taste acidic and bitter and there’s always a good flavor hiding in there somewhere, but the acid and the bitterness ruin it. It’s very frustrating to get a bad cup when you’re yearning for a cup of coffee.

Coffee companies have come a really long way over the last 15 years from the gnarly stuff.
Yes, well, I think Italy was always producing really great coffee, but America’s definitely come a long way.

Thank God. Speaking of American coffee companies, I’ve tried out the David Lynch Signature Cup coffee; what was it that made you want to create your own line?
Well, it wasn’t really my idea. One day, a friend came over to me and said, “David, you drink so much coffee, you should have your own line,” and one thing led to another, and I blind tested many, many different coffees. Another friend of mine said, “I know these guys down in Long Beach who have the greatest coffee” but I tasted it, and it was terrible, so I kept tasting different coffees and different mixtures and kept coming back to this one in blind tests over and over again.

Do you have any particular terminology that you like to use to describe coffee?
You know those wine tasters, they have a billion different words [laughs] but it just comes down to what you really like. So if words come out, and “great taste” is what you’re looking for and it tastes good as you’re drinking it, and then it tastes good after it’s entered you, it just reads as “great coffee.”

That is exactly how I like to describe ‘good’ coffee. I think you have to keep it simple. No one makes coffee appear more incredible than Agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks. What kind of coffee do you think he would select from the David Lynch Signature Cup line?
Special Agent Dale Cooper drinks a lot of diner coffee. That would be a house roast, so he would really like the David Lynch Signature Cup Coffee House Roast because he would enjoy the flavor of it and it wouldn’t be acidic or bitter. And he would probably order several cups.

I don’t blame him. I drink too much coffee myself. Do you feel like coffee helps to inspire your work?
Yes. You know there’s a thing—since I was in high school, I read a book called The Art Spirit by Robert Henri, and in it he talks about this art spirit that transformed itself into the art life for me. Coffee is part of the art life. I don’t know quite how it works, but it makes you feel really good and it serves the creative process. It goes hand in hand with painting for sure.

In essence, what’s in a cup of coffee for you?
A good friend.

I’ve heard that you used to be a lot like Balzac and drink twenty cups a day. How many do you consume these days?
Well, I think I would say ten. It’s true I used to drink twenty. But they were smaller and in Styrofoam cups. Now I drink them in bigger cups.

If I drink more than two cups, it makes me feel shaky. You must be an evolved human being to be able to enjoy that many.
[Laughs] I really enjoy them…I just keep drinking. My trick though is to stop drinking them around 5:30 at night.

I can certainly benefit from that trick. How do you take it?

Cappuccinos, mostly, but I like lattes, too. I just got two new espresso machines that are really incredible.

What kind?
Faema E61 Legend espresso machines. Every cup comes out the same once you get them dialed in. They are so beautiful, Helen. Coffee is such a strange thing. All the things you have to make it—people find what they love and make their own systems. Lots of people are doing really great things in coffee these days, but you have to find what works for you and you can instantly go to heaven.

That is good advice. Speaking of which: for those who’ve never touched a drip, do you have any advice on where to begin?
Well, if they tried David Lynch Signature Cup then I’m afraid they’d be disappointed when they tried any other coffee [laughs]. It’s a beautiful world, the world of coffee.

Agreed. I’m going to go indulge in a cup ASAP.  
I hope you find a great cup of coffee.

Thank You too, David..

By Helen Hollyman