Coffee starts long before the roaster.

This month we’re getting to know KoKo Coffee Roasters, an independent roastery from Mermaid Beach on the Gold Coast with a story that stretches well beyond Queensland.

Who They Are

KoKo was founded by Alex Winter in 2016, but his relationship with coffee started much earlier. Alex spent time in Indonesia working alongside coffee-growing communities, helping farmers improve picking, processing and roasting practices. It gave him an understanding of coffee from the other end of the supply chain, before green beans arrive in Australia and the roasting even begins.

That experience has stayed with him. Over the years Alex has continued travelling to coffee-growing regions, meeting producers, visiting farms and building relationships at origin. For KoKo, knowing where a coffee comes from means knowing something about the people, place and work behind it too.

Their Approach to Coffee

KoKo takes a hands-on approach to sourcing and roasting. Their coffees are selected for quality, traceability and character, then roasted in small batches at Mermaid Beach to bring out what makes each lot interesting.

The range gives us plenty to explore. There are approachable coffees made for the everyday espresso drinker, alongside rotating single origins, special selections and rare microlots for anyone who likes venturing a little further down the coffee rabbit hole.

What we like about KoKo is that the serious knowledge never needs to become a serious experience. There’s plenty to learn if you want to dig deeper, but ultimately Alex and the team want you to brew something delicious and understand a little more about how it got there.