Name and Occupation?
Sam Tosh - Accounts Manager
How did you get into coffee?
I got into coffee when I started working at Costa Coffee when I was 16. Although the coffee they serve is far from great, it gave me a platform to move into working for independent coffee houses and properly start my coffee journey. Before I started working for Rounton Coffee, I worked at Southside in Northallerton.
What is it that you like about coffee specifically?
Taste is of course the deciding factor of whether I like a coffee or not, but also the processes and what is done to get this end taste. Where coffees come from to get a certain taste and how every different step that the coffee passes through can impact its final taste fascinates me.
What is your favourite coffee origin, and why?
I'm pretty indecisive so anything that takes my fancy at that particular time. I definitely always would go back to a coffee with fruity notes so an east African coffee is probably my best bet. I definitely have a soft spot for the Ethiopian Rocko Mountain, as this was the first coffee we got in at Southside that really wowed us. But I think my favourite is the Wilton Benitez coffee we get in a few times a year - this coffee is unbelievable!
Washed or Natural, and why?
Again I am too indecisive to pick one. I love the funkiness from a natural but again whatever I fancy at the time would be my choice.
How do you drink yours?
The coffees that I like the most are best brewed as a filter so that would be my answer. If I'm out and about with milk, it would be a flat white.
What is your proudest achievement in coffee?
I think doing the job I'm doing I meet people at the start of their coffee journeys. Helping them grow a passion for coffee makes me pretty happy.
If you were not working in coffee, what would you be doing?
Difficult question. I think my switch-off is being in the kitchen. I love to go out and get whatever ingredients I can get my hands on and cook something up, so something down the route of food.
If you could change one thing in the coffee industry, what would that be?
To change the mindset of supermarket shoppers who buy what is on the shelves to buy something that has much more of a connection back to its routes and something that has passed through as few hands as possible.
What do you do away from coffee?
My life away from coffee definitely revolves around football, whether that be playing or watching with friends and a few beers. Also, I have a bit of a travel bug so any chance to get away, I willingly take.