Hatch Coffee Roasters

Gamma, Supernova and a shelf sorted by rarity

The bags are the fastest way into this place. Hatch Coffee Roasters sorts its coffee into Rare, Seasonal and Core, and the named lots move through all three: Gamma from Guatemala and Ethiopia, Stardust Lychee, Starlight Ethiopia, Finca El Jardin washed Pacas from Honduras, the Morgan Estate ARIL Geisha from Panama and Supernova from Brazil. Behind them the wider range takes in blends, single origins and Swiss Water decaf, with origins running from Brazil, Colombia and Costa Rica through Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda to Panama and Yemen. Profiles lean fruity, floral, sweet and nutty or cocoa-like, and washed coffees from Ethiopia, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama form the backbone. Roasting happens in small batches in Markham, and the counter pours the same coffee the shelf sells.

A roastery counter, not a restaurant

Treat the room as a roastery counter. The strengths are coffee service, roasted beans, education and retail rather than a pastry case or a kitchen. Around the bar sit the parts of the business that make it more than a cafe: subscriptions, workshops, wholesale support for independent cafes, brew guides and a bottled cold drip concentrate. The founders came out of engineering and design, which shows in the emphasis on process, measurement and experimenting with roast profiles, and it is the clearest explanation for the shop’s reputation for precision. The atmosphere is community-minded rather than austere, with staff who will talk through a lot in detail, and the operation also runs collaborations outside coffee, including with breweries such as Stone Brewing.

Espresso first, then the cold drip concentrate

Start with espresso, and specifically with Gamma, the house blend built as an old-school espresso for a modern palate. It combines Central American and Ethiopian coffee, washed and roasted to a medium, and it carries floral, citrus, caramel and dark chocolate notes, which is a useful first read on what Hatch is after: structure, sweetness and lively acidity in the same cup. Then move to cold coffee, where the bottled cold drip concentrate sits in the core range rather than as an afterthought. For beans, the named lots show the spread: Gamma for a balanced espresso, Finca El Jardin for a specific washed Honduran, the Morgan Estate ARIL Geisha for the high end of Panama, and Supernova for a straightforward Brazilian. Drink espresso at the counter, take concentrate home, then choose beans by origin and process.