Paper Mill Coffee

Two rotating espressos, filter on Origami and batch brew, and a bakery supplying the case daily: the flagship works as roastery and café inside the same 1912 fire-station building.

Seasonal roasting in an old fire station

Paper Mill Coffee began in 2020, when the team brought a decade of London specialty coffee and roasting back to Estonia, and it now runs three cafés in the city alongside roasting, workshops, retail and wholesale supply. The flagship sits in the fire station of a 1912 pulp and paper factory, which is where the name comes from, and the commitments are stated plainly: sustainable supply chains, light roasting and recyclable packaging.

Roasting is seasonal, with trusted importers and as many as thirty coffees crossing the bar in a year, often soon after harvest. Lots are named down to producer, variety and process rather than sold as a generic house roast: a washed Caturra from Peru poured as filter, with red berries, milk chocolate and vanilla; a washed espresso from a co-operative in Umalila, Tanzania; and a natural Red Bourbon from Gitesi in Rwanda carrying citrus, red wine and black tea florals. A share of sales from that Rwandan coffee goes to Project Waterfall, which funds clean water, sanitation and education in coffee-growing regions.

A working roastery with a bakery attached

Service centres on the brew bar: filter on Origami and batch brew, plus two rotating espresso selections, so the best visit follows the current harvest rather than one fixed drink. The roastery is part of the room instead of hidden behind it, which is why the café reads as a production site with seating rather than a coffee shop with bags on a shelf.

Baking is the other half of the identity. Pastries are made daily at Bakermill, the group’s bakery in the Volta quarter, with a rotating selection built on local, seasonal ingredients. Recognition has followed: a Tallinn win in the 2024 European Coffee Trip Awards, and a place in The World’s 100 Best Coffee Shops.

Order Paper Mill Espresso first

Paper Mill Espresso is the clearest first order, the house blend and the most direct read on the roastery’s style. It runs 65 percent Brazil Cachoeira Da Grama from Mogiana, pulped natural, with 35 percent washed Ethiopia Magarissa Refisa from Nensebo, and it lands on hazelnut, brown sugar, pear and green apple.

Then move into the rotation. For filter, Etago from Kenya combines smallholder coffee with Batian and Ruiru 11 varieties and anaerobic kōji fermentation, giving stone fruit, grape and blackberry. Migoti Hill from Burundi is the gentler filter option, a washed Red Bourbon from Mutambu smallholders with green apple, stewed fruit and raisin. Beyond the house blend, the Rwandan Gitesi is the espresso worth asking for.