John (JP)

Roasting coffee takes skill, care and precision to get the very best of each and every bean and nobody knows this more than Grumpy Mule’s John Parkin, who has enjoyed over a decade of roasting coffee. He still smiles at the early memories of continental roasts, smoke filled rooms and finding a pair of underpants and a bullet in a sack of green coffee (probably best not to ask.)

Nowadays switching effortlessly between organic coffees, micro-lot award winners and espresso blends, John is very much at home with the 50 or so single origin coffees he has at his disposal. He likes nothing more at the end of a roasting session than knocking back a double Espresso No. 1 or sampling his most recent roasts through a Clover brewing machine.

He has been lucky enough to roast some of the world’s finest coffees over the past few years including overall winners (Lot 1’s) from Cup of Excellence competitions. Thankfully, he has burnt none of them.