Methodology

Why this page exists

I built Bean Here because I kept doing this manually myself. I'd search for a roaster, click through, find half the beans listed were sold out, or the address was wrong, or the café info didn't exist anywhere. So I built proper tooling to check things properly instead of guessing. This page is where I explain exactly how that works, so you don't have to take my word for it.

What gets listed

A roaster gets included if they actually roast their own coffee. Resellers, blenders using someone else's roasted beans, and white-label brands don't make the cut. They also need to be based in the UK (with a small number of exceptions where a roaster sells directly to UK customers and is genuinely relevant here), and have a working shop where you can actually buy what's listed.

How roasters get added

Two ways: I find them, or they find me. If you run a roastery and want to be listed, or spot something wrong with your listing, email me at hello@bean-here.com (I read and action every one of these myself).

Every roaster gets checked before going live. I confirm they're actually roasting (not reselling), find their real address and figure out what shop platform they're on, and pull their current bean range straight from their own site.

How the bean data is collected

I pull bean data directly from each roaster's own shop. The method depends on what platform they're on. Shopify, WooCommerce, Squarespace and others each need different handling, since none of them expose their data the same way.

Beans, prices, and stock status get refreshed by re-checking each roaster's shop. This isn't one fixed schedule across all 704 roasters on the site: bigger or more active roasters get checked more often than smaller ones whose range barely changes.

If something's marked “in stock” here but is actually gone from the roaster's own site, that's a timing gap between my last check and right now, not a made-up number. I don't guess stock status.

How attributes get verified

Things like “has a café,” “offers decaf,” “runs barista training” aren't just taken on trust from a roaster's own marketing copy. Each one gets checked against real evidence, such as official listings or language that actually confirms it, not just an inference from a vague description. If I can't confirm something either way, I leave it blank rather than guess.

I'm currently working through certifications (B Corp, Fairtrade, Organic, Rainforest Alliance) and will publish exactly how that's verified once it's live.

The guides and “best of” lists

Alongside the directory, I put together curated guides, including The UK's Oldest Coffee Roasters and Top London Roasters. These are genuinely my own picks, not paid placements, and not the same thing as the core directory data.

For any guide with “best” in the title, I show my working: what criteria I used, what I weighted, and what I deliberately left out. If a roaster isn't in a “best decaf” list, that's not a comment on their coffee; it might just mean I haven't got to reviewing them for that specific list yet, or they didn't fit that list's specific criteria.

Sponsored content

Some roaster spots on Bean Here are sponsored, and every sponsored placement is clearly labelled “Ad” or “Sponsored.” Sponsorship never changes the accuracy of the underlying roaster or bean data: a sponsored roaster goes through exactly the same verification as everyone else.

Corrections

Spotted something wrong (a bean that's actually sold out, a roaster that's closed, or an address that's changed)? Tell me and I'll fix it. Email hello@bean-here.com.