Rumble Coffee Roasters Open New Espresso Bar at Kensington Roastery, Melbourne -

Known for their responsibly-sourced, knock-out blends and world class single origins, Melbourne based Rumble Coffee Roasters are opening a new espresso bar at their Kensington roastery. Previously operating solely as wholesalers, the team are excited to announce the espresso bar opening on their premises, which will allow the public to have direct access to the brand and their beans.

Established in 2014, Rumble Coffee Roasters began as a passion project for friends and long-time business partners, Matt Hampton and Joe Molloy. Originally from New Zealand, the duo have spent decades running award-winning cafes and espresso bars (Octane Espresso, The Truffala Seed) and developing profound, lifelong passions for both hospitality and specialty coffee.

In doing so, they felt that there was so much more that coffee roasters could, and should, be doing to support both the cafes they sold their coffee to, and the producers and farmers from whom they purchase their beans. So, Rumble Coffee Roasters was born “with a vision to source consciously, trade wholeheartedly, do business honestly, roast with passion, and support others to do the same.”

Rumble launched ‘The Transparency Project’ in 2018, an initiative which reflects their commitment to improve the sustainability and longevity of the specialty coffee industry. “It’s about placing real value on the labour of those producing the coffees we all love and making sustainable and ethical business decisions wherever we can”.

A key pillar of ‘The Transparency Project’ is publishing real pricing data. Rumble was the first roaster in Australia to publish data for all their coffees. By sharing this information with the supply chain, consumers have an increased awareness of the cost of coffee production, helping even the smallest of operations fetch fairer prices for their products.

“If growers continue earning less than the cost of production, they’ll be forced to grow different crops. This is already happening in places like Colombia where, on average, farmers need to be paid around USD$1.76 per pound (AUD$5.45 per kilo), around 50% more than they receive now, in order for coffee production to offer the same income as they would for growing coca for cocaine production.”

As part of their focus on sustainability within the industry, Rumble also places an emphasis on making choices that minimise their environmental impact, including using recyclable and reusable packaging, undertaking responsible waste management and encouraging community awareness and involvement.

With the arrival of their new Loring roaster, Rumble is also proud to be able to produce 83% less CO2 than a traditional roaster/ afterburner setup, whilst increasing their roasting capacity.

Now, the Rumble story has come back full circle with the creation of the espresso bar that’s open to the public. Located in front of the roastery, Melbourne coffee enthusiasts will be able to experience a rotating selection of single origins, a ‘filter coffee of the week’ served in whichever style desired and various roast styles and brew methods.

The espresso bar will also be used for training, masterclasses, cupping sessions, and as a space for Rumble’s message of transparency and sustainability in specialty coffee to be communicated directly to consumers. “The aim is that consumers can come in and do a cupping, buy coffee and take home products, as well as participate in walkthroughs and masterclasses on the same site.” The team hopes that by encouraging consumers to interact directly with the brand and their coffee, they will better understand all the facets of coffee production, including the true value of labour in the industry.

They want to “encourage consumers to be aware of where their coffee comes from, how much it costs the producer and roastery and to always buy coffee from small/independent local businesses who believe in ethical sourcing.”