Nottingham's oldest roaster celebrates 40th anniversary with 'boozy' new festive coffee - but it's still safe to drive

Stewart Falconer started roasting beans before the words specialty coffee even existed in Nottingham. If you went to a cafe you could order a frothy coffee - but you certainly couldn't add hazelnut or vanilla syrup or have it iced.

Stewarts of Trent Bridge began in 1984. Businessman Stewart was a regular traveller who always enjoyed an espresso abroad but when he returned home he was disappointed.

There were no coffee roasters in Nottingham back then - the likes of 200 Degrees, Outpost, Lee & Fletcher and Cartwheel were to come much later. Stewart, who dealt in clothing for work, led the change when he bought a fancy German Probat roasting machine - the Royals Royce of the roasting world..

Mark Whittaker, one of the directors of Stewarts today, said: "It was made in 1974 and to put this into context we only moved that roaster on just before Covid. It was solid as a rock."

Stewart didn't have a clue how to use the roaster but his connections in Ireland led him to jump on a plane to see an iconic coffee company of nearly 100 years, Bewley's, in Dublin, who taught him the drill.

Back in Nottingham, Stewart opened a small coffee shop and bakery, with the roaster installed, in Upper Parliament Street. As well as serving the general public, he also supplied coffee to his professional friends. As the business grew, the roaster relocated to a bigger premises, renamed Stewarts of Trent Bridge - the name still exists today as a nod to the founder despite two further moves.

Roasting two or three days a week, Stewart would deliver coffee to a growing network, which included pubs such as the Martin's Arms in Cropwell Bishop and Tom Browns in Gunthorpe. The business was bought out by Nathan and Monika Barton but they still worked closely with Stewart until his death in 2015.

Mark said: "He was a lovely chap to deal with, old school. He taught us the art of roasting. He used to do mail order so you’d send him a cheque and wait two weeks for your coffee to come through the post.

"I don’t think many people realise Stewart’s has been around as long as it has. With all these coffee roasters in Nottingham we are one of, if not the oldest established. Nottingham is a very coffee centric city so there's a lot of healthy competition. The quality is pretty highly elevated compared to other cities

"You have to move with the times. We have grown the business and diversified. Stewart was really happy with how we’d taken the business on."

The roasting outgrew the location near Trent Bridge and moved a cool new spot at Avenue C at Sneinton Market in 2017. A year ago another move took them to a bigger unit with more space for deliveries at Robin Hood Industrial Estate, just a stone's throw away.

The Sneinton Market site remains as a dedicated showroom and event space, with a barista school. Blend cafe, which serves Stewarts coffee, is conveniently located next door. Mark said: "Sneinton Market is a nice Nottingham site but it just became impractical. We have a lot of deliveries, couriers taking coffee out, so it got to the point where we were bursting at the seams.

"It was nice to have that presence where people could look through the window. We love Sneinton - we’re not far from Sneinton now but we’ve got a lot more space to grow here."

With the growth in business you might expect a big team but there's just six. The three directors, head roaster Richard Feuer-Cotter, marketing manager Becca Wood and Sally Parker, who roasts and packs.

The roastery supplies cafes, garden centres, offices, hotels, sports ground and coffee vans across Nottingham, as well as offices in London. Coffee can also be bought online, with an ever changing range of guest coffees. There's also a subscription service for those who really can't live without a caffeine fix.

Beans are imported from around the world. The house coffee is Sunset Espresso, which is 50-50 Brazilian and Honduran. Swiss Water is decaffeinated. There's single origin Planadas from Colombia and Road Trip, a blend of Indian arabica and robusta beans.

Shroom Blend, which launched earlier this year, requires more explanation. First of all it doesn't taste like an earthy mushroom soup. A collaboration with Nottingham Mushroom Farm led to this blend made using lion's mane powder.

Mark said: "Lion's mane is quite a big thing as a health supplement - lot of people take it in tablet or powder form. We buy mushroom powder in and blend it with a specialty coffee, a percentage that gives you the health benefits but doesn’t affect the taste of the coffee. We found a lot of mushroom companies and health companies were making mushroom coffees but not a lot of coffee roasters were."

Marketing manager Becca, who has been selling the Shroom Blend at markets, said: "A lot of people who have ADHD have been buying it. The benefits are it makes you more focused and able to concentrate and you don’t get that jitteriness from having it."

The latest new blend has a very festive feel to it. The limited edition barrel-aged coffee has a real hint of booziness - but it's alcohol-free and safe to drive no matter how many cups you drink.

An empty Islay whisky barrel, acquired from Speyside Cooperage in Scotland, was filled with 100kg of Colombian coffee beans. For three months it was lovingly tended to, turned, rolled and shaken for even distribution. Then the beans were roasted.

Mark said: "We did something similar three years ago with tequila, so we were aware of the process. We wanted a coffee that could be Christmas-themed but we didn’t want it to be a novelty coffee. It’s a little bit out the ordinary but it’s still a quality specialty coffee.

"The barrel has given up the spirit and the notes and flavours of what was in it before and that’s infused into the green coffee. We were serving this coffee the other day and I think people can get a little bit confused. It's definitely got a nose of booziness and I want to make to make it clear you can drink this coffee and drive. There is no whisky in it."

Even though the barrel previously contained whisky, the aroma of the coffee has hints of Amaretto and rum and raisin. "We are promoting it as a Christmas coffee but it’s a great coffee within itself," said Mark.

Boxes of the coffee are on sale on the website and at certain retail outlets including Blend, either as filter or beans, priced £15.