Two Liverpool coffee shops have been named among the UK's best independent offerings. Rough Handmade on the waterfront and COFFI on Pilgrim Street both feature on a list compiled by the team at Capital on Tap.
COFFI's journey from £8 to top ranking
COFFI, located in the Georgian Quarter, opened in 2021 after owners Michael Davis and Natalie Southern spent years searching for the perfect venue. The couple first discussed opening their own shop after being "spoiled for choice" with coffee options in Bucharest, Romania, where they lived in 2015.
Three years later, they decided to bring their expertise back to Liverpool, primarily to keep the coffee blend they had grown accustomed to readily available. After several more years of work, COFFI finally served its first customers.
Ethical coffee and tight finances
The venue features exposed brickwork, understated furnishings, and touches of greenery, most notably in the upstairs seating area. Michael, 40, from Wirral, previously told the ECHO: "When we opened the coffee shop, we wanted to go and prove you can sell fully traceable and ethical coffee, where all of your colleagues are paid well, without it being an issue."
He added: "COFFI only sells coffee you can fully trace back to the farm. We only work with roasters in the UK and Europe who have fully transparent value chains, so we can see where it was bought and grown, and from day one, we've only done that. It's important everyone profits fairly and equally. The coffee industry has had a problem in the past where people weren't being paid fairly. All of our colleagues are paid above the living wage, and we only buy coffee we trust."
In the lead-up to opening, finances were tight. Michael said: "I think when we opened, we had £8 in our bank accounts. I remember the day before, we realised we didn't have any napkins, and you could only buy them in bulk. They were £60, and we couldn't afford them. We can laugh at the £8 now, but it was stressful at the time. We had as much as we were ever going to, and I remember at the time feeling like it was now or never."
Recognition and future plans
Since opening, COFFI has attracted locals and coffee enthusiasts who travel for its cups. Speaking about the Capital on Tap list, Michael said: "The response from the city has been as amazing as it was from day one. The place is full of regulars, and we love it. Knowing names, usual orders and a bit about what's going on in their lives is what we think of as the cornerstone of good service."
He continued: "At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how good our coffee is – if the service doesn't match it, that relationship can never be built. We set out from the very beginning, selfishly, to open the exact sort of shop we wanted to go to ourselves – heavily focused on great coffee, without a fuss. As a multi-roaster, we love serving coffee from different origins and roasters that you might otherwise not get the chance to enjoy, rather than the same old, same old. We source transparently from our favourite roasters in the UK, Europe and beyond, and serve it with none of the snobbery that could potentially come alongside. Every day, we just want to enjoy great coffee with our regulars. Some of the other shops named are our favourites in the UK, and it's an honour to be included amongst them."
Looking ahead, Michael said: "We're doubling down on what we think we do best. We'll carry on sourcing interesting, varied and delicious coffee to serve in an atmosphere we love working in. Because we're truly independent, we don't have to worry about pleasing investors or chasing margins – we only answer to our own standards and our regulars themselves – and I think people really appreciate that."
