Finlay Maclennan is a qualified chef, and purchased The Red Cherry Cafe in Cambridge in 2017 having spent the previous 12 years in farming. Included in the cafe was a coffee roasting business. Finlay asked his father Bruce to take over the coffee roasting once he had been trained by the previous coffee roaster.

Bruce later trained Finlay’s sister Bailey in all aspects of coffee roasting, and she was subsequently offered the opportunity to take over the roasting function of the business in 2019, meaning she was then juggling a young family with her coffee roasting position.

Having watched and gained knowledge from the previous coffee roaster, the family found coffee roasting fascinating. They feel the role requires you be part cook and part scientist, and a number of factors have to be exact to enable a perfect and consistent coffee. The team strive to achieve a perfect and consistent roast and are rewarded with the accolades from their many customers around the country and the loyalty to the Red Cherry coffees.

In 2021 Finlay, through a matrimonial split, sold the café however her retained the coffee roasting business..

Red Cherry only purchase Organic Fair Trade coffee beans, sourced from many parts of the globe. The most interesting, and potentially dangerous, country their beans are sourced from would be Yemen. This country has a diverse culture in the treatment of the coffee farmers, and not all farmers in Yemen fit within this cultureof Organic Fair Trade, so care must be taken when selecting the beans.

This month you are exoeriencing the Red Cherry blend, which is a combination of six different beans with some individually roasted and the balance being batch roasted. Characteristics of the Red Cherry Blend is that it is medium to full bodied, rich, complex flavour, subtle sweet fruit tones.

Tell us about how you enjoyed Red Cherry Blend by reaching out on Facebook or Instagram, and of course head to Red Cherry to learn more about their coffee and where to buy it.