Hard Lines is a Welsh coffee roaster based in Cardiff. It started in 2016 with pop-ups and market stalls and now roasts at its second roastery space, in Gwaelod-y-Garth on the edge of the city, on two Loring machines, an S35 Kestrel and an S15 Falcon. Coffee is roasted to order, and the coffee served in its own cafés rests for at least a week first. The roastery sells coffee to visitors and hosts tasting sessions with a roastery tour.

The café in Canton takes its cue from the Italian cafés of small Welsh valley towns, with big breakfasts and Hard Lines coffee. Canton Blend, developed by the barista team and named for the café, is a permanent fixture on its menu. In Cardiff Central Market, Hard Lines runs a small espresso hatch that also sells cookies. House Party, a natural Brazil from Renato Brito at Sete Cachoeiras, is its most popular coffee and also comes as pods and as a coffee liqueur.

The Hard Lines Run Club began in 2020 and meets at the Canton café every Thursday evening for a free, social run of five to eight kilometres. Hard Lines is the official coffee sponsor of the Raise Van from Single Parents Wellbeing. Through Ground Level, its social action programme, it raised money for the Wampís Nation with the For the Forests coffee and collects donations for Cardiff Foodbank at the café. Hard Lines gives 1% of all sales to environmental causes as a member of 1% for the Planet, and it is a Real Living Wage employer.

Partner cafés

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Hard Lines