Federal opened in the Northern Quarter in December 2014 with three team members and a brief it still states on its homepage: a café inspired by the coffee culture of Australia, after its founder Claudio’s trip there. The company describes “that sunny Antipodean welcome” as the thing it is known for, and brunch matters as much as the coffee. Most of the food is made on the premises, and the café says it buys from independent farms, roasteries and suppliers wherever it can.
The original site is walk-in only, with no bookings. Federal has since added Federal Deansgate in 2019 and Federal Oxford Road at Circle Square, then Altrincham Market and Boar Lane in Leeds, with a York café listed as coming soon and a coffee cart in the suburbs.
In January 2024 Federal was named the UK’s most popular independent coffee shop, and fourth worldwide, in a study by Betway based on social media and search data; the café’s own post on it ends “and we’re chuffed”. The retail house blend, Federal Coffee Beans, was made with Ozone Coffee Roasters: a medium-dark blend of Brazil, Nicaragua and Ethiopia with notes of milk chocolate, brown sugar and red fruit. Federal does not say which roaster supplies the bars day to day.
Coffee on the bar
- Ozone Coffee Roasters roasts the Federal retail blend
Coffee details come from the roaster's own listings and are dated observations, not a promise of what is on the grinder today.