Curve began in 2016, when Tereza and Jon left London for the Margate coast with a second-hand roaster. Tereza came to coffee through barista work and training, and volunteered on a farm in Brazil; Jon found his way into coffee in Sweden before taking up roasting back in the UK. They first roasted at the back of a community café and multi-purpose space in Margate, then opened their own café and moved the roastery to bigger premises. The team is now fifteen people. The name comes from the roast curve, the graph of bean temperature against time that the roasters shape on a Loring Falcon S15.

Curve prefers single coffees to blends and buys most of its green coffee from the same communities, and sometimes the same producers, year after year, through export partners such as Siruma in Colombia and Muraho in Rwanda. It gives 1% of its revenue to projects in those communities and to grassroots groups in Margate, and has an impact report for 2024/25. Filter roasts are lighter, while espresso roasts are more developed, for body and sweetness. A community espresso changes three times a year.

The café and general store in Margate is its flagship and a neighbourhood brunch spot, serving coffee, food and treats. It takes no reservations. The roastery is a production space, open to the public only on open days and for workshops booked in advance.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Curve Coffee Roasters