Cartwheel’s owner, Alex, grew up in The Bean, the coffee shop his mother ran in Beeston: he was clearing tables at eight and had worked every role by fourteen. He fell for coffee while his family lived in Canada, trained on courses around the UK and qualified as a Q-Grader, then opened his first café in Nottingham city centre with his wife, Becci, designed around an attached roastery.

In 2018 the roasting moved to a unit in Roden House in Sneinton, a building of independent businesses, creative studios and rehearsal rooms. It is now the production base, with a Probat Probatone 12 drum roaster and a purpose-built bakery for the café’s bakes. The roastery hosts home brewing and home espresso workshops, wholesale training and a roastery tour with a cupping. Cartwheel buys traceable coffee from individual farmers and washing stations, chosen for flavour more than price, and names most of its coffees after the farm or cooperative that grew them. The bags are fully recyclable, the tasting cards are made from recycled coffee cups, chaff and grounds go to allotments for compost, and the energy, including the fuel for the electric van, is renewable.

The Beeston site has been a coffee shop since 1998 and reopened as Cartwheel’s second café in July 2021 after a refurbishment. It serves Cartwheel’s own coffee with a seasonal brunch and lunch menu every day, including vegan and gluten-free dishes, alongside cakes, buns and pastries. There is a part-sheltered, heated terrace, seating over two floors with a quieter upstairs suited to laptops, and dogs are welcome. It is walk-in only.

Coffee on the shelf

Photograph: Cartwheel Coffee