Deveroast began in the 2020 lockdown. Its founder, one half of the late-1990s music production outfit Artful Dodger, bought a Behmor home roaster and spent a couple of months roasting at home. On a lockdown walk his son, then 12, told him to sell the coffee and to call it Deveroast, a play on the family surname, Devereux. With the support of his fiancée, Kelly, the idea became a business, known on its bags as The Artful Roaster.
The roastery is in Botley Mills, east of Southampton, and the signature Old Engine Room Blend of Brazil, Guatemala and Indonesia is named after the building it occupies. Green coffee comes from the importer Mercanta, the roasting happens several times a week, and every bag carries its roast date.
The coffee house opened beside the roastery in September 2022. It serves coffee and other drinks with pastries, bakes, cookies and sourdough from The Street Bakeshop in Old Basing, milk from Cross Valley and oat milk from Unordinary Oats, both from just outside Winchester. Beans are sold whole or ground with a small range of brewing equipment. There is indoor and outdoor seating, dogs are welcome, and there is parking on site.
Coffee on the shelf
Photograph: Deveroast