Reuben Hills opened in Surry Hills in 2012 as a place to slow down, share good food and explore coffee without the gatekeeping. Its line is sourced worldwide, roasted in Marrickville, brewed all over. Reuben Hills goes to origin, sits with the farmers who grow the coffee and buys the lots it genuinely loves, then roasts them itself batch by batch and packs them by hand. Rather than setting prices itself, it buys at rates set by producers or processing groups, often above commercial or Fair Trade levels, and each coffee carries the farmgate and FOB price per kilo, the export partner and how many years it has bought that coffee.

After years of roasting in the heart of Surry Hills, the roasting moved west to a warehouse in Marrickville, which gives it more room to refine and grow. The wholesale and retail operation is there too. The café stayed where it was. It serves seasonal coffees sourced through long-term producer relationships alongside a menu inspired by the regions they come from, and it takes no bookings: walk-ins only. The wholesale side draws on more than fourteen years of roasting, blends built for a consistent profile all year and more than fifty single-origin releases from nearly ten producing countries.

The shop splits into espresso coffee and filter coffee. The blends are House Blend, The O.G. Blend and ACE, which sits under both espresso and filter, and there is a Colombian decaf processed with ethyl acetate. Each single origin carries its own tasting notes, producer, process and variety, and past lots stay listed when they sell out. The current retail range is listed below with the roaster’s own tasting notes.

Coffee on the shelf

Colombia / Brazil / EthiopiaHouse Blend, product image from the roaster
  • Dulce de leche
  • Smooth caramel
Reuben Hills

House Blend

Washed (Colombia, Ethiopia)Natural (Brazil)Espresso
Sydney

Photograph: Reuben Hills