Friends have set up a coffee company in a fishing village, once the haunt of smugglers of the beans. As Ruth Campbell discovers, today’s traders are hoping to bring jobs to the area

COFFEE drinker Nick Hartley savours the distinctive aroma of one of his freshly roasted brews. Some connoisseurs might hone in on the full-bodied flavour, a whiff of spice, perhaps even a hint of smokiness. But Nick, who has moved back from London to raise his young family in the part of North Yorkshire where he grew up, simply declares: “It’s the taste of the coast in a cup.”

He and his three friends and business partners have launched the Baytown Coffee Company just outside the picturesque fishing village of Robin Hood’s Bay and, while they do use top quality beans and premium blends, they are keen to avoid the trends and pretentiousness of some of the new hipster-style coffee companies springing up in the capital. The idea for their business grew out of a shared love of good coffee, but it’s also an attempt to bring much needed employment to this part of the coast, where jobs are often seasonal, based around tourism.

Ironically, this North Yorkshire coastal village has a history of being involved in the coffee trade, stretching back to the 18th century. Back then, coffee was among the most coveted goods smuggled into the country. Sacks of the exotic beans, along with tea, tobacco and alcohol, were transported along the connecting cellars and tunnels from the bottom of the village to the top to avoid the high duties of the time.

Today the coffee, packaged and despatched from a converted farm building in the nearby village of Hawkser and proudly bearing the Baytown logo, is transported by a much more open route to cafes, restaurants and shops throughout the area.

Nick, 47, and originally from Scarborough, moved back to the area with his wife and young children three years ago after working in London, where he ran a printing company and skincare distribution business, for 25 years. It was an impulsive decision, sparked when the couple spotted a magnificent Georgian farmhouse for sale while visiting family one weekend and decided it was their dream home.

“We saw it on the Sunday and were in a bidding war on the Monday,! says NIck. “I was in London quite a long time. I absolutely love it here. I am not into pretty, ‘chocolate box’ countryside. I missed the severe valleys and moorland, that’s what resonates with me.”

He and his wife, the internationally renowned fashion designer Ann Louise Roswald, wanted to bring their three children, Harry, seven, Tallulah, four, and Bertie, two, up in the countryside, while Nick had dreamed of setting up a coffee company for years. He had already discussed the idea with his good friend David Higgins, who runs the famous third generation coffee merchants HR Higgins Ltd, which has a shop in Mayfair and a royal warrant to supply coffee to the Queen.

“I always felt there was a gap in the market, to produce a product of similar quality up North, and I also wanted to give something back to the community I grew up in. Then I got the idea for Baytown,” says Nick.

At a party in the village, he got chatting to fellow caffeine addict Joseph Hughes - an advertising copywriter who moved to Robin Hood’s Bay from Leeds - and the pair enthused over what makes a good coffee as well as their shared desire to develop a business which takes its social responsibility seriously. Joseph, who has two daughters, aged eight and 11, decided seven years ago that, as a freelancer, he could work anywhere as long as he had broadband. “I was thinking Barcelona, but my wife Louise, whose family used to have a holiday home in Robin Hood’s Bay, had other ideas,” he says.

Living in a small fishing village was a culture shock at first. “I have only ever lived in cities, where we just knew immediate neighbours. But here we know hundreds of people," he says. "It takes half an hour just to get to the Post Office because so many people stop to talk. It slows you down, but it is a much better quality of life.”

Another friend, graphic designer Gavin Joule, also came on board and the four men spent months tasting and sampling copious amounts of coffee until they came up with the perfect blend of high quality beans for Robin Hood’s Bay. And so, the Baytown Coffee Company was born. “The tasting sessions were great fun. Things happened really fast and we ended up getting it off the ground several months before we’d planned," says Nick.

So far, they have come up with five Baytown coffees, named after local streets and landmarks, made from four types of bean. Boggle Hole coffee is their best seller, their deepest and darkest blend, named after the picturesque cove just south of Robin Hood’s Bay which is famous for its fossils. Others include Albion Street, blended for filter, The Bolts, a premium espresso and Ness Point, which is decaffeinated.

All the beans, which come from as far afield as Columbia and Costa Rica and are sourced directly from growers and importers, are shipped to HR Higgins’s headquarters at Waltham Abbey in Epping Forest every week, where they are freshly hand-roasted and blended to Baytown’s unique recipes. The coffee is packaged and despatched from Hawkser, where Baytown employs two part-time staff. “In the future, we would like to do the roasting up here. We want to create permanent employment for more people and pay proper wages,” says Nick. “We believe we have a moral responsibility to make a positive social impact on the communities in which we operate," adds Joseph. "For us, that means here on the Yorkshire coast as well as in the communities from which we buy our coffee beans.”

The company also gives advice and practical help to the Dalewood Trust in Whitby, a training centre for adults with learning difficulties. Dalewood also makes the crates for transporting and displaying Baytown coffee, which is selling well throughout the Whitby area.

Nick and Joseph are grateful for all the support they get in the town and are involved in a new movement for local businesses and social and cultural groups called We Are Whitby, which aims to help build a healthier local community and economy. “There are such amazing resources and people here and we want to help create chances to develop interesting careers,” says Nick.

But, of course, he wants people to enjoy Baytown coffee too. “You don’t need fancy filters and complicated coffee machines,” says Nick, keen to share his tips for a perfect cup of coffee. “It’s possible to make a decent cup in a simple cafetiere or using a drip filter that sits on a mug.

“And little things can make a proper cup of coffee at home. Pour a little bit of water over the ground coffee first and let it swell to take the moisture in. And if you grind the beans fresh every morning, you won’t get a better cup anywhere else.”

W: baytowncoffeecompany.com; T: 07985-245-216; E: info@baytowncoffeecompany.com