Not long ago, if you wanted a good coffee you could just go out and get one. Now many of us are separated from each other, and we’re also separated from the companionship, ritual and convenience of our favourite coffee spots.

But that doesn’t mean you have to go without a good brew. Sydney has one of the best coffee-roasting scenes anywhere in the world and while many front counters may be closed, the roasters are firing and the experts behind them are still working to make the best possible coffee.

Here are seven of Sydney’s best. Before you buy, seeour guide to brewing coffee at hometo learn how to get the most from your beans.

Mecca Coffee
Ask the head roasters at the other companies on this list where they started and there are two answers you’ll hear a lot: Mecca and Single O.Mecca started in 2005, long before the terms “specialty coffee”, “single origin” and “filter coffee” had entered public consciousness. Without Mecca, Sydney’s coffee scene wouldn’t be what it is today. Now it’s one of the biggest specialty roasters in Sydney, with the capacity to run its own green-bean program (most roasters buy green beans from a middle man), and get crops other roasters wouldn’t usually have access to. Mecca, Single O, Ona and Sample are probably the go-to roasters for variety. If you want to stick to one roaster but still try a lot of different beans, one of those four is a good bet. Mecca recently started sellingNespresso-compatible podsif you’re in the market.

单啊
A legend in the Sydney coffee scene, partly for longevity (it first appeared on the scene asa small Surry Hills cafein 2003) but more for constant innovation. Not only was it one of the first roasters to bring reliably sourced single-origin coffee to Sydney, it’s still changing the game today. In 2019 the team installed self-serve filter-coffee taps at its Reservoir Street cafe, and it’s currently working with Ugandan farmers on experimental processing techniques for low-altitude coffee (historically considered inferior to higher altitude crops). Right now the online store is selling a $54 blend taster box. All coffees available for online order are labelled with brewing tips, and Single O’s subscription service delivers every fortnight.

Ona
This Canberra-based roaster made quite a splash in 2018 when itopened a cafe in Marrickvillewith a “freezer menu” of rare and exceptional coffees, preserved through vacuum sealing and freezing. This kind of innovative thinking underpins the whole operation, which is steadily building a reputation up and down the east coast after years of dominating Canberra’s small scene. A key to that is sister business Project Origin, a green-bean supplier focused on sustainability and working with coffee-producing communities to develop new, experimental processing techniques. The online store is extensive, covering a wide range of origin countries and offering the occasional rare single origin for $70 or more per 200-gram bag. Ona’s blends might include the fancifully named Cherry Pie and Choc Banoffee Pie, as well as the signature Raspberry Candy. All of these are named after the flavours they evoke.

Sample
This is one of the only coffee roasters in Australia with B Corp certification. The accreditation is only awarded to businesses that can prove all facets of their operations run according to rigorous social and environmental standards . Like all the roasters on this list,Sampleroasts to showcase the inherent qualities of each batch of beans. Right now, the online shop features seven single origins and two blends, all listed with handy one-to-three scores for acidity and body (the single origins have wine-like tasting notes, too), as well as extensive notes on the farmers, the beans and the roast. There’s also a good range of brewing equipment and tips on how to use it.

Artificer
Artificer is one of the few cafes– if not the only one – in Sydney that sells coffee and nothing else. No pastries, no plated food, no tea, nothing. That in a mostly suburban street in Surry Hills. If the cafe served anything less than exceptional coffee, it would have gone out of business the year it opened. It’s one of many great roasteries working withCoffee Roasting Solutions(CRS), a collective that provides machinery and expertise. All the names on this list roast lightly compared to big commercial roasters, but Artificer’s work is particularly delicate.

Edition Coffee Roasters
Another CRS member, Edition is the only outfit on this list that’s gotten behind omni-roasting – the idea that a particular roast can suit all brewing methods, rather than the conventional wisdom that different batches of beans should be roasted different ways for specific brewing methods. Its online store is stocking a quintet of single origins and a small selection of brewing gear to get the best out of them.

Made of Many
Anyone who’s been to Stanmore’sBrighter Coffee, home to small-batch roaster Made of Many, will know what this place is about: honesty, community and a zen-like attention to its craft. The team only roasts single origins (which is rare – most roasters produce at least one blend for milk-based coffees) and retails a few at a time, with a focus on “vivid varietal/origin characteristics”. Of all the roasters listed here, Made of Many probably roasts the lightest. As most of its beans come from Ethiopia, Kenya, Colombia, Guatemala and Honduras (Burundi and Rwanda make regular appearances too), they’re also more acidic than others.

Honourable mentions
With Sydney’s coffee scene as strong as it is, we could easily have written a paragraph about every specialty roaster in the city. But for concision’s sake, we decided not to. In no particular order, here’s a bunch of other outfits worth buying beans from. All are excellent in their own right and match it with the names we chose to write about above.

Reuben Hills
Coffee Alchemy
Loggerhead Coffee Co
St Dreux
Paramount Coffee Project
Black Market Roasters
Stitch Coffee
The Little Marionette
Barrel One Coffee
Primary Coffee Roasters
Normcore Coffee
Veneziano Coffee Roasters
Campos Coffee
Circa Espresso
Nine Yards
The New Paradigm
Ickle Coffee
Grace & Taylor
The Q on Harris
Reformatory Caffeine Lab
Humm Coffee Roasters