Dublin, Ireland’s coffee scene is on the come-up, and things just got a bit stronger with the addition of Jamie O’Neill’s new Upside Coffee, opening this month. Focused on freshness and a less-is-more approach to green buying, Upside’s got a delightful neighborhood vibe to it, featuring design elements from “the welders next door” and a goal to serve the locals of north Dublin.
As told to Sprudge by Jamie O’Neill of Upside Coffee.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
Having worked in a few different roasteries in the UK and Ireland, and seeing more people grow aware of good quality coffee, I wanted to set up a small roastery with the aim of keeping things simple, accessible, and fun.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
The unit is based in a small industrial park in north Dublin city, our neighbors ranging from welders, to recording studios, to a ballet hall, and bikram yoga studio. An eclectic bunch! The space was previously used for after-hours raves, so I dug up some interesting things during renovation.
What’s your approach to coffee?
- Get in small amounts of high-quality green. This ensures that we only have fresh crop coffees at all times.
- Avoid using any descriptors that only somebody who has been tasting coffee professionally for years might pick out. We hope to make our coffee as accessible as possible.
- Use our experience in quality control to keep our product as consistent as possible.
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
We got in a three-kilogram North Coffee roaster, so perhaps a larger roaster will be next on the list. We would certainly go for North again.
We are excited to be working with Falcon Coffees and the Ethiopians have landed in so that is what the next pallet of green will consist of.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
The grand opening is mid-August!
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
The welders next door put together a steel frame for the brew bar and counter, for our sink, espresso machine, and grinders.
Photos courtesy of Jamie O’Neill.
