Behind the Names

We are proud to herald from Sydenham, an area with a varied heritage and cultural mix that we decided to name the coffees after famous residents from the local neighbourhood. Our approach to sourcing and roasting the coffees pays homage to these vivid characters and we believe the taste is in some small way indicative of their personalities and achievements, and as such each coffee is therefore a different expression of where we call home.
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GRACE - William Gilbert (‘WG’) Grace was a cricketing icon. In a career that lasted for over 40 years, he turned batting from an accomplishment into a science and helped to elevate cricket from a mere pastime to a national institution. His was a great towering figure along with his strong features and full black beard, instantly commanding attention. Due to his height, the bat ‘was generally held some distance off the pitch, looking a mere toy in the hands of a giant’. It was in London that Grace played his final cricket matches. In 1899 he became manager of the New London County Club at Crystal Palace and moved to Lawrie Park Road, Sydenham.

  

SHACKLETON - Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton probably needs no introduction. A polar explorer / pioneer who led three expeditions to the Antarctic, and was one of the principal figures of the period known as: the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Born in County Kildare, Ireland, Shackleton and his Anglo-Irish family moved to Sydenham in suburban south London when he was ten. During his second expedition along with three companions, he established a new record to the farthest Southern latitude, which was only 97 geographical miles from the South Pole, the largest advance to the pole in exploration history. Also, members of his team climbed Mount Erebus, the most active Antarctic volcano. For these achievements, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII on his return home.

  

BAIRD - John Logie Baird was a Scottish engineer, innovator and inventor of the world's first television; the first publicly demonstrated colour television system, and the first purely electronic colour television picture tube. Baird's early technological successes and his role in the practical introduction of broadcast television for home entertainment have earned him a prominent place in television's history. John Logie Baird moved with his family to Sydenham in 1933, upon the outbreak of war, his family moved to Cornwall, but John stayed to continue research in a laboratory he had built next to the house. While there he developed systems for stereo sound, colour, and even three-dimensional imagery, but as it was the war, no one paid much attention to his ideas. He was eventually forced to leave due to bomb damage in 1944.

 

SMITH – Sir Francis Pettit Smith was an English inventor who resided in an elegant Victorian house at 17 Sydenham Hill. He along with John Ericasson was one of the inventors of the screw propeller. He was also the driving force behind the construction of the world’s first screw-propelled steamship, SS Archimedes. He was instrumental in persuading Isambard Kingdom Brunel to change the design of the SS Great Britain from paddle to screw propulsion, by lending Brunel the Archimedes for several months. He also helped persuade the British Admiralty to adopt screw propulsion.

 

JIM'S CUP - Though we originally said all of our coffees would be named after famous residents – Jim’s Cup is no exception. A dear friend of ours who resides in Sydenham, and has been pivotal in the creation of the brand. Jim is still very much a part of our journey and shares the same passion as us; enjoying a product which has been crafted with care and love, where the people who have dedicated their time in creating it are recognised and valued. We’ve shared many stories over a cup of coffee and we still do to this day, so this blend is to show appreciation to all the ‘Jim moments’  around the world: where good friends get together, sharing their life, memories and experiences over a good cup of coffee.

 

SCOTT – Our latest coffee has been named after one of our earliest and most loyal customer. A longtime resident of Sydenham, Scott not only shares our passion for a perfect cup of coffee but also for a good game of cricket played with family and friends in nearby Wells Park. We believe that any friend of cricket and coffee is a friend of ours.