OUR STORY
Established in 2014, Pharmacie is an independent coffee roaster and Espresso Bar now based in Lewes, East Sussex.
Following many years of running coffee shops in Brighton, Hove and Kemp Town, Rick’s dream to start his own roastery became an opportunity when his friend Danny Tapper of Beak Brewery suggested he move in next door to an old warehouse at The Cliffe Estate, Lewes.
Rick opened the roastery in Lewes 2021 in this stunning 1800sq feet warehouse, allowing amazing views of the South Downs National Park and the River Ouse, with space for many coffee lovers to visit, sip a coffee and watch the roasting process.
OUR ETHOS
At Pharmacie, we roast high-grade coffee with an unwavering commitment to transparency, sustainability, and traceability. Every coffee we source is selected not only for its quality in the cup, but for the integrity of the journey it has taken to reach us — from the soil it was grown in to the people who nurtured it through harvest.
We work exclusively with like-minded partners — importers, cooperatives, and farmers who share our values and our respect for the craft. These long-term relationships allow us to offer complete and honest traceability, following each coffee from your cup all the way back to its origin and harvest.
Our coffees are named after, and thoughtfully designed to honour, the places they come from. From the name on the bag to the profile in the cup, each coffee reflects its origin’s character, culture, and growing conditions. This approach ensures that the story of each coffee is not only preserved, but celebrated — giving proper recognition to the people and landscapes behind every roast.
INVOLVEMENT
Pharmacie has been trading for over a decade, and throughout that time we’ve been proud to play an active role within the specialty coffee community. From taking part in leading industry events such as the Brighton Coffee Festival and London Coffee Festival, to partnering as UK distributors for Sanremo and hosting the UK Roasting Championships in 2023, our involvement extends well beyond the roastery.
We are equally committed to staying connected at origin. Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to travel on coffee sourcing trips, strengthening relationships and deepening our understanding of the work behind each harvest. Most recently, we were invited by Gold Mountain Coffee Growers to visit Nicaragua, where we spent time with the communities who grow the coffees we source — gaining invaluable insight into their craft, challenges, and way of life.
These experiences shape not only how we source and roast our coffee, but how we contribute to the wider coffee industry as a whole.
MEET THE TEAM
We are proud to boast a team of tried and tested, coffee industry veterans at Pharmacie, with decades of work between us, we bring knowledge, experience and genuine passion to the roastery.
Carola - Head Roaster for a decade and the power-house behind the Giesen, she's the woman responsible for the profiles we know and love.
Nicole - Marketing, Wholesale & Community Coordinator, the creative mind behind our branding and the woman on the other end of wholesale communications.
Rick - Managing Director, a man who's job is impossible to describe because it's, well... a bit of everything!
And of course our incredible Espresso Bar team, pulling shots and talking all things coffee seven days at week!