Shop Front: Black Sheep Coffee ‘Leaves The Herd Behind’

Published on: 5 Feb, 2023
Updated on: 6 Feb, 2023

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“Oh no. Yet another coffee shop in Guildford,” goes the cry. But Black Sheep Coffee is different. It says it’s the only retail coffee company in the world to serve 100% specialty grade Robusta coffee in a market dominated by Arabica.

And staff at the new Guildford coffee shop at the bottom of North Street are proud of the differences.

The new Black Sheep Coffee shop in North Street, Guildford.

Shop manager Rhett Abraham spoke about the Robusta bean as well as the other varieties available. They included the Ethiopian bean Love Berries, Colombian Blue Volcano, the Bosa Nova from Brazil and the Rebel Decaf from Vietnam. Wonderful names.

He said: “Our strapline is ‘Leave the herd behind’ and we like to do things differently.

“The quality of our coffees is a huge advantage. People say they love our coffee when they come in for the first time. And then they come again. We are also getting people who know our coffee from London where the Black Sheep Coffee chain started.”

Urban street art decor in the new Black Sheep Coffee shop in North Street, Guildford.

Rhett said he has has a whopping 10 staff working in the shop with five or six on at any time.

It was busy when I went in to chat with Rhett in a comfortable set-up with an urban street art-decor style.

Rhett said: “All staff are well trained in coffee knowledge and know the different types of beans available. We are mostly in London but we are expanding. The Guildford shop is the first in Surrey.”