Sydney · Australia
Reuben Hills
Reuben Hills is one of 5 Sydney roasters tracked on day9, in New South Wales.
Since 2012 · Russell Beard
Overview
Russell Beard sold his Mosman micro-roastery The Source and opened Reuben Hills on New Year's Day 2012, building a roastery and cafe inside a former Surry Hills printing factory. Designed by Melbourne architects Herbert & Mason, the deep, narrow space puts a 30kg Probat and 6kg Giesen on the mezzanine — visible through semicircular cut-outs in the cafe ceiling below — and runs free public cuppings every week. The food menu draws from the South and Central American regions where the beans are grown.
Known for
- 30kg Probat + 6kg Giesen roasters on visible mezzanine
- Weekly public cuppings open to anyone
- Designed by Melbourne firm Herbert & Mason inside a former printing factory
- South American–inspired food menu tied to bean origins
- Direct producer relationships across Latin America, East Africa, and Asia
Why it matters
Reuben Hills is one of the three pillars of the Sydney specialty coffee scene alongside Single O and Mecca. Its open-ceiling roastery design and weekly cuppings made the production side of specialty coffee literally visible to customers — a transparency model that's now widely copied.
Production
- head roaster
- Nick Theodore
- roaster machine
- Probat 30kg + Giesen 6kg
- cupping frequency
- weekly public cuppings
- roastery location
- Mezzanine above the Surry Hills cafe
Café
61 Albion Street, Surry Hills, NSW 2010