Hatch Coffee Roasters: The Markham Roastery and Its Approach
Hatch’s story starts with an interest in making coffee differently. The Markham, Ontario company developed its early business around cold brew, then built a wider roasting program that gives coffee drinkers several ways to explore the same underlying ingredient. Understanding that history is more useful than assuming every Hatch bag will have one signature flavour.
From cold brew to a broader coffee program
Hatch’s own history dates the buildout of its Markham roastery and brewery to 2015. In a first-person interview published by IKAWA in 2016, founder Alfonso Tupaz described a background in high-speed packaging manufacturing and roasting coffee by hand. The interview also introduced Boris Lee as head roaster. These are the people and early production decisions behind the company’s technical identity.
Cold brew makes consistency particularly important: roasting, brewing and packaging all influence the finished drink. But that background does not mean a bag of Hatch beans should be brewed cold. The intended brew method belongs to the individual coffee, and the information on its current product page is the best starting point.
Equipment supports the work; it does not replace tasting
Hatch lists Loring and Stronghold roasters among its equipment. Such details tell us something about the tools available to the team, but a machine’s name cannot establish how a particular coffee tastes. Green-coffee selection, roast decisions and sensory evaluation still matter.
For the home brewer, precision becomes useful when it produces a cup you can understand and repeat. Look for a clear description of origin, variety, process and intended preparation. Coffee also changes after roasting, so consistency between production batches should never be confused with identical flavour on every day of a bag’s life.
Choosing a Hatch coffee that suits your routine
Start with the drink you actually make. If espresso with milk is your morning habit, choose a coffee recommended for that use and compare its chocolate, caramel or fruit descriptors. If you enjoy filter coffee, look for a lot whose aromatics interest you and whose roast designation fits your brewer. A rare variety or unusual process can make a compelling second bag, but it is not automatically a better first purchase.
Our Hatch Coffee collection shows the current selection. Check the exact lot, bag size, roast date and availability rather than relying on a past release mentioned elsewhere. The Hatch buying guide offers another way to think through the range.
Give the coffee a fair comparison
Use the roaster’s recipe when one is supplied. Otherwise, keep your familiar dose, water and brewer consistent while making small grind adjustments. Taste the cup as it cools and note sweetness, acidity, texture and finish. Those observations will tell you more about your next purchase than trying to force every listed tasting note to appear.
When comparing two lots, change as little as possible in the brewing setup. A washed coffee and a natural coffee can offer a useful contrast, but their differences also reflect variety, origin and roast. Our processing guide helps place those labels in context.
Sources: Hatch’s official history and equipment information; IKAWA’s interview with the Hatch team.
