Atkinsons is one of the oldest coffee businesses in the UK. It has been trading in Lancaster since 1837, and it has been on China Street since 1901. Today it's a speciality coffee roaster with its own cafés in the city, run by the Steel family.
A long history
The business began in 1837 as a tea merchant, originally called the Grasshopper Tea Warehouse, on Castle Hill in Lancaster. It moved to its current home on China Street in 1901. In 2005, Ian and Sue Steel took over the business, and Caspar and Maitland Steel joined them as directors in 2021.
Under the Steels, Atkinsons has refocused on speciality coffee. They opened two cafés in Lancaster, The Music Room on Sun Square and The Hall on China Street, and built a new roastery in 2016.
Old roasters and new
Atkinsons is known for roasting on vintage machines. Its collection includes century-old Uno and Whitmee roasters, one dating from 1919, which have been restored and brought back into use. Alongside them, most of their coffee is roasted on a modern Loring roaster, which is designed to use much less energy than a traditional roaster.
Relationship coffee
The team calls its approach "relationship coffee". They aim to meet the families who grow their coffee and to respect the huge amount of work that goes into every bean, from planting and picking to processing and shipping. They share this with their baristas in training, so everyone understands how precious each bean is.
Visiting Atkinsons
If you're in Lancaster, you can visit the shop on China Street and their cafés in the city centre. Check the Atkinsons website for opening times.
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