The Story
Maxwell and Lesley’s coffee journey started in Australia in 2008, where they discovered an underground movement called Third Wave coffee in Melbourne. Captivated by the flavour and provenance-driven approach to coffee, they dove in head-first and learned everything possible about this enigmatic drink.
In 2009, Maxwell & Lesley opened the destination coffee shop Colonna & Small’s in Bath, UK.
Colonna & Small’s soon became internationally recognised and was awarded the ‘Best Coffee Shop in Europe’ title in 2016.
Maxwell won the UK barista championship in 2012, 2014 & 2015, which connected them with a global network of fellow coffee enthusiasts and allowed them to collaborate further and wider in the pursuit of exceptional coffee.
The roastery was launched in 2015, as they sought to take more control of the sourcing and flavour profiling of their coffees.
In 2023, they stepped into the space on Leather Lane and immediately knew it was the perfect location for them to finally open in London.
What distinguishes Colonna’s evolution is their commitment to scientific inquiry. They have co-authored published scientific papers on coffee delving into the complexities of water science and frozen grinding, as well as sensory science and sustainability. Every research project started with a simple day-to-day coffee problem, an observation that didn’t quite make sense at the time and more importantly — got in the way of good coffee!
This ethos of innovation led them to reimagine state-of-the-art capsule technology as a platform for speciality coffee in 2016 and incubate the Peak Water Project.
Sourcing & Relationships
As a roastery they seek to build relationships both with their customers and their partners who share in their fascination and pursuit of exceptional coffee. Their coffee can be found being meticulously brewed and presented around the world with select partners.
Colonna enjoys long-standing buying relationships with estates and specialty exporters & makes sure to pay farmers above the Fairtrade price. They are vocal about the difficulties and challenges associated with transparency across coffee-growing countries.
The roastery’s approach to sourcing reflects their championship-level pursuit of quality. Maxwell realized how many exceptional coffees were around but weren’t available from most roasters he was currently buying coffee from. This is where the inspiration for Colonna came from, the idea behind Colonna was to source and sell competition winning and exceptionally high scoring coffees from around the world.
They taste coffees that are scoring really highly or are extremely rare, and they’re interesting and exciting. They want to taste more of those coffees and get more people aware that they exist.
Their sourcing extends to specific partnerships like the Gorongosa Project in Mozambique which aims to reduce threats to wildlife & endangered species, promote conservation and increased biodiversity. This demonstrates their commitment to environmental stewardship alongside quality sourcing. Every quarter they tell the story of a truly unique and sought-after coffee. They search for these coffees all year and line them up as special releases to share with their customers.
Roasting Philosophy
Colonna’s roasting philosophy is built on scientific precision and adaptability. They roast all their coffee in Diedrich coffee roasters which they chose because of the ability to manipulate both the air and the drum. They roast their coffee across 3 different roasters, a 12kg, a 35, and a 70kg roaster.
One of their key starting points is to roast hot with relatively fast drum speeds. By getting this energy in early they can get good development of body and sweetness as a base to the coffee. In terms of time they tend to roast relatively fast – typically around 9-11 minutes – to maintain citric acid and have bright and clean coffee.
What sets their approach apart is the development of dual profiles. They develop two profiles for each of their coffees. Essentially they do this because of the dramatic difference in brewing concentration. Whereby most filter coffee is very dilute at 1-1.5% concentration and most espresso around 8-10% concentration. There are quite a few fascinating sensory studies showing that concentration dramatically changes a drinkers interpretation and sensitivity to certain flavour.
The real driver and check will always be how the batch tastes. Their goal when they started roasting was to learn enough about roasting behaviour to create a tool kit whereby they can manipulate coffees to get the best out of them. They have developed starting points for different origins and cultivars and processes but ultimately these are open to change during the profiling of each coffee. This experimental mindset reflects their broader commitment to innovation and continuous improvement in pursuit of exceptional coffee experiences.
What to Try
Colonna organizes their offerings into distinct tiers that guide coffee drinkers through increasing complexity. They break their beans into three genres: Foundation, Discovery and Rare. Foundation is for entry level coffee, sure crowd-pleasers; discovery is for those curious to try something with distinctive flavour profiles, while rare is for more of a refined palette, with some exquisite blends and taste profiles from around the world. Every 6 weeks, the beans rotate within each genre.
Finca Tres Cedros’ SL-09 Washed opens 2026’s Limited Release Rare series. Expect layered sweetness, ripe fruit character, and complex aromatics. Their SOLO offering represents their seasonal approach: SOLO is a seasonal single-origin washed coffee offering a molasses sweetness, gentle berry acidity and a syrupy body that carries through to a great finish. For those seeking Brazilian profiles, they offer a well-integrated Brazilian Bourbon, offering pleasing nutty flavours and lots of sweetness.
These lots are tiny and very special. Every quarter they tell the story of a truly unique and sought-after coffee. They search for these coffees all year and line them up as special releases to share with their customers. Beyond traditional coffee, they’ve pioneered specialty coffee capsules, with Colonna working hard to achieve perfect and consistent extraction with their compostable capsules, featuring tasting notes of blackcurrant, dark chocolate and marzipan. The rotating menu ensures that each visit or order offers an opportunity for discovery, making Colonna as much about coffee education as it is about exceptional quality.