Q & A

1. What equipment do you use for roasting?

We use the Aillio Bullet R2 Pro for production roasting. It offers excellent consistency and control, allowing us to maintain stable quality across batches.

For very very rare and exotic coffees, we use the Nucleus Link. This gives a higher level of precision and control in small batches, ensuring each coffee is roasted to fully express its quality and potential.

 

2. What is your roasting style?

Our roasting style leans towards light roasts, with a strong focus on clarity and origin expression.

We aim to highlight the natural character of each coffee, while maintaining balance and structure in the cup. We don’t roast very dark, as it tends to mask origin flavours. At the same time, we avoid extremely light, underdeveloped profiles. Some coffees are developed as omni roasts, meaning they work well for both espresso and filter. Overall, the goal is clean, expressive, and well-structured coffee.

 

3. How do you source your green coffee?

Most of our coffees are sourced through trusted green coffee importers across the UK, EU, US, and Panama, with occasional collaborations with partners in Australia. These relationships allow us to access a wide range of high-quality, traceable coffees with consistent logistics and reliability. 

At the same time, we are actively working on building more direct relationships with producers, particularly in Colombia and Ethiopia. The goal is to deepen our understanding of each coffee at origin, and to source coffees that truly reflect their place and potential. Whether through importers or direct relationships, the focus remains the same: quality, transparency, and origin character.

 

4. How often do you roast coffee?

We roast regularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Occasionally, we may roast additional batches over the weekend, but our main production is focused on these two days to maintain consistency and freshness.

 

5. When will my order be shipped? 

Orders are typically dispatched within 1 to 2 working days. In most cases, shipping will not exceed 3 working days. During bank holidays or busy periods, there may be slight delays.

 

6. What is your coffee philosophy?

Our approach is simple. Every coffee should taste like where it comes from. Each origin has its own identity, and our goal is to respect that, not mask it. We focus on bringing out the natural character and full potential of each coffee, rather than forcing a style onto it.

Precision is equally important. Coming from a chemistry background, we approach roasting with a strong focus on control, consistency, and accuracy. For us, great coffee sits at the intersection of origin expression and precision.

 

7. Why Ratdog?

Ratdog comes from something very personal to us. We love small animals, especially rats and dogs.

Rats are incredibly intelligent and curious, while dogs are loyal and full of warmth. In a way, they share more similarities than people expect, and we love that contrast and connection. The name simply felt right - playful, memorable, and a little unconventional.

The logo was designed by Yameng, who comes from an illustration and design background. It’s a collaboration that reflects us, not just the coffee, but the personality behind it. Just like the name, our coffee is about character, clarity, and a bit of individuality.