Department of Coffee and Social Affairs

Introduction to Department of Coffee and Social Affairs   The first Department of Coffee and Social Affairs opened in London’s iconic Leather Lane Market in late 2010. It was the culmination of 18 months work spent searching for the perfect shop and perfecting our craft. As we grew, we quickly understood that whilst a good shop and quality coffee were crucial, the key ingredient to success was our people. The enthusiasm, knowledge and professionalism each member of our team brings, help define and differentiate us in a rapidly growing market, as more people understand the pleasure derived from a ‘proper’ cup of coffee, rather than, well, that other stuff. We are a growing business with locations across Central London, the United Kingdom and now Chicago. Our ambition has been to bring Department of Coffee and Social Affairs to more people every day. This is our first venture ‘over the pond’ as some would say and we are excited and privileged to be opening in such an incredible city.   Our Coffee   To serve single origin coffee requires a sourcing chain that extends from the farm and workers, to picking and packaging, screening and grading, brokerage, shipping, roasting and – finally – coffee making. By working closely with our partners we are able to bring some of the best coffees in the world to our customers.  The grades of coffee we buy can only be produced by farmers who have a passion for their crop and are skilled in agribusiness.   Good quality coffee doesn’t mean you’ll always like it. That is why we sample our coffee blindly and judge on flavour clarity and ability to pique our interest.  Because we buy from specific producers, we expect distinct and definable flavours and we want those to be complimentary – or to collide in an interesting way.   Our Coffee Programme is made up of two elements.  One element is the range of single origin coffees we source and have on offer at any given time. The second element is our Barista Training Programme.  While sourcing and roasting play crucial roles in our company, the quality of baristas we have ensures all the hard work done, from the farm all the way to the roastery, is not wasted. We pride ourselves on our Barista Training Programme, with dedicated trainers focused on developing the coffee making skill sets of our staff and maintaining coffee quality across the group.   Service and Customer Experience   We pride ourselves on the coffee drinking experience our customers receive.  This not only includes the coffee they are served but the way in which it is served.  Attentiveness, engagement, connection, consistency, efficient, caring; these are key words we use to describe our service levels.   We believe through what we do we can make our customers life better.