If you love fresh, organically-sourced coffee, look no further than the city of Hamilton, which features two local cafes that are known for importing and roasting their own beans directly from sustainable growers all over the world. Whether you’re looking for a milder roast with more flavour and acidity or a darker roast with deeper caramelization, either Rock Island Coffee or Devil’s Isle Cafe is sure to have your ideal preference of brew, and will serve you with a smile. Let’s explore what makes these venues so respectively unique:
Rock Island Coffee
Located on Reid Street, this trendy little coffee house has a distinctly Bohemian vibe, and remains one of Bermuda’s most popular java havens since opening in 1995. Attracting a diverse crowd of everyone from young creatives to tourists and high-powered business executives, Rock Island sources fresh beans from around the world and roasts them in the basement area of their cafe, which produces a delightful aroma that can sometimes even be detected from the street. Offering primarily robust darker roasts with deep caramelization, their house brew changes every day to keep things interesting, so if you’re sipping on a Rwandan blend on Monday, it might be a Columbian one on Tuesday, and so on. You can also buy an impressive variety of their fresh coffee by the pound, allowing you to brew your favourite blends at home. To top it all off, their staff of baristas are cool, friendly and laid back, and will always go out of their way to give you a great customer experience.
Devil’s Isle Cafe
Opened in 2014, Devil’s Isle Cafe entered the local coffee roasting scene with a bang, and specializes in lighter, artisanal roasts that adhere to the principles of the “third wave of coffee” (a movement that focuses on coffee from an angle of culinary appreciation). With an off-site roasting warehouse that produces 300-400 lbs. of beans per day, their product is sold not only at Devil’s Isle Cafe but at all Buzz franchise locations around Bermuda, making it widely available. Their head of coffee production, a born-and-raised Guatemalan, has been honing his craft for years and has even won an international award for his roasting abilities. Constantly experimenting with their beans to explore different flavour profiles and acidity levels, Devil’s Isle is also the only place in Bermuda that offers homemade “cold brew”, a great alternative to traditional coffee on a hot summer day.
Written by Charles Doyle
