Luka Banovic established Banibean at the age of 17 (!) partly frustrated that classic coffee was bitter and partly due to a lack of specialty coffee roasters in Slovenia. He's this month's discovery roaster as we first met him at last years’ London Coffee Festival. We were so surprised by how much this young man has achieved and how he's crafting to such high standards, especially in a county where specialty coffee is just starting to take root.

Many coffee enthusiasts got really excited when they heard the news that @50percentarabica, the man behind the very popular funny memes on Instagram, created Jokes Aside Coffee Roasters. Alan Jarrar and his partner Kalliopé Theodorakaku started roasting their own coffee because they wanted to have a bigger impact on what they love to do. We’re very excited to share their coffee in this month’s set.

Crooked Nose & Coffee Stories founded by Emanuelis Ryklys and his wife Inga in 2011. They pay great attention to coffee culture and education by organising regular coffee tastings and other inspiring coffee events in Lithuania and abroad. Emanuelis has also written a book about coffee and even created his own flavour wheel highlighting unique Lithuanian tasting notes. We're looking forward to learning their 'coffee stories' on our IG livestream.

Sloane Specialty Coffee Roastery is one of the places that put Romania and Bucharest on the specialty coffee map. Founded and managed by Teodora Pitis, a certifiable coffee enthusiast and one of the only two Q Graders in Bucharest. We love Sloane’s coffee because, as they put it “Sloane is going the extra mile by selecting lots at the forefront of coffee experimenting and development” and this coffee is a great example of their philosophy.