James Hoffmann

The Path

Early service work can train the habits that later matter in coffee: sequencing, attention, composure, and repeated precision under observation. James Hoffmann trained at Uppingham School before working as a croupier at Leeds casino in Leeds, England, then moved into the wine industry, another trade where sensory recall and shared vocabulary carry practical weight. Espresso equipment entered the record through sales work at Gaggia in Selfridges, placing him closer to the machinery and user decisions that shape a cup before coffee became the central material. Public coffee writing became part of the craft infrastructure when Hoffmann founded and wrote at Jimseven (from 2004). The site gave room for questions about coffee to be tested in language rather than left as preference. Training then became formal through his role as national training manager for the UK at La Spaziale in United Kingdom (until 2007), and service culture took a more direct public form when he co-operated Penny University in Shoreditch, London, England (2010). Coffee publishing and collaboration extended that same explanatory work into fixed and repeatable forms. Across those formats, the craft subject stays concrete: beans, water, heat, equipment, taste, and the methods by which drinkers and professionals learn to assess what is in the cup. The current practice links roasting, equipment, publishing, and public instruction. James Hoffmann is co-founder of Square Mile Coffee Roasters (since 2008), collaborator of Victoria Arduino (since 2013), YouTube channel host of James Hoffmann YouTube channel (since 2016), and founder of Tens Hundreds Thousands. The result is not a single workshop role but a set of connected platforms around sourcing and roasting, machine use, technique, and explanation.

The Work Today

Roasting gives this body of work its material base. As co-founder of Square Mile Coffee Roasters, Hoffmann works from a trade position where green coffee, roast decisions, brewing practice, and customer education meet. The public-facing video work broadens the same inquiry into anything and everything to do with coffee, from the object on the counter to the method in the hand and the choices made before tasting. The structure of the work is editorial as much as entrepreneurial.

In Their Words “I’ve done so since 2003, and have since started a few companies, competed in a few competitions and written at least one proper book.” “My name is James Hoffmann, and for the most part I work in coffee.”

Acclaim

Recognition in coffee can come from the bar, the page, or the screen, and Hoffmann’s honors sit across those venues: Best Coffee Magazine/Book for How to Make the Best Coffee at Home (2023), Best Coffee Video/Film, runner-up (2023), World Barista Champion (2007), UK Barista Champion (2006), and World Barista Championship, fifth place (2006). The sequence records both competition craft under timed scrutiny and later work in publishing and film, where technique is judged through explanation as well as execution.