Meet the Roaster: Katja and Claire from Kontext Coffee
Kontext Coffee is an independent speciality coffee roaster in Wales, founded by Katja Klein in 2019. Based in the beautiful Wye Valley near Monmouth, Katja and her colleague Claire focus on producing fantastic coffee while being mindful of the people and relationships behind every bag. Claire joined Kontext in 2020 and looks after the day-to-day running of the roastery, helping bring great coffee to their customers. The Kontext team roast in small batches on a Probatone P12, with a particular interest in transparent sourcing and sustainability.
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Who or what first pulled you into the world of coffee?
Katja: After Uni, I had a rather romantic idea of opening a book café, so while spending a gap year in Canada I thought I should try working in one! Then, as cliché as that might sound, I tasted a natural Ethiopian Yirgacheffe for the first time and that completely changed my understanding of coffee. Curiosity took over from there.
How did you get involved with Kontext?
Katja: I founded Kontext Coffee in 2019, having learned to roast at Right Side Coffee in Barcelona. Starting my own roastery meant I could take responsibility for my role in the value chains we are a part of and proactively shape those relationships around the ethics that are important to me: choosing sourcing partners carefully and taking responsibility for how the coffee was bought, as well as how it tasted. In 2020 my lovely colleague Claire joined the team and basically runs operations. She knows the day-to-day rhythm of the roastery inside out, and the work of bringing these coffees to our customers is very much a shared endeavour.
What’s the meaning behind the name (if any!)?
Katja: Kontext is German for “context” - I am from Germany :), and context is really what the business is about. Every coffee exists within a whole web of relationships: the people who grow it, the land, the way it’s traded and the work that brings it to our cups. I wanted to make that wider story visible, alongside serving delicious coffee.
What music are you playing in the roastery at the moment?
Katja: Amistat. Rising Apalachia. Satsang. Nahko. Bukahara.
Claire: We like to keep it relaxed while the roastery is open, I like Sufjan Stevens & Olivia Dean. But in my headphones while I’m roasting it’s more likely to be artists like Hayley Williams and early 2000’s rock/pop punk.
What advice would you give someone thinking of entering the world of coffee roasting?
Katja: Ask questions, including the ones you think you should already know the answers to. Coffee has plenty of strongly held opinions, so stay curious and test things for yourself. Taste widely, practise regularly and develop confidence in your palate.
Are there any coffee people, creators or influencers you think are worth following?
Katja: We’d point people towards This Side Up, Caraya Coffee and Karst Organics - some of the importers we work with. Their work offers a window into the people and relationships behind coffee. Following producers and the people working closely with them can really broaden your understanding of what’s in your cup.
What challenges do you face in the coffee industry, if any?
Katja: For us, an ongoing challenge is finding and supporting coffee value chains that make the industry’s power structures transparent and work towards meaningfully decolonising relationships by addressing who makes decisions, whose knowledge is valued and how value is shared. We feel very lucky and privileged to have found partners who share that commitment and are willing to work through the difficult questions it raises. Putting these values into practice also means making the economics work without losing sight of why we started. As a small roastery, we want to pay prices that respect the work behind the coffee, keep it accessible to customers and earn us a living as well. Price volatility makes that balancing act harder. There’s also the ongoing work of explaining what meaningful sustainability looks like beyond a label on a bag.
What’s your favourite piece of coffee kit or equipment?
Katja: Our ROEST sample roaster. It lets us explore how different roasting approaches change a coffee’s flavour in small batches. It’s a great tool for satisfying curiosity and working on improving our quality at the same time.
How do you unwind after a long day roasting coffee?
Katja: Getting outside - I currently live on a rewilding project in South Wales so time in the project’s community garden or a walk across the project is an instant energy lift. I’m fascinated by soil and the life in it, so gardening easily turns into another learning project - having my hands in the earth and working with plants is a good counterweight to running a business.
Claire: I also love to get outside, and I love a long walk, but most of the time I’m a real homebody. I’m always reading (currently on the go is Strange Pictures by Uketsu), but I sometimes put down my book to crochet. I love running and lifting weights also, I want to be a healthy old lady, and I find it super therapeutic to run outside in nature.
What’s a coffee that you’re particularly proud of?
Katja: We are particularly proud of the small range of high-quality Canephora coffees, often known as Robusta, that we’ve included in our range from the very beginning. We saw something worth championing well before they started attracting more attention, and many of our customers have really embraced them. The UK market is still catching up, but it’s encouraging to see that appreciation growing. Finding outstanding lots and building solid relationships around them has been especially rewarding. Our relationship with Stephan Katongole and his coffee which we call Lion’s Roar is a great example.
What’s the most overrated thing in coffee?
Katja: The idea that there’s one correct way to enjoy it. At Kontext Coffee we love the attention to detail and experimentation, but coffee can become unnecessarily intimidating. You don’t need an elaborate vocabulary or someone else’s approval to enjoy what’s in your cup. Curiosity is much more useful than snobbery.
What’s a coffee-related dream you still hope to chase?
Katja: I’d love to bring my work in coffee and soil biology closer together, spending more time learning alongside coffee growers and exploring how healthier soils can support their farms. I’ve become increasingly fascinated by everything happening beneath our feet. There’s a whole other chapter of the coffee story there that I’d love to understand more deeply.
Claire: I’m really looking forward to becoming more involved in the coffee community and learning as much as possible from everyone. Maybe one day I’ll be able to make myself useful during a coffee harvest.
Get to know Kontext Coffee → head over to their official website to browse their range of coffees and discover more about how they source and roast their beans.
Explore more coffee roasters in Wales → check out our guide to Wales’ independent coffee roasters, or enjoy a new Welsh roaster delivered to your door each month with The Local Coffee Club’s Wales coffee subscription.
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