Adams + Russell has been roasting coffee in Birkenhead for over 40 years, operating from a unit on the Argyle Industrial Estate, a few minutes’ walk from Birkenhead Central station, a familiar-enough home if you’ve visited as many coffee roasters as I have. You can read about Adams + Russell the roaster in its own Meet the Roaster feature, but today’s post is about the coffee shop attached to the roastery. This primarily acts as a retail outlet for Adams + Russell’s wide range of coffee, which is available in 250 g or 1 kg bags, filled (and, if necessary, ground) to order, so there’s no stale stock standing on the shelves.

There’s also plenty of coffee-making equipment, cups, etc, plus a wide selection of teas (loose leaf or tea bags). While not set up as a coffee bar, the staff will happily make you an espresso-based drink of your choice using whatever beans are in the hopper that day. Because of the nature of the operation, it’s disposable cups only, so don’t forget to bring your own.

You can read more of my thoughts after the gallery.

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Adams + Russell is on the Argyle Industrial Estate, just off Argyle Street, on your left as you walk south from Birkenhead Central station. By car, it’s easily accessed from the A552, with plenty of customer parking. Not immediately obvious from the street, it’s one of those places you really need to know about (for example, I made an impromptu visit two weeks ago after I popped into Bloom Building and Coffee, realising that I was about a 20-minute walk from the roastery).

Once in the Argyle Industrial Estate, it’s easy enough to find: second right after the entrance and about halfway down on the right. To the right of the large roll-up main doors (which lead to the loading bay for the roastery), a glazed, grey-framed door takes you via a small, square entrance foyer and through an open doorway to your right into the retail area.

This was once a single, square room with three half-height windows at the front, but Adams + Russell has made good use of retail shelving units to split it into two, long, thin rooms, the first of which open to the public. This is an Aladdin’s cave when it comes to coffee, with all four walls stacked with coffee equipment (mostly on the right), coffee beans (left, front and right) and tea (on the right-hand side at the front). A door at back leads to the roastery, while a gap at the back of the retail shelves on the right (with a coffee sack for a door) leads to the second space, where Adams + Russell keeps the espresso machine.

You are very welcome to browse, although a member of staff will soon materialise to ask if you want any help. This, by the way, is not a mere platitude. The staff at Adams + Russell really do want to help and are happy to take as long as it needs to talk through the different options and discuss your tastes and needs. The shop is seen as an opportunity to educate and engage with customers and you can be served by anyone, including the person who roasted the coffee you’re buying!

I had a very fine, smooth flat white in my Frank Green Ceramic cup, made with a washed coffee from Tierra Madre, a Women’s Co-operative in Nicaragua, roasted for espresso. The Tierra Madre is part of Adams + Russell’s single planation range, offering fully traceable micro lots from individual farms. Adams + Russell also has single-origin coffees, each from a specific region within a country, and a range of espresso blends, all of which I’ll write about in more detail in the Meet the Roaster feature.

I was very much like a child in a sweet shop, eventually coming away with a bag of the Tierra Madre, which has been going well through both my cafetiere and Sage Barista Express. I also bought the Mountain Water decaffeinated Mexican and the Segundo Ortíz. This is another from the single plantation range, a washed coffee with an anaerobic fermentation stage from Finca Alto Roblalito in Colombia, which I’m looking forward to trying as a pour-over through my V60.

July 2022: Adams + Russell very kindly gave me some coffee to take with me on my upcoming trip to California, including a bag of the Segundo Ortíz, which I gave as a gift to the staff at Devout Coffee in Niles.

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