Gakenke

Alex Bitsios Esposito grew up around specialty coffee, helping at his mother Silvana's shop The Bean in Beeston, Nottingham from the age of eight. By 14 he had worked every role in the business, and around 2004 he became the first person in Nottingham pouring latte art. In 2015, Alex and his wife Becci launched Cartwheel after she did actual cartwheels down the street where they planned to open. Alex is a qualified Q grader, and the roasting team includes multiple accredited Q graders alongside head roaster Ted. The operation puts out over 50 new coffees a year, sourced from Ethiopia to El Salvador, with a notable partnership with Colombian producer Gildardo Lopez, whose Pink Bourbon finished in the top three of a Coffeevine blind cupping in 2022. The approach is deliberately playful in an industry that often takes itself very seriously.