Patrik Rolf built a hand grinder around flavour, not specs

Few people in modern specialty coffee have tested their ideas across as many arenas as Patrik Rolf.

The Gothenburg-born roaster began his coffee career at da Matteo, later led the roastery at Five Elephant in Berlin, and founded April Coffee Roasters in Copenhagen in 2016.

His competition record places him among the most accomplished specialty coffee professionals in the world. Rolf finished second in the 2019 World Brewers Cup, reached the final of the 2023 World Barista Championship, finishing sixth, and returned to the World Brewers Cup in 2024 to place fourth.

Reaching the highest level in both manual brewing and espresso service is rare.

Competition has also served as a proving ground for April’s products. Something Rolf talks about in this interview. A prototype of the April Brewer was part of his silver-medal 2019 Brewers Cup campaign. The brewer launched on Kickstarter later that year.

April has since built a wider brewing system around its coffee, including brewers, paper filters and water minerals.

The new April Hand Grinder is next. And, in my mind, the most consequential piece of that system. The Kickstarter campaign launches on September 1, 2026.

In this exclusive FLTR Magazine interview, Rolf discusses the specialty coffee industry’s fixation on complexity, what competition can and cannot teach a coffee shop, the lessons he learned from home brewers, and why April designed a hand grinder specifically for its own brewers.

What’s one belief that the specialty coffee industry has held onto for too long?

I think we’ve held onto the idea that more complexity automatically means better coffee.

Over the last decade we’ve become incredibly good at making coffee complicated. New processing methods, flavoring of coffee, endless brewing variables and increasingly technical language. But complexity has never been the goal. Great tasting coffee is.

At April we’ve always tried to reclaim coffee flavour. For me, that starts with celebrating terroir, variety and the work of the farmer. Everything we do afterwards should reveal those qualities. Not compete with them.

Sometimes I think we’ve become more fascinated by what we can do to coffee than by what the coffee already has to say and the authentic taste perspective coffees has to offer.

The future of specialty coffee can’t be about turning it into something it’s not. We need to stop with the artificial flavoring of coffee and blending away of terroir and instead create better systems that allow us to make people fall in love with what we do.

Do competitions measure the things that actually matter behind the bar?

Competitions have been one of the greatest teachers in my career, but they’re often misunderstood.

A competition isn’t a blueprint for running a coffee shop. It’s a laboratory where ideas are tested under pressure. That’s incredibly valuable.

A coffee shop is different. It’s about consistency, hospitality and creating trust with every guest, every single day. Making the first coffee and the last coffee with the same level of care.

Competitions reward extraordinary performances. Coffee Shops reward extraordinary consistency.

Both perspectives has value and in the April store we aim to showcase both.

Have we become too obsessed with complexity?

I think so.

Some of the biggest improvements in coffee don’t come from advanced theory. They come from mastering the basics.

People debate extraction percentages while brewing on dirty equipment. They chase new recipes while overlooking water quality. They buy another grinder before learning how to taste.

I’d rather focus on the fundamentals. Clean coffee. Great water. Consistent grinding. Developing your palate.

Master those, and everything else becomes far more meaningful. George Howell said something  that resonated with me in a podcast episode: “It’s like people have forgotten that we are still not finished with developing washed processed coffee.” He said that in the context of debating the new trend of flavored coffee that has become popularized in recent years. 

That’s another reason for why the April Brewing System is so important.

Brewing an authentic variety that has been processed as coffee should be processed, without any additives that adds flavor notes, is very different from these over-processed, flavored coffees. 

How do you ignore trends? What would you hope April is remembered for?

Every decision at April begins with the same question: “Does this help us reclaim coffee flavour?’

If the answer is no, it doesn’t matter how fashionable it is.

We’ve never tried to be different for the sake of being different. We’ve simply tried to solve problems we experienced ourselves. That’s how the brewer, the filters, the minerals and now the grinder all came to life.

If April disappeared tomorrow, I’d hope they remembered that we encouraged independent thinking, integrity and that we always supported the true expression of coffee far removed from the generic, artificial flavors we find in some coffees today.  

Ten years ago I used to be excited to go into a coffee shops to try coffee. Today, most of the coffees in a specialty coffee shops doesn’t align with my beliefs and I rather not drink coffee, than to drink these infused, co-ferments.

So, ignoring a trend that makes coffee into something artificial is not something I lose sleep over.

I came to terms that my perspectives on these will cap the growth potential of April a long time ago, but my responsibility is not just to April but to the coffee industry and I choose to stand for what I believe in. 

What have home brewers taught you?

I did a Home Coffee brewing series on our YouTube channel (Coffee with April) where I visited over fifty home brewers across the world and I have learned so much. 

It’s incredible how capable some of those home brewers already are. Most don’t need more information. They need more confidence.

The most common mistake is changing too many variables at once. A different grinder, recipe, water and coffee all in the same afternoon. Then it’s impossible to know what actually changed.

The best home brewers I’ve met are incredibly patient. They change one thing, taste carefully and keep learning.

That reinforced something we believe at April: it’s all about the system, how you piece those variables together. 

Where do you begin when creating something new?

I never start with the product. I start with the problem. The first question I ask is, ‘What problem are we actually trying to solve?’

Then I question every assumption around it. Why is everyone doing it this way? Is that actually true?

Only after understanding the principles do we begin designing.

Products change. Principles last. And the idea is always to in the end produce a cup of coffee that represents our values – clean coffee that tastes like the varietal and terroir. 

Why make another hand grinder?

We didn’t.

Instead, we made the first Hand Grinder in the world specifically made for the April Brewers – no other grinder is. This journey has very little to do with other grinders and everything to do with how we could improve the taste quality of the extractions we get out of the April Brewer. 

In a way, we didn’t create this for the world. We did as we always have done, we created it for us. To use in our pursuit to reclaiming coffee flavors and allow ourselves and others to enjoy a cup of coffee that embodies everything April stands for. 

What would I notice first?

I think you’d notice that everything feels intentional. Effortlessly timeless, and simple but so well made. 

Every decision serves a purpose.

The burr geometry wasn’t designed to win a laboratory graph. It was designed to produce the flavour profile we love: clarity, sweetness and balance in the April Brewers.

What I’m most proud of isn’t one feature. It’s that, for the first time, we can take responsibility for almost every variable between the roasted coffee and the final cup.

That’s a dream I’ve been working towards since competing in the World Brewers Cup back in 2019. 

When does Kickstarter launch?

The Kickstarter launches September 1st. So it’s just around the corner. 

Early supporters will be the first people in the world to own the grinder before it’s available through retail.

But this campaign is about more than launching a product.

Over the coming months we’ll share the thinking behind every decision – the testing, the failures, the refinements and the philosophy that shaped the grinder.

Kickstarter allows people to become part of that journey from the very beginning, and I think that’s something genuinely special.

Put that together with the fact that they get a once in a lifetime special launching price it’s a pretty great combination. 

Why I’m excited to try the April Hand Grinder

I think the April Hand Grinder is worth watching. Because it’s the missing piece in April’s brewing system. A hand grinder designed specifically for the April Brewer, with a focus on the clarity, sweetness and balance that define Patrik Rolf’s approach to coffee.

It launches on Kickstarter on September 1, 2026. Early backers will receive the grinder before its retail release, secure the special launch price and get a closer look at the testing, setbacks and decisions that shaped it.

Personally, I can’t wait to try it.

Frequently asked questions

What is the April Hand Grinder?

The April Hand Grinder is a manual coffee grinder developed by April Coffee Roasters in Copenhagen. It was created specifically for the April Brewer and is designed to produce the clarity, sweetness and balance that founder Patrik Rolf looks for in filter coffee.

Who designed the April Hand Grinder?

The grinder was developed by April Coffee Roasters under the direction of Patrik Rolf, the company’s founder. Rolf is a Swedish coffee professional who placed second at the 2019 World Brewers Cup, sixth at the 2023 World Barista Championship and fourth at the 2024 World Brewers Cup.

What makes the April Hand Grinder different?

Unlike a general-purpose grinder, the April Hand Grinder was developed around the way coffee extracts in April Brewers. Its burr geometry was chosen to support April’s preferred flavour profile rather than simply to produce impressive laboratory results.

Does the April Hand Grinder only work with April Brewers?

The grinder was designed specifically for April Brewers, but that does not necessarily mean it can only be used with them. Its focus on clarity, sweetness and balance should make it interesting to anyone who enjoys brewing light-roasted specialty coffee by hand.

What does coffee from the April Hand Grinder taste like?

April designed the grinder to highlight clarity, sweetness and balance. The goal is to help the brewed coffee express its variety, terroir and processing without masking the qualities that make it distinctive.

When does the April Hand Grinder Kickstarter launch?

The April Hand Grinder launches on Kickstarter on September 1, 2026. The campaign will give supporters an early opportunity to order the grinder before it becomes available through retail.

What do early Kickstarter backers receive?

Early backers will be among the first people to own the April Hand Grinder and will have access to its special Kickstarter launch price. April also plans to share the testing, failures, refinements and design decisions behind the grinder throughout the campaign.