Elusive Coffee, Adelaide
Elusive Coffee
Started in September 2024, which makes them one of the newest roasters in the rotation. They are in it to “offer love and hope to those in need through the proceeds of a great cup of coffee”.
Roaster ProfileElusive Coffee bags lined up on a bench
1200 x 900
The roastery
New, and not pretending otherwise
Elusive started in September 2024. In roasting terms that is about five minutes ago. They roast at the shared Settlement Roasting facility rather than sitting on a warehouse full of their own gear, which is how a lot of the better small roasters get going before they can justify the capital.
What they are aiming at is not subtle: to “offer love and hope to those in need through the proceeds of a great cup of coffee”. Plenty of brands bolt a cause onto the back of a product once the product is selling. With Elusive it is the reason the business exists in the first place.
“Offer love and hope to those in need through the proceeds of a great cup of coffee.”
If you want to meet them, they turn up in person at markets: the Adelaide Hills Farmers Market at Mount Barker, Sunday Funday, Stirling Laneways, and Gilles at the Grounds at Wayville. Worth doing. A roaster who stands behind a grinder on a Sunday morning has to hear what people actually think of the coffee, which is a useful discipline.
Elusive at a market stall, pouring coffee
1600 x 900
Approach
How they roast
The roast is matched to the coffee rather than stamped with one house style, and the four coffees that came through the Allways rotation show it. The delicate filter lots get a lighter touch so they stay clean and expressive. The espresso coffees are taken further and developed for body, so they hold up sweet and full under milk instead of going thin and sour the moment they meet a flat white.
The coffees
What came through the rotation
Grindstone Espresso Blend
South American and African blend · Catuai, Bourbon · Washed, natural and honey · Medium roast
Grindstone Espresso Blend bag
1200 x 900
The everyday blend, built from three coffees Elusive also roast on their own: Anahy from Brazil for body and sweetness, Apia from Colombia for chocolate and balance, and Yirgacheffe Haro from Ethiopia for a blueberry lift. Roasted developed for body, so it lands rich chocolate and hazelnut up front with the fruit sitting underneath.
This is the reliable one and it is built for milk. The flat white that tastes like it came from somewhere good rather than out of a supermarket packet. Holds up black too.
Guatemala El Matasano
Finca El Matasano, Cuilco, Huehuetenango, Guatemala · Bourbon, Caturra, Catimor · Washed · 2,000 to 2,200 MASL
Guatemala El Matasano bag
1200 x 900
Grown by Samuel Barrios on some of the highest coffee land in Guatemala, between 2,000 and 2,200 metres. Barrios farms a mix of varieties alongside the native forest he works to protect, then washes and dries the cherry for a clean, layered cup.
Roasted developed for body. Dense, high grown beans reward the heat, turning malic apple acidity into jammy baked fruit with a deep toffee and chocolate sweetness behind it. Rich in milk, smooth as straight espresso.
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Haro
Haroberdame, Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia · Landrace · Natural · 1,950 to 2,000 MASL
Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Haro bag
1200 x 900
A Grade 1 natural from Haroberdame, grown high and dried slowly on raised beds. Bright, polished and jammy: juicy peach and dark berry over a silky milk chocolate base, with almond hanging around in the aroma and the aftertaste.
This is one Elusive roast light to keep the clarity, so it is the filter pick of the round. It will pull a fruity espresso if you push it, but slow and over water is where it does its best work.
Apia Decaf
Apia, Risaralda, Colombia · Sugar cane EA process · Washed · 1,700 to 1,900 MASL
Apia Decaf bag
1200 x 900
A single origin Colombian decaffeinated with the sugar cane EA method, which uses a compound derived from sugarcane fermentation to pull the caffeine out while leaving the sweetness and body where they are. The difference shows up in the cup: chocolate and cocoa with berry, apple and pineapple brightness, rather than the flat hollow thing decaf usually is.
Proper coffee that has had the caffeine taken out, not the other way round. Good in milk or black, at any hour you like.
Elusive Coffee
An Adelaide roaster going since September 2024, roasting at the shared Settlement Roasting facility, with the proceeds aimed at offering love and hope to people in need. Find them in person at the Adelaide Hills Farmers Market, Stirling Laneways, Sunday Funday and Gilles at the Grounds.
Questions people actually ask
Where is Elusive Coffee roasted?
In Adelaide, at the shared Settlement Roasting facility. They do not run their own separate roastery, which is normal for a roaster this new.
How long has Elusive Coffee been going?
Since September 2024, which makes them one of the newest roasters in the Allways rotation by a fair margin.
Where can I find Elusive Coffee in person?
At markets: the Adelaide Hills Farmers Market at Mount Barker, Sunday Funday, Stirling Laneways, and Gilles at the Grounds at Wayville.
Can I get Elusive Coffee delivered?
Yes. When Elusive comes around in the Allways rotation the coffee goes out roasted to order, ground to how you brew or left whole, with free shipping Australia-wide. You can also buy direct from Elusive.
Why order Elusive Coffee through Allways instead of going direct?
If Elusive is the only coffee you ever want to drink, go direct. More of the money stays with the roaster, and for a business this new that matters. Allways is for the other situation. One subscription, a different independent South Australian roaster in each delivery, ground to how you actually brew. Elusive is one of fifteen roasters in the rotation, not the whole thing.
Elusive is one of fifteen
One subscription. Fifteen independent Adelaide roasters. Roasted to order, free shipping Australia-wide, pause or cancel whenever you like.
