About
La Sosta is an artisan coffee roastery in Florence that exclusively works with Specialty coffee.
We don't just roast coffee: we select identity, territory, and human labor. Because for us, coffee is a product that deserves attention for its origin, identity, and quality in the cup: the La Sosta Specialty Coffee project was created to bring a more conscious idea of coffee to Italy: not an anonymous commodity, but a living agricultural product, made of varieties, processes, people, and places.
This is why we only work with Specialty coffees, carefully selected and roasted to respect the raw material, the work of those who cultivate it, and to enhance the sensory profile, offering a more conscious, transparent, and profound experience in the cup.
Our values in practice
Respect
For the work of producers, for the raw material, and for those who choose to drink better every day.
Research
In lot selection, tasting, roasting, and constant study of specialty coffee.
Commitment
In building consistent, not occasional, quality, cup after cup.
Boldness
In proposing a more conscious, more transparent, and less conventional idea of coffee.
Innovation
In uniting technique, sensory sensitivity, and coffee culture into a contemporary project.
Passion
Because behind every choice, from selection to extraction, there is an authentic pursuit of taste.
Sustainability
As attention to the supply chain, the value of human labor, and long-lasting quality.
Solo Specialty coffee
We work exclusively with specialty coffee, selected for its quality, traceability, and sensory identity.
Controlled air-roasting
We roast to express cleanliness, sweetness, balance, and character, respecting the work done at the origin.
Origin and relationships with producers
We believe in a more transparent supply chain, made of territories, producers, and concrete connections.
Spreading coffee culture
Beyond our coffees, we share expertise, tastings, training courses, and moments of discovery.
Simone Guidi, founder of La Sosta Specialty Coffee
La Sosta originated from a personal journey even before it became a business venture. I started working as a barista in Italy, years when coffee was, for me, above all a passion, a technique, and a desire to improve. Then, entering a roastery for the first time, I realized that behind the service there was a much bigger world: selection, roasting, tasting, origin.
In 2015, I moved to Melbourne, one of the cities that most influenced my view on coffee. There, I went back to working behind the counter as a head barista and began to engage with a much more mature, rigorous, and everyday specialty coffee culture. Shortly after came my first trip to a plantation in Sumatra: an experience that definitively changed my perspective. I understood that coffee cannot be treated as an undifferentiated product, because within every lot there are people, places, agricultural choices, and real work.
This vision still guides me today. After collaborating as an assistant roaster in Genovese Coffee's Specialty division, I returned to Florence and founded La Sosta Specialty Coffee in 2016. In 2017, I became a Q-Grader Arabica, and in 2020, I officially opened the roastery. La Sosta was born this way: from the desire to build a project capable of working only with Specialty coffee, with attention to the raw material, cup quality, and the value of the supply chain.
Andrea Di Santo, Digital Experience and Community Manager
I graduated in Chemistry and earned a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences, convinced that research was my natural horizon. In the meantime, however, I encountered the world of Specialty coffee and, cup after cup, cupping after cupping, I discovered that this approach, made of rigor, measurements, and sensory sensitivity, also spoke the language of my scientific training.
This is how I got to know La Sosta, and from a simple cupping participant, I gradually joined the team: first by attending events at the roastery and around Italy, then by steadily managing the online part. Today I work between the website, e-commerce, and digital communication, but I remain connected to the roastery, following quality control tastings.
My many trips abroad, particularly the four months in Japan, allowed me to encounter different coffee and hospitality cultures, and I bring this experience every day into how we talk about La Sosta and guide people into the world of Specialty micro-lots.
Beyond coffee in a cup
La Sosta is not just a coffee roastery: it's also a place where coffee can be discovered, tasted, and better understood. That's why, in addition to selecting and roasting, we offer dedicated opportunities for those who truly want to delve deeper, from enthusiasts to industry professionals.
- For those who drink specialty coffee at home — selected coffees, tasting boxes, and tools to find your preferred profile.
- For those who want to learn — cupping, roastery tours, and introductory courses.
- For Horeca and hospitality — support in coffee selection, training, and developing a proposal consistent with the venue.
If for you too coffee can be something more, you're in the right place.
You can start with a selection of coffees, take part in a guided tasting, or tell us about your project. In any case, we always start from the same idea: to drink better, with more awareness.
#bastaberepozzanghere
#stayspecialty
Business Partner
A path always looking towards the future, made possible also thanks to:
GENOVESE COFFEE
Italian-Australian coffee roasters in Melbourne, Australia since 1970.
LA SOSTA Partner since 2019.