Jonathan Martinez, head roaster at Thomson’s Coffee in Glasgow, won the inaugural Best Roaster UK competition at Glasgow Coffee Festival in April 2026, bringing Scotland’s oldest roastery its newest roasting title.
The Coffee
Best Roaster UK finalists roast two coffees: a standardized lot provided to all competitors, and a sourced coffee of their own choosing representing their brand’s style, both judged through a blind, peer-assessed cupping. The competition coffees are not available for purchase. Thomson’s commercial range of single origins and blends, roasted at their Glasgow facility, is where to find Martinez’s work.
Thomson’s Coffee has been roasting in Glasgow since 1841, making it one of Britain’s longest-established roasteries.
Where to Buy
Thomson’s Coffee ships within the UK via their online shop. International delivery is not currently available.
The Win
Best Roaster UK is a new competition that launched at the Glasgow Coffee Festival in 2026. Run over two days at The Briggait in Glasgow, it is a peer-judged, blind-cupping competition open to roasters from across the United Kingdom. All entries are available for festival attendees to taste. The 2026 festival drew 52 exhibitors and nearly 3,000 ticket-buyers, with a waiting list of more than 1,500.
Martinez is originally from Ahuachapán in northwestern El Salvador, one of the country’s main coffee-producing regions. He moved to Glasgow after meeting his wife, started at Thomson’s in an entry-level role, and worked his way up to head roaster over the following decade. “Glasgow has given me a home,” he said after the win, “and I’m absolutely thrilled to bring this prize to the city.”