3FE

3FE — shorthand for Third Floor Espresso — is one of Ireland's most influential specialty coffee operations, founded in Dublin by Colin Harmon, a four-time Irish Barista Champion. What began as a pop-up tucked onto the third floor of a building grew into a full roastery-and-café operation that reshaped what Dubliners expect from a cup of coffee. Harmon's competition pedigree gave the project early credibility; the name itself is a nod to where it started.

Harmon built 3FE into a wholesale and retail anchor for the Irish specialty scene at a time when espresso culture in Ireland was still largely defined by commodity blends. The roastery expanded its reach through a wholesale programme serving cafés across Ireland and the UK, and Harmon later authored a widely read guide on running coffee shops, reinforcing 3FE's role as something of an educational institution as much as a commercial roaster.

On the sourcing side, 3FE has shown consistent interest in traceable, washed lots — a YouTube-format coffee review the brand published spotlights a Washed Guatemala La Soledad, pointing to the kind of single-origin, process-forward selections that anchor their offering. Day-to-day roastery operations are managed by a dedicated roastery manager (internally profiled as Simon), signalling that production has scaled beyond a founder-run garage setup into a structured team.