Good Life Coffee was born in Helsinki’s Kallio district in 2012 out of a simple desire: to serve coffee that tastes good and makes life a little better. Today, we roast in Heikinlaakso, crafting coffees we love to drink ourselves – clean, balanced, and full of flavour.
Great coffee starts with people. Our beans come from farms all around the world, from producers who share our passion and respect for the raw material. We maintain close relationships with them and always source the freshest harvests, so that every coffee we roast is at its very best.
Over the years, we’ve grown from a small café in Kallio into an internationally awarded roastery – winning titles such as Nordic Best Roaster 2024 and representing Finland at World Coffee Championships around the globe.
For us, coffee is more than just a drink – it’s a good life.
Avoid bad life.
It all starts with the green coffee
Quality coffee doesn’t happen by accident. It begins far from Finland, on coffee farms and with the people who cultivate them. We source our coffees from around the world, through as direct routes as possible, working with trusted producers and importers who share our passion for great coffee. By doing so, we can guarantee top-quality raw material to work with – and when the green coffee is right, our job becomes a whole lot easier.
Many of our coffees come from producers we’ve collaborated with for several years. These long-term relationships ensure consistent quality and mutual stability.
A big part of our work is maintaining these connections, hunting for new coffees, and keeping a close eye on quality.
Because coffee is a fruit – just like an apple or a strawberry – it has its own harvest season depending on the region. We always buy seasonally and freshly harvested coffees, to ensure the cup is vibrant, sweet, and at its peak.
Our roasting philosophy
Our roasting always honours the raw material. Every coffee is unique – its flavour shaped by its origin, variety, and processing method. Our job is to bring out its natural character and the work that has already been done at the farm. In its simplest form, good coffee should be drinkable and delicious – full of flavour, sweetness, balance, and cleanliness. That’s what we look for in every roast.
Our head roaster Richard Shannon brings decades of experience in coffee, both from Finland and abroad, ensuring that each roast captures the essence of the bean.
Award-winning passion
Both Good Life Coffee Roasters and founders Lauri & Aleksi Kuusijärvi have gained recognition in Finland and internationally. Throughout our coffee journey, we’ve competed in Finnish Barista and Brewers Cup Championships, won several national titles, and represented Finland at the World Coffee Championships.
Our coffees and roastery have also been awarded multiple times at events such as the Helsinki Coffee Festival and Helsinki Food Fair. In 2024, we won the Nordic Best Roaster competition, and in 2026 we’re honoured to be finalists (Top 10) among the best roasteries in the Nordics.
These recognitions are proof that our commitment to quality and flavour is something you can truly taste.
Awards
Kahveista Parhain 2025 (Best of coffees)
Best Light Roast – Danche Washed, Ethiopia
Kahveista Parhain 2025 (Best of coffees)
Best Dark Roast – Shyira Honey, Rwanda
Roastery of the Year, Helsinki Coffee Festival 2024 & 2025
1st Place
Espresso of the Year, Helsinki Coffee Festival 2024
3rd Place - La Parada, Anaerobic Natural Gesha by Alberto Martinez
Filter Coffee of the Year, Helsinki Coffee Festival 2024
1st Place - Monteblanco, mixed process by Rodrigo Sanchez, Colombia
Nordics Best Roaster, Nordic Coffee Festival 2024
1st Place
Best Decaf Coffee, Helsinki Coffee Festival 2023
1st Place - La Serrania Decaf, Colombia, Good Life Coffee, Helsinki)
The beginning of Good Life Coffee
Our Story
Good Life Coffee was born in Helsinki’s Kallio district in 2012, when Lauri decided to open a café where coffee would be at the very heart of everything. At that time, Helsinki had only a handful of places truly dedicated to high-quality specialty coffee.
Lauri’s background in coffee was already solid after spending a few years working at a local roastery, gaining experience in several cafés, and winning the Finnish Barista Championship in 2011, he was ready to create something of his own.
The Good Life Coffee café operated on Kolmas linja for seven years, closing its doors at the end of 2019. The café served coffees from the best Nordic roasters, and occasionally featured unique lots from further afield. Its coffee-first approach quickly made an impression on guests, and before long, the café had become known as a pioneer of Finnish coffee culture.
A few years later, a natural next step emerged: Good Life Coffee Roasters.
Founded in 2014, the roastery marked the beginning of a new chapter. The goal was to build a quality-driven, distinctive Finnish roastery that could proudly stand alongside the top names in the Nordics. Before long, the roastery had become the heart of Good Life Coffee, and the café chapter was closed so the team could focus entirely on what mattered most — roasting great coffee.
Today, Good Life Coffee Roasters operates from Heikinlaakso, Helsinki, led by owners Lauri Pipinen and Aleksi Kuusijärvi. Our head roaster Richard oversees production, while Elina manages production and marketing, supported by Piia in daily operations.
Over the years, Good Life Coffee has grown from a small Kallio café into an internationally respected and award-winning roastery, supplying coffee across Finland and around the world.