LITTLE TORCH x IT'S ALIVE COLLAB
Updated: Dec 3, 2020
We first met Matt of Little Torch Ceramics several years ago whilst we were researching Manchester creatives and makers for a documentary.
We were immediately struck by Matt's meticulous and unwavering dedication to his craft. Prior to our meeting, Matt had been a professional cyclist, and it was evident in watching him work that he applied the same principles of competition and continuous improvement to his work as a ceramicist.
Never in our lives had we met somebody that was prepared to destroy hours of work because it wasn't exactly how they wanted it to be - but Matt did.
Matt is particularly skilled at throwing (the process of shaping clay at the wheel), and it is a great pleasure to watch him work - he is able to create pot after pot after pot by hand and somehow maintain almost perfectly consistent sizing. Anyone that has ever tried their hand at throwing will know this is by no means an easy feat.
In Matt's own words, he is extremely competitive and applies the same mentality he had towards competitive sport to his ceramics - always striving to perfect every aspect of the process.
Several years later, Matt's already astounding work has in his pursuit of perfection become even more polished and refined. We admire his dedication and eye for detail as well as his thoughtful appreciation of the practical and haptic elements of the items he creates. We knew for a long time we wanted to collaborate with Matt on a project, so we were over the moon when he agreed to create a line of limited edition coffee cups and beakers for us.
Each cup and beaker is porcelain (the most durable type of clay), featuring a swirl of black and pink with our logo on the bottom. The surface of each cup is chattered, creating completely unique ripples and swirls on each cup. The weight and feel of the cup is designed with everyday enjoyment in mind, with the chattering adding to an enjoyable tactile experience. These cups are perfect for coffee, but are equally suited to tea (or even wine and beer if you want to go wild).
Available as single cups or a set of two. Each set of two comes with Horsham Coffee Roaster's Kotowa Farms natural Geisha whole bean coffee. Horsham have some of the best and exciting coffee we have tried in a long time - many of their coffees are directly sourced by them and they have a range of experimental process coffees and unusual or rare varietals!