What is Bean2Flame?

I grew up in South Africa, and our family moved to the UK in 2009.   In SA, cooking over a fire is part of everyday life.  We have carried that tradition with us and still cook outdoors three or four times a week, whether on a wood fire, charcoal barbecue or gas grill.

Of course, every fire needs lighting, and for years we relied on either a gas lighter or shop-bought petroleum-based firelighters.  Both worked well enough, but they also came with their own frustrations.

Gas has become increasingly expensive and, when camping, you are always wondering whether you have enough left in the canister to get the next fire going.

Petroleum-based firelighters have their own drawbacks.  They break apart in the bag, become less effective if they get damp, and leave a lingering smell on your hands and around the fire.  One day I actually stopped to read the ingredients and warning labels on the packet, something I had never done in more than 30 years of lighting fires.  That was the moment I started looking for a better alternative.

After spending some time researching different options, I came across firelighters made from spent coffee grounds.  The idea immediately appealed to me.  We generate plenty of coffee grounds at home, I had access to cotton offcuts and it meant giving useful materials a second life rather than sending them to landfill.

Bean2Flame was born from that simple idea.

What followed was a lot of experimenting.  It took many attempts to get the recipe right and my husband had to light more fires than he probably cares to remember.  Together we tested burn times, different wood types, charcoal and briquettes until we were confident we had created a firelighter that was reliable, easy to use and capable of lighting everything from softwood to hardwood without the need for kindling.

Today, every Bean2Flame firelighter is made by hand, from the same simple principles that started it all: making use of materials that would otherwise be discarded and creating a firelighter we genuinely want to use ourselves.