Our Story
From Colombia to Birkenhead
Ruppys brings together two places that have shaped our family: Colombia, where our story began, and Britain, which became our home.
Through Colombian coffee, freshly grilled arepas and traditional baked treats, we want to share the flavours, warmth and hospitality with which we grew up—here in the heart of Birkenhead.
Five generations of coffee
Our family comes from Miraflores, Boyacá, high in the Colombian Andes.
At the end of the nineteenth century, Leo’s great-great-grandfather, Joaquín Morales, travelled from Soria, Spain, and settled there. He acquired a small coffee farm and, according to our family history, became one of the area’s early coffee growers.
Five generations later, the coffee farm remains in our family and continues operating today.
Shaped by the land
For generations, our family has hand-picked Arabica coffee cherries in the misty mountains of Boyacá.
Life on the farm taught us that good things cannot be hurried. It shaped the values we bring to Ruppys: respect for ingredients, consistency, patience and pride in craft.
The coffee we serve is sourced through our local roasting partner, but the family farm is where our relationship with coffee began.
An ancient tradition
The arepa’s roots stretch back approximately 3,000 years to Indigenous communities living in the territory now known as Colombia.
Maize was cultivated, ground by hand, mixed with water and cooked on heated clay or stone. The preparation has evolved, but its essence remains wonderfully simple: maize, water, heat and human hands.
Today, the arepa remains at the heart of Colombian food and family life.
What an arepa means to us
In Colombia, the arepa can be breakfast, an accompaniment to lunch or a comforting meal shared with family.
Every region—and often every household—has its own way of preparing it. It can be enjoyed simply with cheese or opened and generously filled.
For Colombians, the smell of an arepa cooking does more than awaken the appetite.
It takes us home.
Coffee’s perfect companions
Colombian coffee is often enjoyed with something warm from the bakery.
Pandebono, with its golden exterior, savoury cheese flavour and soft, chewy centre, is one of coffee’s perfect companions. Pan de yuca, made with cassava starch and cheese, is another much-loved Colombian favourite.
At Ruppys, you will find sweet and savoury choices to accompany your coffee.
Why we created Ruppys
Colombian coffee is already recognised and loved throughout Britain. The arepa is less familiar, but we believe it deserves to be discovered.
Ruppys was created to share these flavours while providing somewhere people can meet, pause and feel welcome.
You may visit for a familiar coffee and discover your first arepa. However you find us, you will be welcomed with the warmth of a Colombian family table.
Two stories coming together
At 68A Argyle Street, we found a building shaped by more than 170 years of craftsmanship, music, business and community.
Ruppys brings our Colombian family story into this historic Birkenhead building, allowing both stories to begin a new chapter.
From a family farm in Colombia to a historic building in Birkenhead, this is our story.
Now we invite you to become part of it.