Meet Takumi Sakamoto from Headlands Coffee (Tank Stream Roasters).
Takumi believes coffee isn’t just a drink, it’s a moment-maker. That’s why at Headlands they are a little obsessed (in the best way) with every step: picking top-notch beans, roasting them just right, and brewing each cup with a whole lot of love.
Headlands Coffee – The Story Behind the Vision
Headlands began with a simple idea: to create a coffee roasting company that truly represents Sydney, its coastline, its character, its calm confidence. The Headlands name comes from the Heads at Sydney Harbour, a place where land meets ocean and where the city feels both expansive and grounded. The platypus in the logo adds a wink of Australiana, something unmistakably local, quietly iconic, and wonderfully unique.
Behind the brand is Takumi, someone who believes deeply in doing things properly. Before starting Headlands, he had already built a career in coffee, one that eventually led him to becoming an Australian Coffee Roasting Champion. For him, passion isn’t a buzzword, it’s the engine. He’s the kind of person who naturally excels at what he loves, and coffee is right at the centre of that.
Headlands is both a café and a roastery, working together under one roof. This closeness is what sets the business apart. Every bean sourced, roasted, brewed, and served is shaped by the same hands and the same philosophy. Takumi and his team care about the people they serve just as much as the coffee they make. Wholesale partners get hands-on training, equipment support, troubleshooting, and tailored attention. Café customers get simplicity – great coffee, friendly faces, and a space that feels easy and familiar.
If the brand were a person, it would be calm, friendly, reliable, someone with good taste but never showy. Someone you’d want to sit with over a warm cup and a good chat. And that’s exactly what Headlands offers: consistency, quality, and a relaxed atmosphere where you feel looked after.
Weekly cupping sessions are Takumi’s favourite moment of the workweek. They’re open to the community every Tuesday, an invitation for anyone, baristas, home brewers, curious locals, to learn, taste, and talk coffee together. It’s part education, part connection, and entirely aligned with what Headlands stands for.
The Flour Mill community is a natural fit for the business. Takumi loves the friendly, relaxed energy of the space, the safe outdoor areas, and the heritage charm of the building. It’s a place where people gather, slow down, and unwind, a backdrop that mirrors the personality of the brand itself.
Running a business has its challenges, of course, sustainable growth, taking care of the team, staying true to the original vision, but Takumi brings the same quiet determination to those challenges as he does to roasting. Outside of work, he loves cooking (especially making something great out of a nearly empty fridge), sharing good food and wine with friends, and hopes one day to return to pottery, the craft he once used to create coffee cups by hand.
At its heart, Headlands is built on care, care for the product, care for the people, care for the craft. Whether you’re grabbing a takeaway, sitting in for a slow morning, or exploring the world of specialty coffee through their roastery, you’ll feel that care the moment you walk in.
Headlands sources, roasts, and brews everything in one place, the perfect spot to immerse yourself in great coffee, learn something new, and feel completely at ease.