Our Story
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The Journey
Childhood
I was born in Los Angeles Ca, a child of the 60’s and grew up watching my Mom, perc coffee in a Corning Ware “blue cornflower” percolator. I am pretty sure we had one that she perked on the stove top, and one that she plugged in on the counter, next to the well-used waffle iron.
I don’t remember any special occasion, (and there were many) whether at home or at a school or church event, where there wasn’t a coffee pot on one end of the counter or table where everyone ended up congregating. Mom used to buy it by the 5lb can, based on whichever brand was on sale at Safeway, or Boy's market, the closest grocery stores to our house. For her, the brand didn't matter, coffee was the best part of waking up each morning no matter who made it!
Stepping Stones
Adulthood
My first “real” exposure to drinking coffee was my first duty station after Marine Corp boot camp. I joined the service at 17, back in 1978, and my first duty station was in Lakehurst NJ. After growing up in LA, the weather in Lakehurst, in November/December was quite a shock, and drinking something warm really helped to get you going. (especially since, as a young Marine “coffee” was not the only thing I had started drinking ☺).
I had a number of duty stations after that including Okinawa, (where on a side note, I also had my first Iced coffee, in 1979) and I remember during one shift, I poured the last dregs of coffee out of a pot that had been going all day, and thought to myself “are you really going to drink this”??? So… I poured it out, made a fresh pot, and right there, in another country, half a world away from home, I began my quest to make the best coffee that I possibly could.
I have made coffee in so many different ways, I couldn’t possibly list them all, and bought countless machines, from espresso machines, like the old school Bialetti Moka pot, (that I still use!) to large super-automatics, that grind and brew, steam and clean themselves, not to mention the MR Coffee’s and Cuisinart’s and many others that I have tried over the last 40 years trying to still, make the best coffee that I possible could.
And what I learned along the way, was that it isn’t hard to make a great cup of coffee...
IF YOU START WITH GREAT COFFEE!!
And it isn’t hard to make a bad cup of coffee… coffee to dark, coffee to light, coffee to strong, coffee to weak, good filters, bad filters, water to hot, or not hot enough…
but if you START with bad coffee, I guarantee you will end up with……… (wait for it) …… bad coffee!
I started trying every coffee shop I could, trying every unique roast and grind.
From the small brewers all the way up to the guys that make the big Bucks, and I realized that great coffee is everywhere! You just need to find roasters and baristas that love what they are doing. People that are passionate about bringing out the subtle nuances of this amazing food.
And THAT made me realize that great coffee comes in many different shapes and sizes, and I don’t mean small medium or large. I have had amazing Turkish coffee in the home of fellow coffee lovers, where the process had been handed down from generation to generation.
I remember once sitting down with a Romanian friend and having amazing Greek coffee, and thinking to myself how easily this simple drink had lowered the barriers (that we all talk about today) and brought people from vary different walks of life together, for a brief moment to enjoy an amazing cup of coffee. Magical beans…
I began roasting my own, over an open flame, in small batches, controlling the time and temperatures and tasting the nuances of every batch, and found that custom roasting could produce the amazing coffee that I had been searching for so long.
From a fruity, nutty dark roast, to a chocolaty light roast, and every level in between, you can find the perfect roast for every palette.
So here I am, roasting and enjoying amazing coffee every day, and hoping you will join me.
Enjoy this wonderful drink, tear down barriers, try different roasts, and explore the world, one cup at a time.
