So, we were flying back from the US Coffee Champs prelims in Reno, kinda bummed to be honest, that we didn't make it to the SCA finals in Seattle in the Spring. Weston was lamenting about his scores on presentation (though he scored well on the actuall coffee roasting part ) while I was like, look... we made it here and we're prepared and savvy for next year. No biggie. We had an awesome time in Reno, meeting up with coffee roaster, importer, hardware and barista friends and going to our first national roasting competition to get our feet wet. We braved 17F temps, had some darn fine local food and cocktails and all in all, had a great time. We make it a business | date trip usually, bonus for being a husband and wife team! We even bought a EK Mahlkonig grinder while we were there, yay!
Anyway, we had just arrived back in San Diego, when a few coffee friends started sending IG messages with congratulations all around. We had just made Thrillist list of Best 21 Roasters in the Nation. Hello! That's a pretty amazing consolation prize for not having a super slick and fancy presentation in Reno. After all, we're a nerdy roasting couple, not quite hipsters. More like hippies.
Dan Gentile, the author of said Thrillist list is quite the travelled writer, foody and all around beverage authority. Dan knows his stuff. He named alot of big hitter roasters we were among, not gonna lie, there were some huge and trendy names on the list, but then he also nailed our story to a T! It makes our heart explode to see someone finding folks like us that are quiety but passionately working to rise to a higher level of coffee and placing us on a list of the best in the USA.
Weston, also a Sommelier and chef, knows his roasting, sourcing and palate (not just the biased wifey, I swear) and though we've just hit our 2 year anniversary in bean slinging, we're serious about the craft, the people and the future of specialty coffee. Our beans are winning awards and high marks and we're pretty proud bean parents. Dan mentioned the fact that we don't source based on organic certification. It's true, we support small farms who are doing quality, natural farming... they're organic without the fancy stickers. It's the right thing to do IOP, so is composting, upcycling everything you can, being kind to others, thinking farmer's-market-minded, even on a global scale and leaving a teeny tiny footprint in general. Cheers to all that and to things to come. Onwards and upwards :)
