S4:EP14
Guest: Jared Hales, Hacea Coffee Source
From: Anaheim, California
Instagram: @haceacoffeesource
Website: https://haceacoffee.com/
What do you see when you look at the Hacea Coffee Source logo?
I saw an avocado, then a carabiner, and after Jared clarified the inspiration, I saw a motorcycle drivetrain.
Would you pronounce Hacea as Ha-see-uh or Ha-say-uh? Would you pronounce it differently altogether?
When you’re working with family, everything is up for debate. In this episode, Jared mentions that one of the unique characteristics of working with family is that there are a lot of similarities in all partners. That can work against a business if the only shared trait is, say, stubbornness, but if they share more positive traits, say, work ethic, passion, and a willingness to at least try to see what each other sees, well, skies the limit.
Based in Anaheim, California, Hacea Coffee Source is uniquely suited at the crux of the hub serving all of Southern California. Their genesis during the pandemic has kept them flexible, and Jared’s long-term relationships in the coffee industry have given them a leg up.
Jared doesn’t beat around the bush when describing what his company does. They are middlemen—it may be time to change that term—in the coffee supply chain. On one end of the chain, they connect with farmers, brokers, and coffee co-ops to import green coffee to their warehouse. On the other, they sell and distribute that coffee to roasters buying green coffee.
Because coffee is a commodity crop, Hacea Coffee Source is buying and selling coffee sometimes far in advance based on the expectation of a crop yield and demand for the product. Coffee comes in containers that can hold 42,000 pounds of coffee beans, so it is important the Hales be in constant awareness of where they are when balancing their sales against their purchases.
To offset the risks of buying and selling, and because it is a passion, Jared has developed a series of coffee education classes. More than 700 students have gone through courses covering coffee brewing, roasting, and general education. When I ask him for the strangest question he’s ever been asked, he doesn’t have one, and when he gets stumped, he chooses a Zen-like path. Sometimes, maybe the answer is no answer.
On the R!WC podcast, lots of roasters talk a lot about how the supply chain impacts their ability to prepare, plan, and provide the best coffee experience for their customers. This has likely always been an issue, but the pandemic has pressed its thumb on the scales in a bad way.
Logjams in ports and pandemic restrictions for both people and imports have slowed transport times down. One hitch in the chain is likely causing havoc somewhere else. This is where Hacea has inserted themselves as a link in the chain, partnering with the farmers and roasters who turn a cherry into the coffee that fills your mug every morning.
FROM THE SHOW
Hacea comes from a mash-up of Jared’s family name “Hales” and “Rubiaceae.” Rubiaceae is at the root of the coffea plant family tree. The incredible illustration below is from CoffeeImports.com. There you can download the image for free or buy a poster for $15.
Look at the base of the trunk to see Coffee Rubiaceae and follow the trunk up into the branches to find the coffees we know and love today.
Image Credit: Coffee Imports. The Tricolate Brewer looks fancy, like glass house or modern art fancy.
NOT FROM THE SHOW
This is a recent article about the rise of craft coffee in India. Chris O’Brien and I are going to dive into coffee in India in a future Coffee Smarter episode that will be in part inspired by this article, “A specialty coffee wave is brewing in India,” on BBC.com: Read the Article
I wrote a guest post on how to promote yourself and your work—outside of social media—through the lens of writing a newsletter—for Fictionistas on Substack. Check it out:
R!WC INDUSTRY PARTNERS
Mostra Coffee collab’d with Bottle Logic Brewing (Anaheim) on "FOMO,” an Ethiopia Anaerobic Honeyed Sidama coffee. They stored it for months in spent bourbon barrels that previously house their coffee beer collab called Fundamental Mostra. The tasting notes include: Chianti, Frangipane, Nonna's Pizzelle Cookies, Rambutan, and Butterscotch
Once aged, the beans were carefully extracted, inspected, sample roasted, and finally, precisely production roasted to ensure they brought out the full spectrum of flavors that can only be achieved when bean meets barrel. Unfortunately, FOMO sold out before I could share it with you. Less than 24 hours since they shared it. Follow their Instagrams @mostracoffee and @mostratme for the most up-to-date new releases.
Photo credit: @mostracoffee Click these R!WC Industry Partners links. Drink their coffees and whiskeys. Visit their cafes. Support local coffee shops. You won’t be disappointed.
Zumbar Coffee & Tea • First Light Coffee Whiskey • Leap Coffee • Steady State Roasting • CAFÉ LaTERRE • Mostra Coffee • Cape Horn Coffee Importers • Marea Coffee • Coffee Cycle • Camp Coffee Company • Ignite Coffee Company
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Roast! - Jared Hales, Hacea Coffee Source