S5:EP20
Guest: Mateo Nunez, Founder & Head Roaster at Thoughts & Process Coffee
From: Orange, California
Instagram: @thoughtsandprocesscoffee
Website: www.thoughtsandprocesscoffee.com
R!WC listeners get 15% off their first order using the discount code: RWC
Mateo Nunez is not shy. He reached out via social media to say hello. Fast forward a few months, and he’s on the show making my job easy. His micro-roastery, Thoughts and Process Coffee produces about 60 lbs of coffee every two weeks. That might not sound like much, but Mateo also has a full-time job as a United States postal worker. Coffee is his side hustle and his passion.
I can empathize. When your hobby becomes more than a hobby, but your job is still paying the bills, it is the passion that pushes you through. Early mornings, late nights, weekends, and even breaks during work disappear as you, Mateo, and myself are immersed in the thing we see as our future career.
Mateo’s journey through coffee started with family. Then years after he left his barista job, he found himself brought back into the life after his mother passed. Coffee became an outlet for his grief. Drinking and learning became roasting and sharing, which became creating and selling. He stays connected to the memory of his mom as he sees his personality traits overlapping with hers as his coffee company efforts grow. She wasn’t shy either.
FROM THE SHOW
Atomo Coffee is a beanless coffee—yes, you read that right—that promotes itself as being less impactful on the environment. If the coffee is not made from coffee beans, what is it made of, you might ask.
"Upcycled Date Seeds are soaked with a proprietary blend of ingredients (including grape, chicory, tea sourced caffeine and other natural flavors), air roasted and brewed to deliver the most innovative, tasty and sustainable cup of coffee available." www.atomocoffee.com
So…is it coffee, or is it date juice? Do you care? I sense a tasting experiment coming soon. Atomo just released their new cold brews, which you can read about on Thrillist.com.During our interview, Mateo mentioned the Ground Control batch cold brewer used by Coffee Conspiracy (Santa Cruz, CA). The brewer is pretty wild, and the company claims it can brew a gallon of iced lattes in eight minutes using immersion, agitation, and a vacuum. It is a pretty wild-looking system.
NOT FROM THE SHOW
The unionization of the Starbucks labor force has been in the news for the better part of 2021 and 2022, but it isn’t only major corporate chains that are seeing employees pushing for change. NPR featured two indie coffee shops in the Milwaukee area that have gone down different paths in response to a union push. Read the article on NPR authored by Andrea Hsu.
Don’t forget to sign up for a paid subscription so you can read the latest edition of The Bean Journal. I’ve been stockpiling columns! Lots of coffee explorations ahead.
R!WC Industry Partners
I just joined First Light Whiskey’s Flamingo Club on their website. I don’t know what it is yet, but I’m still excited. Scroll down on their home page and enter your e-mail address to join.
We’re getting closer and closer to the opening of Ignite Coffee Company’s Oceanside shop. You don’t have to wait to try the beans, tho. Personally, the Nifty 50 blend and the Sumatra float my boat.
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 • Steady State Roasting • CAFÉ LaTERRE • Mostra Coffee • Coffee Cycle • Camp Coffee Company • Ignite Coffee Company • Ascend Coffee Roasters • Marea Coffee • Cape Horn Coffee Roasters
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Roast! - Mateo Nunez, Thoughts & Processes Coffee