Latest / Coffee People Podcast / Roast! - Jason Simpson, Camp Coffee

Transcript

Roast! - Jason Simpson, Camp Coffee · Coffee People Podcast

0:00
I had to this kind of moment of realization in the car on the
0:03
way back that I'm going to have to retrain my brain that it'll
0:06
be okay to go into the world again at some point soon.
0:09
Yes. And that was a little
0:11
interesting to think about. I mean you've obviously been I
0:15
want to jump in the show too soon but you've had the shop
0:17
open but I have had no excuse or no reason to leave the house.
0:22
I work at home. I'm here all the time and so
0:25
that was very when I went into the room to get the vaccine and
0:28
it was busy See. I mean it was like walking into
0:31
a bar, it was it was overwhelming, I mean, in a good
0:35
way but still like overwhelming. Hey everyone, welcome back to
0:45
the roast West Coast coffee podcast, where we interview the
0:49
coffee Professionals of the West Coast and get a little coffee
0:52
smarter in the process. Today's guest is Jason Simpson.
0:56
He is the owner and founder of Camp coffee in.
1:00
Oceanside California. His shop is a stone's throw from
1:03
the famous Oceanside Pier ended open just six months before the
1:07
pandemic. It Jason is the first Cafe only
1:11
no Roastery owner invited on this show and that wasn't by
1:14
accident in my pre-pandemic visits to the cafe.
1:18
I always left impressed by the quality of the experience and
1:21
honestly, I just like the vibe and the coffee was good.
1:25
Follow any of the shop social media channels.
1:27
Like at we are Camp, coffee on. Instagram, and you get a sense
1:31
of the atmosphere. They're inclusive diverse and
1:34
celebratory. The team takes pride in their
1:36
work in their friendships, and in the coffee that they make the
1:40
photographs, many from photographer will, LeFevre are a
1:43
true slice of downtown Oceanside life will.
1:45
I'm sorry if I butchered your last name there, like several of
1:49
the roasters and coffee Pros. Who've already appeared on this
1:52
show. Jason really got his start with
1:55
Starbucks. He just did it, 20, odd years
1:57
ago, he grew up with the company and made.
2:00
The most of the opportunity to learn.
2:02
And then for some reason known only to entrepreneurs and
2:05
restaurant tours. He left the stability and
2:07
regular paycheck to forge his own path.
2:10
Jason. And I recorded this interview in
2:12
early April, I had just gotten my first vaccine shot about an
2:15
hour earlier. And truthfully, I was working
2:18
through a lot of emotions from that talking to Jason, it was
2:21
easy to see, how he would be great in his role at the top.
2:24
He was grounded, thoughtful and calm, and that made me call.
2:27
I hope you enjoy this show and afterwards.
2:29
Words, check out the recap and column on roast westcoast.com
2:33
where you'll find more details on Camp coffee and some of the
2:36
topics that come up in the show. And now it's time to fill your
2:40
coffee cup because it's time for the show and this interview with
2:43
Jason Simpson of Camp coffee. So I want Jason Simpson.
2:55
Welcome to the roast West Coast podcast.
2:58
I'm glad you're here. Thanks for taking the time.
3:00
Yeah, thanks for having me. I wanted to start with just you
3:03
are the first non coffee, roaster.
3:07
That's a cafe owner on the show. So I've had a couple other
3:11
coffee adjacent Pros, but you are the first Cafe owner to be
3:15
in season two. I think Alden from Cafe lechera,
3:18
and Solana Beach. Did a quick guest.
3:21
As the manager of a place, but, but you're the first.
3:24
So that's, that's kind of cool. Awesome.
3:26
I wanted to know to, I guess to start.
3:28
Let's introduce you to the audience who are you, and where
3:32
you're from. And a little background about
3:34
about you? Yeah, well, first of all Ryan,
3:36
thanks for having me, you know, I as so I'll tell you a bit
3:40
about myself. So, get my name is Jason
3:42
Simpson. I am the owner of Camp coffee
3:45
and downtown Oceanside. We've been open now for a year
3:49
and a half. We open in September.
3:50
A of 2019, my history and coffee actually started back in the
3:56
mid-90s after college. I got a job with Starbucks,
4:01
which surprising was pretty small back, then they had been
4:03
they'd only been in San Diego for about four years.
4:06
And, you know, was I was really just admire the breeze to craft
4:11
during my college Years. And so I just kind of jumped
4:16
into it and I would say as much as I love coffee the time, you
4:20
know, over I2 plus decades at Starbucks.
4:23
It just kind of continue to feel my passion.
4:25
So I did everything from operations, both at the store
4:29
level District. Level did a lot of retail
4:31
training spent six years in Seattle in coffee and tea
4:36
engagement. And yeah, they decided to leave
4:41
in 2017. As I was realizing, it wasn't
4:44
getting any younger, and if I was going to do something, it
4:47
was time to jump in. So I think the tunity kind of
4:51
presented itself that way and kind of begin the quest back in
4:55
2017 and then we end up opening just about two years after
5:01
starting the work on on Camp. Was there a First coffee way
5:06
back in the day? Like, I know you started at
5:08
Starbucks but what was there a first kind of coffee experience
5:11
that you thought? Oh, this is something that I'm
5:13
excited about our I'm passionate about.
5:16
Yeah, it's funny. That you mention that?
5:18
So like a turning point for me, I mean there was, there was
5:20
Couple. I mean, I think the experience
5:23
of of coffee began with my parents when they were just
5:27
daily coffee drinkers. You know, they have there, they
5:29
had the most most recent one, I remember, is there bun?
5:32
Brewer, but I also remember and that's where Camp kind of I
5:37
think started as well. Was the percolator, my parents
5:42
had this old Datsun camper, and we would go camping quite a bit,
5:48
and my parents put on The Percolator in the morning and I
5:50
just Just was always mesmerized by not only the intense Aroma of
5:54
coffee, but the sound of it was very relaxing.
5:58
Anyway, I just, those are in early, the kind of an early
6:00
moment memory, but as I kind of fast forward into my kind of
6:04
teen and early. Twenty years actually have a few
6:08
coffee shops, have popped in my head.
6:10
When I was thinking about those kind of like experiences of
6:12
coffee. I used to spend a lot of time at
6:15
a place downtown. San Diego called Cafe.
6:17
Luna was right by Horton Plaza. And What I remember about that
6:22
place is that they would serve coffee.
6:26
They would do their brewed coffee through the espresso
6:28
machine. Like I think it was just a long
6:30
pour something like that, but it was very textured had a lot of
6:33
sediment and stuff and I thought it was really cool.
6:36
I also spent a lot of time at gelato Vera and Mission Hills
6:40
kind of down the hill. They're close to the airport and
6:43
then also the Grove Cafe, which is it was at the time at UCSD
6:47
when I went there, I just, I mean, I just loved coffee.
6:50
Why I love the briefs to craft and ever thought necessarily?
6:53
I was going to be a barista as I was going to school for many
6:56
things that necessarily didn't include being a barista but
7:01
after college I guess I just I saw opportunity and you know,
7:05
jumped in and fell in love with it and continue to love coffee
7:08
and can you know, I think my biggest thing is the more time I
7:11
spend in coffee. The last I realized, I know and
7:14
there's just so much to learn. It's really fun.
7:17
I love, I've loved the journey over my 25 years or so. so, Was
7:22
there ever a point kind of in the early days and I grew up in
7:25
Hospitality as well. And I've certainly had this.
7:28
Where you thought? Okay well I'm a barista now but
7:31
I'm going to move on to a real job someday and do something
7:34
else. Like this isn't what I'm going
7:35
to do but this is what I'm doing now and I love it but someday
7:37
I'm gonna get a real job. Was there ever that kind of
7:40
emotion? No.
7:41
Because I actually came into Starbucks as a manager.
7:45
So I had I had a lot of retail experience through high school
7:48
and college and so when I got out, I was kind of looking for
7:51
the Real job. And at the time people actually
7:53
it was more like people around me.
7:55
Couldn't believe that I was leaving this established
7:58
department store. I was working at the time to go
8:00
work for a coffee company. You know?
8:02
And again, that just shows how small Starbucks was at the time
8:05
that I would, I would leave to go work for Starbucks but, you
8:08
know, it was great. I mean, I loved it right away.
8:10
I mean, Starbucks was, you know, Starbucks was really different
8:14
back in the 90s and we still had we still had La marzocco goes
8:18
and you know, it was, it was fun.
8:19
I mean I loved it so I Say for me, just jumping in.
8:23
It was like, wow, I actually get to go kind of Go reverse.
8:26
I get to have a career and then I get to play with coffee too,
8:29
and that was pretty awesome. Yeah, that sounds great.
8:32
I mean, I thought Hospitality for a long time because I grew
8:36
up in it and thought I didn't want to do it and then all of a
8:39
sudden later in life, I kept finding myself back in that in
8:42
that world either running a restaurant or in a bar or
8:45
something. And just going, you know, like
8:46
this is so much more fun than the real jobs that I've had,
8:50
yeah, more stress. Vol 2 but still a lot more fun.
8:54
So in 2017 you start thinking about camp in 2019, ish you
8:58
open? If I'm getting that timeline
8:59
right? And you decide to open and you
9:02
are offering Bird, Rock coffees local classic, local coffee
9:06
roaster. Which I think you guys stick
9:08
with pretty exclusively. Is that right?
9:11
Yes, they are exclusive roaster. Is there a reason for that?
9:14
That you decided. Well, these are the guys that I
9:16
want to be representative of. I mean you you are an extension
9:19
of their brand because yes, that's the exclusive.
9:21
Rusev, what made you want to feature them?
9:23
And why do you had? Did you decide that it was good
9:27
for your shop? Yeah, great question.
9:31
So, I mean, first of all, there are a lot of coffee companies
9:34
that I admire that I consider going with.
9:36
And, when I was looking, when I was first, considering opening,
9:42
I really love the idea of the multi roaster that was actually
9:45
initially. What I wanted to do.
9:47
I had this whole idea about kind of focusing on maybe, you know
9:50
wrote, you know, for my favorite like Southern Southern
9:53
California Roasters, but at the end of it is, I was kind of
9:57
doing more work. And deciding what I wanted to do
10:00
when I looked at the flavor profiles that I wanted to use,
10:04
you know, one thing I've known from Bird Rock as being a
10:06
customer. There's for many years was
10:08
consistency in quality and, you know, I think one is that is why
10:13
I landed with them as they had an established.
10:16
They had been around for over 10 years at that point and, you
10:20
know, they were they were local. San Diego roaster, I was
10:23
familiar with them, I trusted them.
10:25
And the flavor notes that I was looking for, We're with them.
10:29
And what's interesting is that an extension of the brand?
10:32
Yes. Meaning I definitely believe in
10:34
their quality. Now I do not use the same
10:36
coffees that they use. For example, I don't use monkey
10:39
bite for my espresso. Actually, use their darkest
10:42
coffee, that they have, which is French roast, you know, which is
10:45
different. So, I was looking for something
10:46
that had a lot more of like middle notes, molasses, dark
10:50
chocolate, not necessarily so much fruit.
10:53
And so, and that's why I end up going with that particular blend
10:58
for That and then we use a darker medium dark Colombian
11:02
coffee forever day. Brousseau a little bit
11:05
different, you know, I was really looking for something,
11:08
coming from someone who loves light Rose but also appreciates
11:12
darker roast. I wanted to find something that
11:14
when customers came in and they were on either the lighter side
11:18
or the darker side, they can still appreciate what I had to
11:21
offer and that's that's really what I feel like my partnership
11:25
with Bird Rock showcases. I'm just guessing here but I
11:28
think by being by choosing that and deciding to commit to it for
11:33
a longer period of time, it would make it easier to become
11:37
more consistent with your Baristas skill sets as well.
11:40
They get used to working with a certain coffee and obviously
11:43
every rose has its own little unique things, but if you're
11:46
using kind of roughly the same Rose from the same roaster over
11:49
time, you would learn kind of the nuances of it, a little bit
11:52
better and how to craft that coffee into a drink, Yeah,
11:57
absolutely. I mean it is challenging because
12:00
you know, even even the coffee I went with is not one of their
12:05
suggested Rose for espresso. It changes the the French roast
12:10
but they've done. They've done a great job working
12:12
with me is but seasonality probably in the last year and a
12:15
half. We've changed the blend,
12:17
probably six times. It's pretty consistent in terms
12:21
of flavors but like for example, we just got updated again within
12:25
the last month and and there's definitely some differences that
12:29
were having to adjust to, you know, play with the little bit
12:32
but it's great. I mean, if I for myself as a,
12:36
the owner and cuz kind of, you know, I was like, as a coffee
12:38
drinker. I love it.
12:40
And I don't get a lot of negative feedback about the
12:42
coffee is that we offer, which is nice for one thing that I've
12:46
realized doing this show that I just don't think I thought about
12:49
as a customer is how like a house coffee, for example, if
12:54
you're using like the French roast as your regular.
12:56
Of. That's the one that you're using
12:58
in your espressos that coffee in the spring, may not be exactly
13:03
the same in the fall. And as a customer you just you
13:05
see the name and you go, oh it's the same thing.
13:08
It's always going to be the same exact because we've learned that
13:10
in other Industries but with coffee being a, you know, an
13:14
agriculture product, you know, those things change based on the
13:17
weather and the season. And yes, the name on the bag is
13:20
the same. But the flavor might not always
13:22
be exact, which I just think, is a really interesting thing to
13:26
think about. I just, it's not something I
13:28
thought of before, I really started examining different,
13:30
coffee shops and Roasters, and how that might change the
13:33
expectations as a customer as a customer, and my personal
13:37
experience. I've been in your shop, and I've
13:40
been kind of following your Camp coffee story on social media and
13:44
everything you have a very welcoming environment.
13:47
It feels everyone says that like coffee is a community.
13:51
And, you know, it's a, we want people to feel like they're part
13:54
of the cop in the family here, but yours really does.
13:56
Do that and you use your platforms to to show that?
14:00
I mean, if I go on Camp coffee, we are Camp coffee on Instagram,
14:04
it's not just pictures of, you know, different cups of coffee.
14:07
It's pictures of people in the community, they're coming into
14:09
your shop that are doing their own things.
14:12
You've really embraced and supported an effort to improve
14:15
diversity and equality kind of both in Oceanside.
14:18
And in the coffee industry, was that an intentional effort to
14:22
create that welcoming space or a byproduct of the people on your
14:25
team? Was it a Philosophy, you had,
14:28
how did that kind of culture come about?
14:31
Well, I think what's important is when you're creating a
14:34
company means, starting with a vision what at the end of the
14:37
day you want to be known for and measure yourself against is the
14:40
most important. I mean, even so I mean even even
14:43
more so today based on what we're all dealing with.
14:46
And for us, it was creating a vision.
14:48
So our vision is about service. I mean, I know there's a lot of
14:51
great coffee. I mean, between living in
14:52
Southern California, and the Northwest, you know, I've had,
14:56
you know, an experienced amazing coffee by many different
14:59
companies. I think some of them all You
15:01
have really great job at service and some of them don't and for
15:05
me, you know, I probably mean I don't know the average age of
15:09
coffee shop owners but I kind of jumped into it, you know, more
15:13
and my middle life and for me Services is the most important.
15:17
And so we created a vision around making sure that our
15:20
customers feel valued and appreciated for coming in.
15:24
And so that really is like the North Star for us and when we're
15:29
interviewing I mean that is what we're talking.
15:31
Talking about is is really, you know, that that is the most
15:36
important and through our journey.
15:38
I mean we also have brought in majority of people with little
15:41
to no coffee experience and which is good and bad.
15:45
I mean you I'm sure any coffee shop owner, when they bring
15:49
folks into have other coffee experience, when they have
15:51
coffee experience, from somewhere else, with different
15:53
philosophies and different expectations and different
15:56
opinions. So for us a blank slate was
15:58
almost better but back to your question is For us, it was
16:02
around the vision. So everything that we do is
16:03
around that, I think the the experience that you're
16:09
referencing say through social media, specifically through
16:11
Instagram, Facebook, you know, a big part of that and Shout Out
16:14
is to my wife. So she she has a full-time job
16:17
but my wife is, she is The Mastermind behind our social
16:22
media and and she pretty much does in a 95% of what's on
16:26
there. And so that's really a
16:28
representation of her interpreting.
16:30
I think what's really important In the community side, in terms
16:32
of getting involved or bringing people in showcasing stuff, I
16:35
mean not really a lot is, is her, you know, taking that
16:39
vision and then putting it out through, you know, kind of
16:42
through the airway. So to me it's really about that
16:45
mean the people that we hire, then it becomes a reflection of,
16:48
you know, they're them became a reflection of what that vision
16:51
is. And then, you know, as we're
16:53
showing up every day trying to create that experience for
16:56
folks, I mean, that that's what it is, that's how we measure
16:59
ourselves. I mean, Coffee.
17:01
I mean the coffee is, I mean, you can get really great coffee
17:05
and a lot of places, but I think the service piece of it is
17:08
something that we all still can continue to strive and improve
17:11
on. I mean, anywhere in any
17:13
industry, including coffee. Yeah, and I will say for anyone
17:16
listening, the we are Camp coffee, Instagram is really
17:19
great just from a photography standpoint so you should
17:22
definitely check that out. And a lot of fantastic black and
17:25
white street photography. That's part of that of what's
17:27
going on. Not just inside the walls but on
17:29
the sidewalk and around. Around the neighborhood I think
17:32
it can be easy. Yeah, if I am sorry, I was just
17:35
want to. I just want to jump in because
17:37
you, besides my wife, I did want to give a shout-out.
17:39
Then to your mentioned, the photography that we use, so we
17:42
use a gentleman named will. So he's put on, he takes most,
17:47
if not all of the kind of still photos and, you know, he's been
17:51
with us since the beginning and he's a, he's a local San Diego
17:54
photographer and then you mentioned the cannons in the
17:57
Black and Whites. And that's really what I was
17:59
attracted to when I saw. His own work was, you know, him
18:02
capturing that in the community both like within the shop itself
18:06
and then just as you go broader and broader out in Oceanside and
18:10
you know, we're really happy with what we've seen.
18:12
So anyway, thanks for bringing that up.
18:13
I just want to make sure I acknowledge Him for his work.
18:16
Yeah. And I featured some of his
18:18
photos and some of my own work with the coast news and some
18:21
other places because it's just really a really unique.
18:24
Look at Oceanside. I think, on this note, talking
18:28
about social media and the community, Can be easy for
18:31
businesses to take a passive voice like with social and
18:35
political issues, it can be risky to chance.
18:38
Kind of offending people as the leader of a business in in
18:42
Oceanside, which has a very vocal component on all sides of
18:47
the fence. How do you navigate the
18:49
messaging that's coming out of there?
18:50
When confronted with those, you've certainly taken some
18:53
stands over the past year, year and a half, not stands.
18:56
But just so much of saying, hey, we we are supportive of these
18:59
social issues or of These these things, this is something I
19:03
thought about a lot over the past couple years just about
19:07
what I would do in a situation like the George Floyd protest,
19:11
which we're now seeing the trial of or around covid.
19:15
How do you as the owner of a restaurant or as a cafe?
19:19
Who wants to just give people a great service experience and a
19:22
great coffee navigate? Kind of those, I mean minefields
19:26
really from a business standpoint but also a personal
19:29
ethos Yeah, that's that definitely is can be a
19:37
challenging situation and I think for us, I mean we you
19:41
mentioned, you know, some of the maybe some of the posts or some
19:44
of the opinions that we've shared.
19:46
You know, I wouldn't say that we're over the top.
19:48
I mean, at the end of the day, we go back to the vision.
19:50
Our goal is to be inclusive to everyone and balancing out
19:55
trying to support customers. Kind of, no matter what their
19:58
particular opinions, maybe is is really what you'd like to do.
20:02
But sometimes you do cross paths with what your own personal
20:05
beliefs are I also think within the staff itself, I mean, you
20:09
know, some, some of your, some of your employees, some of my
20:12
employees, you know, are aligned with most of the things that
20:16
we've shared some disagree. Does it make them any less of a
20:19
person or employee? No.
20:21
But I think we are really careful in terms of kind of
20:24
assessing each particular situation and those that we feel
20:27
like we need to, you know, share something or you know, we put
20:31
out an opinion or of you, you know, we've done that.
20:34
But I think we also realize what that comes risk and, you know,
20:38
we've experienced the same type of loss in terms of whether it
20:41
be, you know, customers themselves followers on social.
20:46
The but I think you have to determine, is it worth the risk?
20:50
Is it a more important to let know that?
20:52
Let people know what's the most important thing for you as a
20:55
business? And, you know, in those
20:58
particular situations we've definitely shared shared those
21:01
opinions and you know there's there's been some fall out but
21:04
for the most part I think that people you know I think no
21:07
matter what side you're on those customers that maybe have a
21:10
different opinion, still value. The fact that you put yourself
21:12
out there and are committed to share what's important to you.
21:16
I think if you do, you think about the history of coffee
21:17
shops to mean that's, that's one of the things where people come
21:21
in and I mean, it is a place where there is dialogue and
21:23
conversation, you know, less kind of current currently inside
21:27
shops. But, but really the whole
21:29
premise of it is coming together and be able to talk and share.
21:33
And I mean, I feel like for the most part through all the things
21:36
that we've experienced in our first year and a half, it's
21:39
definitely been more positive than negative.
21:41
So I don't necessarily know that we would change course on what
21:44
we're doing right now. I would say that, you know, we
21:47
always look for a different ways to get involved.
21:49
I think, for the most important thing is trying to stay positive
21:52
and focused on those things where we can contribute around
21:56
the things that are important to us.
21:58
And that's something as I look, you know, moving forward is
22:01
continue to do that, supporting my community, getting my team
22:04
involved with supporting the community, so that they know
22:07
that we are part of it. And not just a business sitting
22:09
within the community, you referenced not inside.
22:14
And obviously, we're talking about covid.
22:16
Besides the obvious pandemic, which the extent of it and the
22:20
length of it has certainly taken us all by surprise.
22:22
It's like this long slow wave of surprised where we just keep.
22:26
Keep wondering, is this it? Is this it is this it it has
22:29
anything kind of stood out to you as a surprise about being
22:32
the owner of a coffee shop. And then what do you kind of
22:35
Envision for the future of Camp coffee?
22:37
As we are starting to transition into hopefully a new safer.
22:42
Covid phase? Yeah, that those are They're
22:46
good questions. Um well I think one is if in
22:50
terms of learning about kind of what I've learned.
22:53
I mean what is the cost of opening a coffee shop?
22:58
As much as I surrounded myself, I thought I surrounded myself
23:00
with enough people with, you know, with some level of
23:03
expertise, whether it be within coffee or within business, you
23:07
know, the startup cost going into kind of a an empty building
23:12
was significant. So you know, for me, you know
23:15
really learning. The cost of things Beyond, kind
23:18
of my experience in working for a coffee Corporation, you know,
23:23
that continues to sometimes to really surprise me.
23:26
And I'm one that's very diligent.
23:27
In terms of doing my homework and sometimes I feel like I
23:30
hadn't done enough homework but you know, but with it you just
23:33
kind of learn and then you move forward.
23:34
So you know that's that's one in terms of moving forward.
23:38
I mean, I feel like I've been a little bit on a pause so I had a
23:41
whole business plan and what it was going to look like in my
23:43
first six months and then literally, at the Mark and Marge
23:47
of 2020 is when, you know, when we started to shut down and so
23:51
I've definitely been in a survival mode, really looking,
23:55
you know, whether it be from, you know, labor kind of
23:58
balancing out supporting the team that I have.
24:00
But at the same time trying to be responsible with financial
24:04
with the business and just kind of getting through it.
24:07
And so for me, I'm just trying to now step away.
24:11
Hopefully, I can get back to the things that I want to do which
24:13
is add some some additional Supervisor labor so that I can
24:17
step away and focus on driving the business and really creating
24:22
what the business is going to look like moving forward.
24:25
You know, and a lot of it is just allowing the team that I
24:29
have been working with to do their job more because I'm there
24:33
like six days a week which isn't really uncommon but really
24:36
having, you know, having the the mental and physical energy to go
24:40
to work on other things is really where I want to get to so
24:43
that I can build a business, you know, build more relationships.
24:46
Chips are so much, you know, kind of development.
24:48
As I said before, I mean, from a community.
24:50
Involvement, there's a lot more things that we want to do there,
24:53
you know, strengthening a lot of the kind of the marketing piece
24:56
and just kind of grow the business Beyond within the, the
24:59
shop that we have. So that's that's kind of the
25:01
short term goal. I also am looking forward to
25:03
experience this somewhat our first summer.
25:06
So you know not you know experiencing our first summer
25:09
and shutdown was nothing, like I know Oceanside is used to so I'm
25:13
looking forward to having You know, having a summer spring is
25:18
already been really great. So I'm you know I'm very
25:20
grateful for what we've experienced so far.
25:22
So anyway, I would say that. That is somehow as I look to the
25:25
future is just been able to kind of shift a little bit of my
25:28
energy of just the managing side and more of leading and building
25:31
the business into kind of what's next.
25:34
Was it a tough transition from employee to owner for you, just
25:39
from the standpoint or did it? Did it feel like it was just
25:42
natural because that's where you were at in your life?
25:44
I was natural, I would say what's nice is the the roles
25:49
that I had at Starbucks from being a store manager to a
25:53
multi, unit manager, training and coffee.
25:57
I feel really balanced with the experience I had.
26:00
So I think as I looked at all of that, you know, when I moved
26:03
back to San Diego 10 years ago, I think I was already in the
26:07
space of like well what's next then like you know, I was in, I
26:11
was kind of did what I thought I was going to do for a long time,
26:14
which was then, The coffee Department, we move back to
26:17
Southern California to be with our families.
26:20
And with that being, you know, kind of said it was, it was
26:23
mainly just finding the right time to do it.
26:26
And so, you know, I think it took me a little bit longer than
26:29
I did. I'm, like I said, I was, I was
26:32
like, the stability of what I had, but the time was, right?
26:35
Yeah, and it worked out really nice.
26:37
I think it was fun learning a lot of things.
26:40
Finding the right resources to use, and to support me in that.
26:44
Was pretty was pretty easy and that I know I felt like that was
26:49
a that was a huge benefit was just surrounding myself with the
26:52
right resources and people to help.
26:54
Kind of give me the confidence to do that work, you know, so
26:57
far it's paid off. I'm really happy with where
26:59
we're at. Yeah, that's cool but I'm sure
27:01
there was there was moments where you thought, you know, I'm
27:03
leaving this good job to take this risk where I'm responsible
27:07
and that can always be stressful.
27:09
What about you? If you're if you're not on that
27:12
seventh day of the week where you're At Camp coffee.
27:15
You have a chance to go out and get a cup of coffee somewhere
27:18
else. What are you drinking?
27:19
What do you know? If you walk into some unknown
27:20
coffee shop, what do you order? Well, first of all, in the
27:23
7-Day, I'm hibernating in my closet.
27:25
Let me just be clear. Okay, I'm not, I'm hiding out.
27:29
I'm doing. I'm doing what I need to do to
27:32
get back to the next week. No.
27:33
Um, it depends. It's interesting that question
27:37
because I would my drink of choice is usually a cappuccino
27:42
or a cortado but I also love pour over and so I think it
27:47
depends on the shop. If I may have heard of them or
27:50
if I ask some questions about what they're offering and they
27:52
have poor over and something looks interesting to me than I
27:55
might try that, but I would say my go-to is you know, is a
27:59
cappuccino, you know, I that's that's about the right ratio for
28:04
me. So if if I'm, you know, I'm
28:07
looking to try something that's kind of where I go.
28:10
I like I mean, in some cases like for us we just offer batch
28:13
brew and if So they have it may try that as well.
28:17
So I would say it's usually within those particular options.
28:21
I don't know. I'm really happy about all of
28:23
the kind of signature as different espresso or cold, brew
28:25
drinks that we've kind of created and curated at the shop.
28:29
At the end of the day. I'm, I'm pretty much simple, you
28:32
know, it's like a good pulled shot of espresso and some good
28:35
quality milk. And if I can get that, I'm
28:38
happy. If you could give one piece of
28:41
kind of coffee, advice to customers or to people who are
28:44
kind of starting, Hurting their coffee Journey, For the First
28:46
Time, what would it be? Which I know is kind of a big
28:49
broad question, but if there was something that you wish, you
28:51
would have known about coffee. When you got started or just, an
28:54
idea about, when you go to a coffee shop, it can be
28:56
overwhelming. If you haven't been a coffee
28:58
drinker before, you know what, would that advice be right?
29:01
We were coming into Camp coffee. Yeah, so that's a great
29:05
question. And I think what if I think
29:07
about conversations that I've had with my own customers that
29:11
come in, you know, it's trying to like, navigate, what is the
29:15
language that people respond to when they're trying to decide?
29:19
For example, what type of coffee that they like?
29:22
And I would say, first of all, what I realize is, the more that
29:26
I've learned are think that I learned the less that I actually
29:29
know and then, you know, as just like probably any industry is as
29:33
in specialty coffee. I mean, it just things just
29:36
continue to broaden. There's different rabbit holes
29:38
to go down, which I know is, you know, there's things that you
29:41
are probably exploring. That is within that rabbit hole.
29:43
But for me, it's a matter of kind of starting with trying to
29:47
find something that you like and then kind of going from there
29:51
and it always kind of goes back to.
29:53
Okay, so you know what is the roast you like?
29:56
And you know do you like something lighter or darker and
29:59
sometimes even people don't respond to that because if I
30:01
give you like Bird Rock are if you're used to drinking.
30:04
Being a dart like a Peds or a Starbucks French roast.
30:07
That's nothing in the Wheelhouse of like Bird Rock.
30:10
Weird rock is a medium roast and so it's very subjective.
30:14
So I think one is be cautious. Kind of like going into
30:18
something that, you know, one. One piece of information will
30:21
translate, you know, from one place to another.
30:24
So I think kind of staying open and staying curious, always, and
30:27
probably just like, with anything else that you may be
30:30
learning about be, you know, be a little cautious to wear your
30:34
Horses at. So I think that's one is just
30:36
kind of stay open to it, but I think the other thing is, you
30:39
know, I still love this is, hey, your coffee is going to taste
30:43
different, really three main categories, right?
30:45
You know where the coffee grows in the world, how that coffee
30:48
is, is processed. You know, how you remove that
30:51
seed from the fruit and then how it roasts and all those things
30:54
kind of come together in this formula.
30:56
And there's so many different combinations.
30:58
But those are kind of, if you can understand kind of the big
31:00
rocks, you can kind of steer yourself around and navigate.
31:04
At gate 2 probably the things that you like and maybe avoiding
31:07
the things that maybe you don't. Like, I think it's really
31:10
incredible. Looking at the coffee industry,
31:12
if you gave 10 coffee shops, the exact same Bird Rock Coffee, and
31:16
ask them to make a cup of coffee.
31:18
You could get 10 different tasting cups of coffee based on
31:21
just how they handle it. Yeah.
31:24
And then take that back a step and start talking about all the
31:26
different row stories that are getting the same beings from
31:29
maybe the same importer or the same, you know, Roastery
31:32
originally and how they Those green beans and and each one can
31:36
is going to have its own little unique variations.
31:39
You know, even if somebody who's testing new roasts on the sample
31:43
Roaster at one pound while that that roast isn't quite going to
31:46
be the same as their larger you know 5 or 10 or 20 pound roast.
31:50
So it's a really it's just such an interesting thing that you
31:55
could never really be in. You can never really know.
31:58
All there is to know which you which you certainly addressed.
32:01
Is there anything that we didn't cover about Camp coffee or that?
32:04
At, I didn't ask that you want listeners to know about I mean,
32:07
what is I, you know, it's a good question.
32:11
I mean, of course I would, I want to invite people to come
32:14
and visit us. That's one, you know, I know, I
32:17
think one of the I tell you I tell you one thing that I think
32:20
is fun and what I like is and then right before the pandemic,
32:24
we participated in in one of the coffee crawl.
32:28
You know, organizations. And I remember how fun that was
32:31
and I remember when I was in Seattle.
32:34
Used to when people would come to visit me in Seattle.
32:36
You know, it was one of the things they want to do coffee.
32:38
And, you know, I remember it always be so excited about,
32:43
like, crafting, like a little like map of where they could go
32:47
and experience it. And I think that's one thing is,
32:51
is, you know, having people kind of step outside of, you know, of
32:56
maybe work with their, you know, used to and, you know, trying
33:00
different places. I, you know, is the year and a
33:03
half that We've been Oceanside, we've had coffee shops.
33:07
That have come coffee, shop said, have gone and more that
33:10
are on their way. And each one, you know, kind of
33:13
has its own kind of own personality, you know, both in
33:18
the staff for the experience, you're trying to create as well
33:21
as the coffee. And so for me, I mean, come up
33:24
to Oceanside, you haven't been up to Oceanside or even North
33:27
County, you know, there's so many great shops to come and
33:30
visit and experience and and appreciate for what each Has to
33:34
offer. So I mean I think that's that's
33:37
one as we continue to talk about supporting small business and I
33:41
think, you know, getting some friends together and doing your
33:44
own little little coffee, crawl, those things are super fun and
33:48
that's where you can literally compare and kind of contrast all
33:51
in one day and when I have friends come to visit me from
33:54
Seattle, that's that's something that, you know, we were I was
33:57
doing prior to a year ago and it's just it's such a good time
34:00
and I think as a business owner, you know, counting having the
34:03
time to step away. Way and be able to connect, you
34:06
know, with different shops and what they have to offer.
34:09
You know, to me that's really that's really cool.
34:12
The other thing is it allows you to make connections with those
34:14
other small, businesses and other coffee shops.
34:16
And that's actually one of the things that I'm looking forward
34:19
to in the future is is trying to be a part of and strengthen like
34:23
the community of coffee itself, whether it be, you know,
34:26
Oceanside or North County Coastal or San Diego itself
34:30
because I think, you know it's just we are one big Community
34:33
anyway and that's That's that to me is something that's really
34:36
exciting. So know that I think I would
34:38
just leave it at that. You know, if you haven't been to
34:41
bodycam coffee, come by my braces will definitely help.
34:43
You know, create you find you something that maybe is
34:46
interesting, something that's maybe different something that's
34:50
fun and you know Had a couple other shops while you're
34:53
visiting and your location right there in the heart of Oceanside
34:57
and I'll put the address and a little map.
34:59
And in, with the the show notes for anyone that's wanting to
35:03
find it, even that area is is changing so much, so quickly, I
35:08
live, you know, 56 miles away but every time I go up there,
35:12
it's different and I almost have to kind of get turned around and
35:15
figure out where I am, because there's a new business or a new
35:17
building or a new hotel, or a new something going on down
35:20
there. And Also one really nice thing
35:23
about where you're located is if Camp coffee is your last coffee,
35:27
stop of the day. There's at least two or three
35:30
local breweries within walking distance.
35:31
So you can you can have your coffee in the morning and all of
35:35
a sudden it's lunchtime and you can have a beer to come down.
35:37
Absolutely Jason. I really appreciate you taking
35:40
some time to join the show today and congratulations on
35:44
Surviving. I mean that very seriously
35:46
that's not not as tongue-in-cheek as maybe I used
35:49
to because of the pandemic, but It's a great achievement, just
35:52
getting open and then and doing all the things that you've done.
35:55
So I certainly congratulate you on that.
35:58
Well, thank you now. I really do appreciate, and know
36:00
you mentioned this that you've been featuring roasters, so
36:04
including us and your your show of a coffee shop, you know,
36:09
that's a non non roaster. Really means a lot.
36:13
I appreciate it for sure. Haven't participated any other
36:16
podcast. So it was a lot of fun, a lot of
36:20
fun. Hey everyone, this is Cody from
36:24
San Diego's first and longest running local beer podcast, beer
36:27
night in San Diego. If you love the local beer
36:30
Community, Check out beer night in San Diego, available
36:33
everywhere podcaster found each and every week we bring you
36:37
great local beer, discussion beer, education news, and tons
36:40
more with a touch of Comedy, check out br9, San Diego to
36:43
laugh and learn with us. And back to the roast West Coast
37:05
coffee podcast. The advice Jason gave us at the
37:08
end about language and coffee shops, often being the same, but
37:11
with differing results is something.
37:13
I've thought a lot about when I say dark roast, what does that
37:17
mean to you? Do you see the same color blue
37:19
that I do? It's an important thing to keep
37:22
in mind when we make choices about the coffee, we drink we've
37:25
created Common language around coffee, and we even talked about
37:29
that being the goal of the Q greater program last week, but
37:33
that doesn't mean we all understand the nuances the same
37:36
way. That's true of a lot of things
37:37
in life. We are always hearing that we
37:40
should open ourselves up to new things.
37:41
New experiences, new coffee flavors.
37:44
But I think what I'm taking from Jason's advice is to consider
37:47
trying the same things and just letting myself view them in a
37:51
different way. Free your mind.
37:54
All credit for that quote to in Vogue and to Columbia House or
37:57
sending me and vogue's funky Divas album in 1992 near the end
38:01
of the show. Jason also mentioned batch
38:03
brewing which is our first vocab phrase today batch bruised.
38:07
Just what it sounds like in that it is a larger quantity of
38:10
coffee brewed in a machine, the concept being that it is like
38:14
brewing a pour-over at scale with hot water draining through
38:17
a filter full of ground coffee, and being collected in a
38:20
container or coffee pot. Batch brewing used to be
38:24
associated with a lesser quality of coffee but that is long since
38:27
been rectified. It is now a common and
38:30
effectively efficient way to brew a lot of really good
38:33
coffee. Really consistently with
38:35
upgrades to the tech Incorporated in commercial batch
38:38
brewing machines that control temperature pressure or even
38:41
water flow rates, the new machines can eliminate most if
38:45
not all human errors, some even incorporate grinders, Our second
38:50
word from the show today is percolator.
38:52
Jason talked about remembering the sound of the percolator from
38:55
camping trips. As a kid, percolators were
38:57
really popular types of coffee. Pop Brewers in the 1960s and
39:01
70s, but they have been seen less and sold less.
39:05
Since the Advent of automated countertop coffee machines, cut
39:08
a percolator in half and it looks like a reverse French
39:11
Press water. Sits in the bottom of the pot
39:14
and ground coffee is put into a chamber at the top.
39:16
When the pot is put on the stove or if it has an integrated And
39:19
electric heating coil the water at the very bottom will start to
39:22
heat up first and as it gets closer to boiling, it will push
39:26
its way up through a tube enough water gets heated and it reaches
39:30
the top where it pours over the coffee grounds and drips back
39:33
down into the cooler water below mixing with the remaining water.
39:37
The process will repeat itself several times until the water is
39:40
boiling at which point the pot will begin perking, which is
39:44
kind of a unique sound. It sounds like a mixture of
39:51
light hail and slurping water and popcorn popping.
39:54
If you had one in your home growing up, you'll likely
39:56
remember it? And I'll post a diagram of the
39:58
inside of the percolator on roast westcoast.com and the
40:02
whole process will make sense. If my explanation hasn't been
40:05
doing it, be sure to follow at, we are Camp coffee on Instagram,
40:09
even if you're not in Oceanside, their Instagram is a great
40:12
combination of the joy. People get from coffee, the
40:15
coffee community, and the street photography from will of Favre.
40:19
To everyone who's been out advocating for the show.
40:21
I continue to thank you. Feel free to shout at me anytime
40:24
on roast westcoast.com in the roast West Coast, Facebook
40:28
group, Community or on Instagram, at roast West Coast.
40:32
Let me know what your liking and not liking about the show who
40:35
your favorite Roasters are or who would make for a great
40:38
guest. We're in week 7 of season 2 and
40:41
we've only just begun our Grey's Anatomy like run of success, 20
40:45
Seasons. From now, you can tell all of
40:47
your friends, you were listening before Before it was cool.
40:51
Actually scratch that don't wait that long telling a friend about
40:54
the roast, West Coast coffee podcast is a great way to
40:57
support the show. It goes a long way towards being
41:00
able to grow this program and if you are enjoying the Pod check
41:04
out the newsletter sign up for the free one or consider the
41:07
paid subscription to show your appreciation for this type of
41:10
coffee content. Either way, I appreciate that.
41:13
You're out there that you're listening.
41:15
If you need some coffee, don't forget to check out the show.
41:18
Industry Legacy Partners. Maria coffee leap coffee, zoom,
41:22
bar, coffee, and tea steady-state.
41:24
Roasting Cafe litter coffee cycle and moisture coffee.
41:29
They are some of the best coffee roasters and cafes in Southern
41:32
California. And a big thanks to Cape Horn
41:35
coffee and first light whiskey, for making my afternoons.
41:38
Pretty nice too. You'll find links to all of the
41:40
shows roast industry, Legacy Partners on the front of roast
41:44
West Coast, Cam or in this episode show notes wherever you
41:48
happen to be listening. That is one more show in the
41:51
books. Everyone thank you all for
41:53
listening today. Rose to West Coast will be back
41:55
on Friday with a new episode of coffee smarter and our very busy
42:00
coffee expert series simran. Khalsa the executive director of
42:04
coffee at lofty Coffee Company. She and the lofty team just
42:08
opened their six Cafe this week in downtown Carlsbad Village a
42:12
huge. Congrats to the lofty team on
42:14
that show. Oh Syria.
42:15
And I will talk about the different types of coffee bean
42:18
Roasters and how they work through the Alchemy of creating
42:21
a good coffee blend this episode of the roast West Coast podcast
42:25
was written produced and recorded by me Ryan Walt.
42:30
I hope this show is found you happy healthy and with at least
42:33
enough sanity to make it through another day and please always be
42:38
sure to drink. Good coffee.