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Coffee People: Becca Awld, Lil Baggins Coffee Roasters · Coffee People Podcast

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Any questions before we get started today?
0:23
I don't think so. This is my first time doing a
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podcast. So awesome little nervous but no
0:31
real questions there. Hey, good morning everyone.
0:44
Welcome back to the roast West Coast coffee podcast.
0:49
I'm Ryan Walt. And this is the show where I
0:52
bring you the inspiring and entrepreneurial stories of
0:55
coffee people. I'm glad you're here for the
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first official episode of season 7.
1:01
Honestly, it feels good to be back in the closet interviewing
1:04
people. And navigating the background
1:06
noise of the trains and the trucks and the sirens, and the
1:09
crows and drinking a lot of great coffee today, I'm chatting
1:15
with Becca. Alt she is the founder and head
1:18
roaster of Lil Bagans Coffee Roasters.
1:21
We're going to chat about how a pandemic inspired hobby turned
1:24
into a full-fledged business. But with a few smoke-filled
1:27
apartment incidents along the way.
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So pour Self a cup of coffee pull an espresso or better yet.
1:34
Snag one from your favorite, local coffee roaster so that you
1:37
have something to keep you warm as you listen to this chat with
1:41
the founder and head roaster. Becca, alt of little Baggins
1:44
Coffee Roasters, in San Diego, on the roast West Coast coffee
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podcast. If you wouldn't mind, let's get
2:01
started by having. You say your name and the name
2:05
of your company and kind of your role there.
2:08
And if you can, if you can remember what was your favorite
2:11
TV? Show is a kit.
2:13
Okay? My name is Becca Auld.
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I am a co-owner and the head roaster of little Baggins Coffee
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Roasters. And my favorite, TV show as a
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kid. I don't know if I can remember
2:28
but the first thing that actually pops into my head is
2:32
perfect strangers. I don't know why.
2:34
I don't know if that was my favorite, but that's what popped
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in my head. When you said that, that's the
2:40
one with Balki. Yeah.
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He bartokomous and Robin Williams that show.
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Yeah, well, welcome to the roast West Coast coffee, people
2:52
podcast. I'm glad you're Rebecca.
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You mentioned in our little email chat that you appreciated
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that. I got the pronunciation on your
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last name, right? My last name ends in a DT.
3:01
So I get that weird. People always trying to confuse
3:04
it with something else, as well. It's always walled walled.
3:08
Yeah, we're ready to roll with it, you know, after 40 years.
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But right again, I'm hoping we can start with a little bit of
3:18
back story about you. And, and you and coffee
3:21
specifically, I'm wondering if you had Out of a first memory of
3:25
coffee or a first experience with coffee that kind of stopped
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image. You think I'll okay.
3:29
Yeah I like this. Yes growing up.
3:33
And even through my early 20s, I really wasn't a coffee drinker.
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I drink pop or soda depending on where you're from and what you
3:41
call it and energy drinks and put one one day it was actually
3:48
2009. Friend gave me a Starbucks, gift
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card. And not one to waste a, an
3:56
opportunity for something free, I go to Starbucks and I was, to
4:02
be honest, really overwhelmed. I didn't understand the sizes or
4:05
anything and I walk in and I got what I call.
4:09
Kind of the gateway to to coffee drinking a vanilla latte and I
4:14
was like, wow, this is great. And honestly it took off from
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there. I went from drinking those
4:20
sugary drinks to getting into You know, more different kinds
4:25
of coffee, and it really enjoying the flavor of coffee,
4:29
but I guess I need a little sugar and cream in my coffee in
4:32
order to really appreciate it at first.
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That's okay. The and the way people, I think
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most people get into coffee that way or drinking coffee with
4:41
their parents or grandparents and, you know, coffee with a
4:44
little sugar and milk, that's just ice cream.
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You know. There's right.
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It's fantastic. It's great.
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What about before coffee? He didn't get into until later.
4:54
What were you doing before? Starting little Baggins, I was
4:58
actually a manager of a customer success or account manager team,
5:03
Adam mental health company. We had an app that delivered,
5:08
Mental Health Services on demand, Mental, Health Services,
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to students universities, and colleges across the United
5:15
States and Canada. So, not the same thing at all.
5:19
No no. Aren't you feeling different
5:22
that by providing? Coffee.
5:24
You got your also providing me some mental health relief.
5:30
That's really interesting. You were you were in this
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entirely different field. You.
5:34
Obviously enjoy drinking coffee and you're experimenting with
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coffee. I'm assuming in your personal
5:39
time. Did you get into it as a hobby
5:41
first? The Roasting part of it
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specifically. Yes.
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So when I started drinking coffee of his back in 2009 and I
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just started going down the rabbit hole of, you know what I
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like? Thing I want to know how it
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works. The different kinds of different
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Origins. So I got into how to brew coffee
6:01
and different grinds and I was buying all the gadgets and
6:05
really thought I was like this big coffee snob where I really
6:08
knew nothing and I still don't know a lot in the grand scheme
6:11
of things so we really got into it.
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I really liked, you know again trying the different types of
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like french press pour over Aeropress all those things.
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And actually, it was in 2020. Things were shut down.
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Me and my boyfriend were really bored and looking for a new
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hobby to start. And we decided to get home
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roaster. We got the cafe, Jeannie
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tabletop roaster and just started it as a hobby, because
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we drank so much coffee, were enjoying it.
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We're like, why don't we make our own?
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And it was a bit of a disaster at first.
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I at the time lived in a second-floor apartment.
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No balcony, or Anything just windows and we are first roast
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were about 3/4 through the roast and are my entire apartment is
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just full of smoke and fire alarms are not fire, the smoke
7:07
alarms are going off, so surprised that like none of my
7:11
neighbors came over, nobody checked to make sure we are
7:14
okay. There's smoke billowing out of
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my window but a needless to say that first roast was really bad.
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Like could just had I don't even know.
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The only flavor it had was just bad.
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So we did a lot of like, research from there like
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youtubing and seeing you know, how we can manage.
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And then we kind of had like our own little setup where we're
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still roasting in the apartment but it was next to a window that
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was open. The exhaust fan was facing the
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screen. My boyfriend would be holding
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this cardboard flap. Lap.
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We called Superflat 5,000. So he'd be waving the cardboard
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frantically getting the smoke out.
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So they're still smoke billowing out of my window but we
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eventually you know, first several rows were still horrible
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but we just kept going at it and I realized I really liked, I
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really like data and refining things and things like that.
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So I actually roasting I was like I didn't realize how much
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of that goes into roasting We're really looking at the roast
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curve and how you can do those micro changes.
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So, I just really got into that just as a hobby initially and
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was having a lot of fun with it over a couple of years.
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To, to kind of responses to what you just said and one is, and I
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don't mean to get too personal, but did you and your boyfriend
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survive? The coffee, roasting experience.
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We did. I've tried to make things with
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my wife, and it doesn't always go that.
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Well, oh yeah, we did. We did, he's actually the
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co-owner of little Baggins now. So we're good.
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Congrats you both. Sorry if I stepped over the line
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there. No, that's all the second part
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of it is, is I You mentioned the data, you didn't realize that, I
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think there is like a romantic ideal that people have about
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roasting coffee and they don't see the math and the science of
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it. I was lucky enough to see that
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before I started. So I knew that I could never do
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it. You know I talk to people like
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you at what point in this Hobby and you 2020s the beginning of
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the pandemic. So things are not the same.
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The world is changed. Business has changed.
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At what point did you think? You know, I kind of want to
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start selling Coffee or I want to turn into a business.
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I need to do more than just what I'm doing here in the apartment.
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Right, right. So really it came down to I
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guess for I think, anybody like who doesn't want to leave their
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corporate job, I was ready to move on, to be honest, my
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company was great, but I was just ready for a new time, a new
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chapter in my life and we really got into the coffee roasting NG
10:06
and decided it was, It was kind of an hour never moment.
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We just decided that, that would be a good good move for me.
10:16
And we decided to go for it because I really enjoyed the
10:21
roasting process, all that, that went into it.
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Especially during the pandemic War, more people, you know,
10:28
you're drinking coffee at home. I think even now that spilled
10:31
over into people, realizing they can get really good quality
10:35
coffee. At home and so we wanted to be a
10:38
part of that. So we decided to take the leap.
10:42
Well, and we all bought all these fancy coffee brewing
10:44
equipment. We have to justify that
10:47
ourselves and to our spouses. Yeah, that's really interesting.
10:51
What, how did you go about those first?
10:53
I mean, you brew the coffee. Genie is not known for quantity,
10:58
great. So how did you get those first
11:01
coffees out? When did you decide you need to
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find a bigger roaster? And how did you end up at the
11:05
California? Roasting Collective.
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So we actually found the California, roasting Collective
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that actually was the push in a starting our company.
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We were talking about it, but talking about buying we knew we
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couldn't sustain a business on the cafe Jeannie.
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And so we were looking into different Roasters.
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Okay, we have this roaster, we live in San Diego, in a small
11:30
place. Where would we even store a
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roaster? You need to have, you know, the
11:34
right space for it and my I actually found the California
11:39
roasting Collective, and that is to be honest.
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The only way we were able to start, we don't currently have a
11:45
storefront. We're selling online for at home
11:48
enjoyment. So, we needed a place to store
11:52
our coffee, to roast our coffee, and to package it and
11:55
California. Roasting Collective.
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You know, it's like it appeared out of the sky and we were just
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like, okay, we found this then that's what gave us that push.
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Okay? We don't really have Really good
12:08
excuse not to move forward with it.
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So when we even before we started selling I was roasting
12:15
at the collective. Getting used to the bigger
12:17
machines bigger batches and really refining our roast before
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we went out to sell and that was for several months.
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I started roasting at the collective in March of 2022 and
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we started selling in October of 2022.
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So I'd be selling sale or I'd be sending sample bags out to Two
12:38
family members friends, getting their feedback.
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They were very nice at first so it's good.
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And then I was like, by the time I got to a really good roast,
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like, why did you say that that roast in April was good?
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It was awful. Like, it was so bad.
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Well, they were learning with you and sometimes you need a
12:57
little bit of blind support at the beginning of something,
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right? Right.
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Knowing you left your your corporate career that was the
13:04
intent and I'm assuming that was follow through with.
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Your boyfriend is a co-owner this company we should shout out
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his name out, at least give him. Yes his name is Matt Augustine
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Ellie. He is actually he still works
13:21
full-time as an electrical engineer so that's why he's not
13:25
able to be here today. No, that's I'm enjoying talking
13:29
just to you. That's okay.
13:30
Well, Matt thanks for being part of this.
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Even if you're not here today, was there a moment after you
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made the decision, like Are you thought oh what have I done?
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What are you know, what are what are the I think that way all the
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time, what are the emotions of deciding to pursue something
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before? Had you owned your own business
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before it's an entirely different experience?
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Yes, so it was, you know, initially the emotions were
13:56
excitement, but there was a lot of fear involved to be honest.
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First time business owner, we've read all those statistics or
14:05
heard about all the statistics 8 out of 10 businesses.
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Businesses fail. So it's a huge risk involved and
14:12
so that that itself was daunting.
14:16
But I to me, I knew I had the skill set as well as the
14:21
determination to make this work. And, you know, a couple other
14:26
moments where it's like oh what have I done?
14:28
Was just going through all the permitting process, all the
14:32
paperwork and everything especially with the state of
14:35
California going through that. And Realizing it takes longer to
14:39
get certain permits than others. Yeah.
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So you know, some things I'd say those were like the big to two
14:47
things where it is just like, okay, this is a lot, but working
14:51
through that. So the permitting and everything
14:54
I worked through in the early months and getting through that
14:56
though, felt like such a big accomplishment that I'm like,
15:00
all right. I felt really great in confident
15:02
after that because I kind of got through those hurdles because
15:05
everyone would also also talked about how hard it was Was it
15:09
wasn't necessarily hard. It was just work now and work
15:13
that most people don't want to do.
15:16
Well, it's not the thing that you are setting out to do, you
15:19
know, right? Permits is nothing to do with
15:20
roasting coffee or working with coffee.
15:22
It's an entirely different barrier to entry, right.
15:26
Then then what you were intending.
15:29
So once you decide you have a name little Baggins, which I
15:33
immediately associated with Lord of the Rings.
15:36
You can correct me if that's wrong or right.
15:37
Right? And when I'm looking on your
15:40
website and looking at like you're the coffee's that you're
15:42
selling, they all have kind of very kind of cartoony fun.
15:46
Like a, I think the vibe the vibe of your coffee, your
15:49
branding is very fun. How did you settle on that name?
15:52
You know, where did that come from, and kind of that imagery
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that comedic imagery that you have.
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We did want to keep it light. That was our Big Goal when we
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were determining our name and our branding, what's that coffee
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light? Or do you also focus on what?
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No, no. Do you have light roast coffee?
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But we wanted to keep it fun like our branding everything.
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We wanted to keep it fun and just taken some seriousness out
16:22
of, you know, at least the the messaging there and we were
16:27
Throwing around different ideas for our name.
16:30
And to be honest, it was one night after a couple beers.
16:34
We the name Lil Baggins just came up and we loved it.
16:39
Like that's the one that ended up winning out just stuck with
16:43
us. And the funny thing is is that
16:46
it's not it's not solely Lord of the Rings intended but people
16:53
associate it all the time with Lord of the Rings, you know,
16:56
everyone's always When we hear our name they say oh Lord of the
16:59
Rings for like yeah I guess. And to be honest I had never
17:04
even seen Lord of the Rings but you know, our customers were
17:09
asking like are you going to do, you know, some kind of
17:11
references and everything? So I actually we started
17:15
watching the movies just to to get familiar.
17:20
So we do have a roast called second breakfast, which is
17:24
actually now my my favorite roast that Kind of a massage to
17:29
to Lord of the Rings? Yes.
17:32
And a no Maj something very well within the realm of not
17:36
infringing on copyright. Yes, exactly.
17:38
Exactly. Don't do that.
17:43
That's not one that you want to step over the line on,
17:46
definitely. Well, it is very fun.
17:48
Even, just looking at your website, there's kind of Just A
17:50
Whimsy to it, that I appreciate certainly.
17:53
And certainly some inside jokes. If you're listening, anyone can
17:56
listen Or can go to little Baggins Coffee.
17:59
Roasters.com or a be a believe, little Baggins Roasters.
18:02
Did you have another? Um, it's shortened can be little
18:05
bag and stock calm, little Baggins.com.
18:09
We put an alias in there because when we were initially giving
18:12
the website out, people eyes were glazed over when they
18:17
realize, they had to write out about 25 characters to get to
18:20
our website. Right?
18:22
Well you get carpal tunnel. Yeah, so you've To name, you've
18:28
decided to start a business, you found the California, roasting
18:31
Collective. My understanding Asana post
18:34
recently that you Source from a say of coffee source.
18:36
And for Primo's coffee has a up in Orange County Jared Hills is
18:40
the, yeah, the purveyors there. He's been on our show bunch of
18:43
times as an expert. How did you go about finding
18:46
places you trusted to buy coffee from that, you felt were doing
18:50
what you wanted out of the coffee and what were the kind of
18:53
the is a long question, but what we're kind of the things about
18:57
Them that stood out, the you thought, these are people, I
18:59
want to partner with because it is a truly a partnership when
19:02
you're buying an organic product.
19:05
Absolutely, it is our main concern or goal on getting green
19:10
coffee was high quality. That's ethically sourced.
19:15
So we wanted to make sure that you know we're getting good
19:19
quality beans because we're still while we are a
19:22
light-hearted brand. We're still selling its
19:25
specialty, grade coffee. Beans.
19:27
We want it to be really good coffee.
19:29
That people are drinking at home, but also from farms that
19:34
are treated fairly and they're treating their workers fairly.
19:38
So for Primos, that one we actually ran across fairly early
19:43
and that was more by happenstance.
19:45
I think we actually found on them on Amazon to begin with,
19:49
and we just started sampling some of their coffee, but now we
19:53
have a direct connection with them.
19:56
And that's the They Source are Nicaraguan coffees and because
20:00
they have their own, their own Farm.
20:02
In Nicaragua, I have see a, which I think I pronounce wrong
20:06
every time a Saya. I believe it's supposed to be
20:09
pronounced. I just can't was told me that
20:11
both are fine that they even argue amongst themselves in
20:15
their family. Well, so, okay, I feel better.
20:21
So his Co was actually recommended.
20:23
I was at an educational session at the collective.
20:27
And I had been looking at different distributors, we have
20:31
tried out a few different ones and one of another small roaster
20:38
said that they get their coffee from Hosea and they're great.
20:41
We tried them right after that and right away, just the
20:47
personal nature, you know, one of the first order it was either
20:51
Jared or Luke emailed us and thank you.
20:54
They send personal. They sent personal notes in.
20:57
Each of our shipments and they're up in Anaheim, which is
21:01
about an hour and a half drive from us.
21:05
So we're actually able to drive up there where you've actually
21:08
done some of their classes up there and actually just have
21:12
driven up in and done a tasting on new crop that they've come
21:15
in. So important to us was really
21:18
that personal relationship with them.
21:21
Right now, being a smaller roaster.
21:23
We need to work with an in-between that can go to the
21:27
farm. And really determine what the
21:30
good quality is and knowing with Jared and having the
21:34
conversations with them. You know I did ask because for
21:39
me I didn't see like, okay, what are your metrics for determining
21:42
that? This is a good Farm to go from
21:46
and his response was he goes there and he looks at the
21:52
conditions. He's been sourcing think for 12
21:54
years, he said 12-plus years. And he knows, you know, he has
21:59
that close relationship with the farms and he knows, you know,
22:05
how they treat their workers, so he makes sure that from anything
22:08
that sourced from there is ethically sourced.
22:11
So, right now, there are trusted partner and kind of making sure
22:15
that are the products that we choose our Affair, fair trade,
22:21
you mentioned, trusted partner. And I think that's something
22:24
that I am. As I get older, I'm more and
22:26
more aware How much trust I put in other human beings
22:31
accidentally, not even intentionally.
22:33
I'm not thinking about it consciously but trusting
22:35
companies like yours to Source their coffee and you're trusting
22:38
Jared and Jared is the one on the ground or even as simple as
22:43
going to the diner to get you know a breakfast.
22:45
I'm trusting that somebody there knows what they're doing and
22:47
making things right. And there's all these little
22:49
moments of trust throughout the day that I've come to appreciate
22:53
as being part of a community. You mentioned that you were in a
22:57
Is at the roasting Collective. Hmm, and that's someone else
23:01
mentioned to say it to you. How does being part of that
23:04
community of Roasters influence, what you're doing or what have
23:07
you taken from that experience up there?
23:10
The collective is in blue, San Marcos Vista area and a whole
23:13
bunch of different Roasters work out of there.
23:15
Yeah, it's a great Community. I think just especially starting
23:20
out. It's great to be around other
23:23
Roasters, just simply for that. Sense of community but I'll be
23:29
roasting next to people that are just starting out to people that
23:35
have been roasting you know for 10 years or so.
23:39
And every conversation I have I always there's always some
23:42
takeaway to that something that there are doing that we might be
23:47
able to try out or you know, we kind of give and take and it's
23:52
just through conversations, just through casual conversations and
23:55
that's something I don't. See us having if we didn't have
23:59
that Collective, there was actually a time as well.
24:04
You know, I've made a lot of mistakes and roasting and one,
24:09
there was one situation that I just felt so grateful.
24:13
For I had, I was dropping the beans out of the cooling tray
24:18
into a container, but I forgot to put the container underneath
24:22
the cooling tray. So I had beans going everywhere
24:26
to cement floor. So they were just bouncing and
24:29
flying like 20 feet and I, you know, close the door but I was
24:33
mortified and there was a roaster very well experienced
24:37
that I often roast next to but I had never actually at that time
24:42
I had never actually talked to him and he came over in the
24:45
first thing. He said, he's like, I've done
24:46
that so many times and it was just so, like, so great to hear
24:52
that, we're not alone and a lot of the mistakes I've made.
24:57
Everyone else has made, you know, that there are, you know,
24:59
there's always somebody there being like, I've been there and
25:03
they also, you know, sometimes he'll be like well now I keep a
25:06
container underneath, you know, just in case I forget, you know,
25:10
the one I'm supposed to fill and just those little tiny tidbits.
25:14
So it's a good Community to have for all kind of working, but we
25:18
all have that time to just have that casual conversation.
25:21
And I think it also takes some of the I don't know necessarily
25:28
competitiveness but realizes that were in a community
25:32
together and we can you know we can still co-exist as you know,
25:37
coffee roasters. So it's good that's really
25:42
interesting. There's a the competitiveness of
25:45
small business and business. Generally there are a
25:49
proliferation of coffee roasters popping up in places like the
25:52
collective have made it easier for new businesses to start.
25:56
I because they don't, you, you didn't have the investment of
25:59
buying putting out, six figures for equipment and of a space and
26:03
all these other things, right? But at the same time, you know,
26:06
and as more Roasters come into play, then you'd think that that
26:10
would kind of defuse defuse the number of customers.
26:14
But you're still a very small percentage of the coffee
26:17
drinking, public is what I've kind of learned.
26:20
And so even if you are competing with other craft roofs Roasters,
26:24
there's ninety seven percent of the people.
26:26
Ooh, who are still drinking? You know, not craft coffee, not
26:30
specialty coffee that, right? Those are your customers and as
26:33
a collective you working together, you know?
26:36
Hopefully with shows like this one and others to educate people
26:40
about what you do and say. Hey there's a reason why this is
26:43
better now that there isn't a place for other coffee.
26:46
It's just this is better on that.
26:49
Know you mentioned earlier we are I mentioned earlier, light
26:53
roast keeping things light, what do you see as kind of the
26:56
Kassar, the specialty of your your shop.
26:59
If there is one, what are the coffees that you're that you're
27:02
offering the community? So we offer a variety funny that
27:08
we, when we first started out, we actually thought we were
27:12
going to focus primarily on dark roast.
27:15
They'll both of us were dark roast drinkers like there's not
27:19
enough dark Rose in the craft coffee, injured industry.
27:22
And we're just going to primarily give the people what
27:25
they want. And then I and I wasn't really
27:31
light roast Rinker. I would drink a medium roast
27:33
every once in A while, but not really light roast.
27:36
I thought it was flat and didn't taste very well.
27:39
It turns out I just never had a really good light roast.
27:42
And one of the benefits of roasting at the collective, is
27:46
they brew coffee for the roasters in the morning?
27:50
If you're there and you can have some of it.
27:52
And I had this amazing light roast, that just blew my mind
27:57
and I was like, I'll put an epiphany moment like, oh, light
28:01
Rose, can actually have a ton of flavor.
28:04
And he's really good. So we offer a variety.
28:09
We currently have few medium roast.
28:12
Because those what we find from our consumers is those tend to
28:17
be the top sellers. And we do have currently only
28:22
one dark roast that still sells really well and one light roast.
28:28
But we're looking to expand in 2023 in terms of how we Source
28:34
the Coffee. We're looking to, we have some
28:37
kind of our signature roast but we are looking to diversify in
28:43
2023 and we really want to hear from our consumers on what
28:48
they're looking for. So we did send something out on
28:51
social media asking for Consumer feedback, but we're also going,
28:55
we're working on having a poll on our website, just on what our
28:59
consumers would like to see, whether it be a type of roast,
29:03
you, no more. Rose more dark roast or a
29:06
specific region you know I'd really like to see a Colombian
29:09
roast on your on your website Etc.
29:13
So we're kind of in the exploring stage in terms of how
29:18
we're going to expand our roast. One thing I did want to mention
29:24
though you mentioned you know a lot of people are not craft
29:28
coffee drinkers at the time and that's part of our approach is
29:33
we are Our part of our intent of keeping things fun and light is
29:38
that we want to attract those. The non kind of bring more
29:44
people into the fold of drinking craft coffee.
29:47
So, even in our descriptions of our roast, we keep it pretty
29:50
simple. We want it to be.
29:53
I remember when I first started going to local, coffee shops, or
29:58
even going on on Craft coffee websites, there was so much
30:02
information about a roast that I didn't even I know why it was
30:05
there or why it was relevant just because I did it, I didn't
30:08
know and it was somewhat intimidating to me.
30:12
So I wanted to we want to keep it pretty simple you know if you
30:16
just want the basics but then we do have additional details for
30:20
those people. Those that are interested in it
30:22
that really want to know. Okay, what ltitude wears, these
30:25
beans growing at because that does go into the flavor of the
30:29
roast for people that I know. So we want to we want to cater
30:33
to both audiences. Audiences.
30:36
Well, and people myself included can fall in between.
30:39
Sometimes I really want to know about something and other times.
30:43
I'm like, I don't care. I can barely open my eyes.
30:45
Yeah, right. So I think there's there's room
30:49
for us as humans to be in both camps at different times, in our
30:53
coffee drinking experience. Absolutely.
30:56
You've been at this. Now since you've at least been
30:59
in the coffee, working with coffee since 2020, but as a
31:02
business for relatively short time, right?
31:06
What What is something you've learned so far that you had to
31:09
kind of you mentioned your little experience with opening
31:11
the door and the beans falling over.
31:13
But what have you learned about the industry as a whole or about
31:16
coffee that maybe you weren't expecting or about running the
31:20
business which is a different challenge in itself and itself.
31:24
I have a couple things about roasting coffee.
31:29
I realized pretty early on that. It's a really it to continuous
31:33
learning experience. You're not going to get this
31:36
Pinnacle that you're like, I know everything about coffee
31:39
because it's probably going to change even the industry.
31:43
Now, it looks so much different than it did 10 years ago.
31:47
Even the way that the Farms are processing, the coffee.
31:50
So it's constantly growing and changing and I Learned that
31:54
through my educational sessions that I've been to.
31:57
There's Roasters that have been there for over 10, or been,
32:00
roasting for over 10 years. They're still looking to learn.
32:03
So it's always, you're always learning and growing, which I
32:06
think is really exciting, because, you know, it's always a
32:09
new challenge to encounters. So that was a surprise to me, I
32:14
honestly, I kind of thought it was.
32:17
It would just be, you know, you kind of figure out how to roast
32:21
and then you're good. But you can have Of two rows
32:25
from Guatemala and the way that they're processed what farm they
32:29
were they were grown on. Its be a completely different
32:33
way to roast that bean. I think that's really exciting.
32:37
It's definitely not something that will get stagnant.
32:41
So that was a surprise to me the other surprise to me or about
32:48
running the business. As since we are selling online,
32:51
we do a lot of shipments. Shipping is it takes up a lot of
32:57
time. It's it's a lot like that'll be
33:01
our first. Outsourcing is shipping
33:04
everything. That's it's, it's a lot and it's
33:08
not. That's, you know, you mentioned
33:09
the one thing, you know, when you're going and coughing
33:11
roasting you, you know, aren't really going in to do the
33:15
paperwork, same thing, like it wasn't really thinking about
33:19
spending a good majority of my time.
33:22
Just getting the The, you know, getting the shipping out in the
33:26
cost of all that. Well, it's a lot of logistics to
33:30
track as well as, yeah. I think what would people might
33:34
forget when you're thinking about a business and making more
33:37
money than you're spending, the cost of shipping isn't always
33:41
constant right changes throughout the year depending on
33:44
who you're shipping through. And there are various
33:48
point-of-sale systems that have relationships or shipping
33:51
companies where you get a better deal and this is that a value to
33:54
you and so on and so forth. There's so many things that go
33:57
into two That expense or what? The actual cost of a bag of
34:02
beans is to you as the salary and how do you sell enough of
34:06
those to actually make money is is something that if I think if
34:10
people really knew the right answer to before they started a
34:13
lot of them probably wouldn't start because it's terrifying
34:18
but you know you get better and better and more efficient as you
34:21
go. Yeah.
34:23
Is there anything else that I didn't cover today or I didn't
34:26
ask you about the want people to know about little Baggins coffee
34:29
or about you and your journey. What comes next?
34:34
Yeah, I think yeah, we're still, we're still pretty early on.
34:39
We're very open to, you know, customer feedback.
34:43
So we feel free to reach out to us on social media and our email
34:50
on our website. We are, as I mentioned, And
34:53
we're putting together a pull tab on our website.
34:56
What people would like to see from the wagons in the future
34:59
because I mean ultimately we are.
35:02
We're here for the coffee drinkers.
35:05
So we want to be providing to you what what you want.
35:10
So we're really, we're really open to feedback and love to
35:13
hear it. Even if people have ideas for
35:15
funny names for our roast, we're all ears down the road.
35:22
What's coming next We are starting a coffee Club.
35:26
That'll be starting before the end of this month, before the
35:29
end of January, and we are moving into farmers markets as
35:35
well in 2023. So we'll be selling at farmer's
35:38
markets. Then finally is a and add to our
35:42
website will have a coffee 101 page that we also want to have
35:49
kind of crowd crowd input or customer input on, you know,
35:53
Your questions about coffee and it can go from.
35:56
We really want to have some really basic questions or basic
36:00
info to, you know, more extensive at that if that's what
36:03
people people want. But we're really catering to
36:07
terms of that to the to the people that don't really know a
36:11
lot about craft coffee and you know might be confused says to
36:16
all these different Brew methods and can't I just use a drip
36:19
coffee maker and yes you can our coffee tastes really good.
36:22
And then drift coffee Maker as well.
36:26
Well, I will I would say is I have been looking at a drip
36:31
coffee maker for my home. Drip coffee makers are not all
36:34
made the same. So know when this show comes
36:37
out, everyone, I'm going to take a couple in the newsletter, at
36:41
roast westcoast.com to take a look at, is drip coffee makers,
36:46
but better better drip coffee makers.
36:49
It's great. Think the biggest thing that we
36:50
find with drip coffee makers and now I'm so boxing.
36:54
But is as I've learned the Picture of the water doesn't
36:57
always get hot enough especially with some of the lower end ones
37:00
and that is such an important component of brewing.
37:02
A good cup of coffee Becca. I really appreciate the time you
37:06
spent with us today. I want to make sure that I know
37:08
before I go, if you are out on the road you're driving around.
37:12
You see a coffee shop, you stop. What do you order for yourself?
37:17
Often since I drink a lot of coffee at home, a lot of our
37:20
coffee, when I go out, and I'm stopping at a cafe, I'm often
37:24
getting what I call a fun drink. So I often go back to that latte
37:28
or whatever, that I try to shop local wherever I can, you know,
37:33
unless I'm in an area that, you know, doesn't have that.
37:36
But, you know, San Diego itself, plenty of coffee shop.
37:40
So I'll just go to the local coffee shop.
37:43
They have a seasonal drink. I'll get that and try that out.
37:46
I I still love the fun. The fun coffee drinks.
37:49
They're a treat. When I'm going out.
37:51
I want to have a treat. Well, Becca congratulations on
37:57
taking this chance and starting a new company will make sure we
38:01
point everyone towards Little Baggins online.
38:03
Great, I really appreciate your time and thanks for being on the
38:07
show. Thank you.
38:09
It's great to great to be here. Thank you for having the
38:12
conversation with me. And you did great.
38:16
I mean, for a first-time podcast parents.
38:19
Wonderful. My boyfriend was just like,
38:22
don't sound like a robot. Okay?
38:34
To recap, Becca was a late bloomer to Coffee.
38:37
See what I did there? Coffee blooming Bloomer.
38:41
Anyway, she didn't start drinking coffee and tell her
38:44
later. Late 20s.
38:44
When someone gave her a Starbucks gift card, she had an
38:48
entirely different corporate career in the mental health Tech
38:50
field. But when the pandemic it, she
38:53
and her boyfriend were looking for a hobby to do at home, enter
38:56
the genie Cafe, aka the coffee Genie, tabletop Coffee Bean
39:01
roaster. They started roasting near a
39:03
window in the apartment, which inspired the creation of the
39:07
Superflat 5000, or a big piece of cardboard that they use to
39:11
push smoke out the window. Not exactly high tech or even a
39:15
legal operation, but it was fun and Becca learned that she
39:19
really loved the preciseness of roasting coffee.
39:22
It was the discovery of the California.
39:24
Roasting Collective a coffee, roasting co-working space in
39:28
Southern California. That inspired her to take the
39:31
leap because if not now, when Lil Baggins was born, the name
39:37
in the brand is not specifically a connection to Lord of the
39:40
Rings. Although a lot of people think
39:41
that and you may want to Check out their second breakfast,
39:44
medium roast instead, it's a brand that's meant to be fun for
39:49
Becca. Leaving a career, starting a new
39:51
business. These were not challenges to be
39:53
taken lightly, since stepping out on that ledge, she has
39:56
learned a few things in particular, she is not alone in
40:00
her mistakes, coffee mistakes or otherwise and neither are you.
40:04
Someone else has forgotten to put the container under the drop
40:07
in coffee beans. Before we're always learning and
40:10
growing. I'll share more about little
40:12
Baggins and Some not from the show coffee content in this
40:15
week's roast West, Coast newsletter, which you can also
40:18
find on roast westcoast.com. You'll learn a little bit more
40:22
about little Baggins at low Baggins.com and at low, Baggins
40:26
coffee on Instagram. That's Lil, like, Lil Wayne if
40:30
you're searching. But I'll also include those
40:32
links in this shows podcasts notes.
40:34
And of course, in the newsletter, you should follow
40:37
little Baggins. Now, because there's a lot of
40:39
news coming in the near future, including details, about their
40:42
coffee Club, Their appearances at farmer's markets and even
40:45
coffee education coming via their website.
40:48
Speaking of coffee education, the big news here at the roast
40:51
West Coast headquarters. Is the launch of the coffee
40:54
smarter podcast. The new show is specifically
40:57
geared towards listeners who want to make a better cup of
41:00
coffee at home. The First episodes, covered
41:03
extraction and water, and the rest of season one will cover
41:06
different types of coffee Brewers that you might use at
41:09
home starting with the French press.
41:12
If you've already signed up for the roast West Coast newsletter
41:15
on roast westcoast.com, you'll get coffee smarter sent to you
41:18
on Wednesdays, you'll never miss an episode.
41:21
You can also find the show wherever you're listening to
41:24
this podcast. Be sure to follow the show and
41:27
if you can rate and review just search for coffee Smarter on to
41:31
some closing business later. This week, I'll be checking in
41:34
with Aaron Harper. She is the founder of Ascend
41:36
Roasters and one of our roast industry Partners Ascend
41:40
Roasters, official grand opening in the The old cow Coffee
41:42
location in San Marcos. California is later this week on
41:46
January 20th. We're along with the ribbon,
41:48
cutting, there'll be coffee, tastings and even a rare
41:51
appearance by Yours. Truly, I'll be there to talk a
41:53
little bit more about how to get involved in the craft coffee
41:56
Community. You can find details on Ascend,
41:58
Roasters.com, this podcast, other coffee, industry Partners
42:02
include Cafe litter, most your coffee company.
42:05
Steady-state coffee, roasting Camp, Coffee Company, coffee
42:08
cycle, roasting ignite Coffee Company more.
42:12
A coffee, Cape Horn, coffee importers and zoom bar coffee.
42:15
And tea I couldn't have made it this far without their help and
42:19
I'm proud to share the stage with their brands.
42:21
You can find links to their websites in the podcast notes or
42:24
right on the front page of roast westcoast.com.
42:28
Thank you to everyone for listening and supporting this
42:30
show. This episode of the roast West
42:32
Coast coffee. Podcast is was has been written
42:35
produced and recorded by me, Brian Wolfe.
42:38
I hope this episode is, found you happy healthy and with, at
42:41
least, Enough sanity to make it through the day, always tip your
42:45
Baristas and be sure to drink. Good coffee.
43:10
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43:37
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