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Matthew Torres, Familiar Coffee · Coffee People Podcast

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1:14
Hey there everyone. Welcome back to the Coffee
1:16
People podcast. I'm your host, Ryan Walt.
1:20
The show is presented by Roast Our Coffee packaging and is part
1:23
of the Roast West Coast Coffee Network.
1:26
Go to roastwestcoast.com to find recaps of this show, our Coffee
1:30
Smarter podcasts, and so much more.
1:34
This is a coffee and entrepreneurship podcast where
1:37
we connect with guests who have some sort of connection to the
1:40
coffee industry. We've been sharing the stories
1:43
of roasters, baristas, farmers, scientists, artists, tech
1:46
entrepreneurs, and more. We delve into entrepreneurship,
1:51
motivation, inspiration, and we often do it with a great cup of
1:55
coffee. Our guest today is Matthew
1:58
Torres, the founder of Familiar Coffee, as well as the Long
2:02
Beach Coffee Club in, you guessed it, the LBC South of LA
2:07
in sunny Southern California. Familiar is unique in that their
2:11
offerings are all specialty, decaffeinated coffees.
2:15
We're going to chat with Matthew about how we ended up heading
2:17
down that path in just a moment. Until then, while you're
2:21
listening today, be sure to click the links in this podcast
2:24
show notes and follow at Familiar Coffee Co on Instagram
2:29
or check out their current coffees on
2:31
offer@familiarcoffee.com. You'll find those links in our
2:35
newsletter at roastwestcoast.com, which I hope
2:39
you're signed up for. It comes once a week, and you
2:41
can listen to this show right there.
2:43
Man, my voice is just off today. I think it's time for a cup of
2:47
coffee. I'm drinking, actually a coffee
2:50
that's near and dear to my heart.
2:51
The yeah no Yeah coffee collaboration that we here at
2:55
Rose West Coast recently put out with our friends at Relative
2:58
Coffee Company in Minneapolis, MN.
3:01
If you're a fan of Colombia and Ethiopia coffee blends, great
3:05
coffees generally, or just Midwestern turns of phrase, I
3:10
hope you'll join me someday soon in enjoying Yeah no yeah coffee.
3:14
I'm clearly biased. I'm also really proud of this
3:17
coffee effort and the collaboration with relatives
3:21
roaster Bryant Banker Scannell. Collaboration is a huge part of
3:25
the Roast West Coast Coffee Network, and I'm off track.
3:29
Wherever you are, I hope that your coffee is just as fine as
3:33
mine, because it is time to settle in and listen to another
3:37
Coffee People podcast, this one featuring Matthew Torres of
3:42
Familiar Coffee. Yeah.
3:51
So my name is Matthew Torres. The company I founded just over
3:57
a year ago is called Familiar Coffee.
3:59
We focused solely on decaf specialty coffee.
4:04
Prior to that I focused on a consumer LED coffee club based
4:11
in Southern California called the Long Beach Coffee Club.
4:14
That was around like 6-7 years of just learning and listening
4:20
and facilitating. And yeah, then I live like a
4:24
double life where I for my day job, I'm a marketer for a huge
4:30
tech company and a father, a husband and do a lot of like
4:37
things that I'm curious about. So yeah, I got really into decaf
4:44
coffee and I'm sure we'll chat about that.
4:47
But yeah, that's a bit about me. In honor of this conversation, I
4:53
am drinking a decaf coffee, but I'm not going to add that
4:56
specialty word to it. It's it is a decaf coffee that I
5:00
had accessible today. The idea of specialty decaf, I
5:05
feel like is relatively new in the zeitgeist of of even coffee
5:09
people. This idea that you can get great
5:11
craft specialty and I am going to talk about that, but I want
5:14
to go back in time a little bit further.
5:17
You mentioned the Long Beach Coffee Club.
5:19
I think I saw that it started somewhere around 2000 and 1617.
5:24
What was the? Impetus for that, What made?
5:26
I mean, did you have an experience that made you think
5:28
this is kind of, this is a community I want to be part of
5:31
or help create? Yeah, so I'm originally from Los
5:35
Angeles, from a small port town called San Pedro.
5:39
Then I moved to the Sonoran Desert and lived there a decade
5:43
while studying in Tucson. So I moved back to Long Beach,
5:47
but really didn't have any community here.
5:50
So I I really was like searching for that in general.
5:53
And I think that's like a foundational thing.
5:57
That will probably be a red thread throughout our
6:00
conversation. And I moved around Southern
6:04
California and finally found Long Beach about 12 years ago.
6:10
I started finding, well, I found a, a coffee shop locally that
6:16
introduced me to specialty coffee and I, I started brewing
6:20
coffee at home and through that coffee shop, I would sit at the
6:25
bar that was really similar to like a sushi bar where you can,
6:29
you know, they serve you right on the countertop and you have
6:34
access to baristas and roasters and things along those lines.
6:38
Wade was the owner of that shop called Lord Windsor.
6:42
I would always talk to them because I would like, I would
6:44
read things online and then just bounce my ideas off of them.
6:49
And right when we were getting to like the, the, the cool part,
6:53
I would, they would get pulled away because the customer would
6:56
come in and then I'm like, OK, like we, we can pick up this,
6:59
you know, tomorrow or, you know, something like that.
7:02
And then it happened every time. And I started thinking, you
7:07
know, maybe there's other people like me that don't have the
7:11
capacity to like, kind of quit everything and jump into being a
7:14
coffee professional, but that just love coffee.
7:18
And they're like enthusiasts or you know, whatever name we want
7:22
to we call them. So I launched a meet up that was
7:27
just focused on coffee. And it wasn't even specially
7:30
coffee. It was just like coffee as a
7:33
catch all. And then we would get a mixture
7:37
of people that would come in. My goal even in the beginning
7:41
was to get professionals that knew a lot about coffee and then
7:45
coffee consumers and then try to be like the Venn diagram between
7:49
the two and then just learn from each other.
7:53
Because I think in the beginning it was more of, you know, coffee
7:57
professionals talking to consumers.
8:00
And then after about a year, I realized that there was a lot of
8:03
valuable conversations with feedback to the coffee industry.
8:08
Because you don't you don't often time like, you know,
8:10
you're not like candid. And unless somebody's like
8:13
giving you a bad review to your face, which doesn't happen.
8:16
I hope that you get like these conversations of like, hey, like
8:21
I get really nervous when, you know, these cool looking people
8:25
are at the register and ask me what I want and what do you
8:29
recommend I do? And they're like, Oh, well, you
8:31
know, first of all, you know, everyone's just working and
8:34
having a good time. But second of all, like, maybe
8:37
we can navigate the menu or you can ask these questions.
8:41
And that might kind of break the ice for a busy barista that's
8:45
trying to get through their shift and trying to get your
8:47
order quick, but also trying to give you good recommendations.
8:50
So yeah, that's a bit about like Long Beach Coffee Club, the
8:54
years of like as partnering we partnered with Blue Bottle and
8:59
Gary Chow who is the Co founder of Cafe Lux and just like a ton
9:04
of different coffee professionals.
9:06
Anything from you know, what is cupping to there was a lot of
9:11
interest in latte art, which is fascinating 'cause I had I'm
9:15
more of like a Brewer and like pour over person.
9:19
We did those classes and even roasting, home roasting to
9:22
production roasting. And it wasn't so much people
9:27
wanting to, there was some that like were aspiring to be
9:32
roasters, but more of just like the holistic view of like, what
9:37
do you guys do and how do you guys do it?
9:40
So it's kind of like a peek behind the curtain.
9:42
So yeah. You're doing that for several
9:46
years into the pandemic. Pandemic hits.
9:48
I mean, you're doing, I hate to say this, but in my head I was
9:52
like, oh, he was doing in real life podcasts, which is not.
9:56
It's actually the other way around.
9:58
Everything's changed since the pandemic.
10:00
I think about it differently, but.
10:02
You're. Also learning and you're growing
10:04
in this community while like you mentioned you have a whole
10:06
nother life and a whole other career.
10:09
What pushed you to keep? Going I mean, at some point I
10:12
have to think that it's getting to be kind of big and kind of,
10:16
you know, time consuming. Even if you're enjoying it, it's
10:19
still this thing that's taking away from the rest of your life.
10:23
That's a good question. So I kind of, I, I definitely
10:26
shifted the Long Beach coffee Club to what it is today.
10:31
I, I kind of like took a look at like, you know, what was the
10:35
goals of Long Beach Coffee Club? And I, I, I honestly sat down
10:39
and said like, could this be a business just because like could
10:42
I quit my day job and could this be a business?
10:45
And then after a lot of planning and research and then and, you
10:50
know, leaning on, like, mentors, it just really didn't back out
10:55
to something that, like, could sustain you, which was fine.
10:58
And it helped kind of shift my perspective on, OK.
11:03
You know, that common thing you hear from entrepreneurs of like,
11:08
oh, you know, entrepreneurship is, you know, this golden thing
11:13
that you can like work whenever you want.
11:16
I fell into a lot of those kind of podcasts of like masters of
11:20
scale and hearing these romance stories or even these like
11:24
they're always wins, right? It's just like LinkedIn or these
11:28
founders in in a garage or you know, that find this random or
11:34
not random, but like focused success.
11:37
So I looked at it and realized that like, this was going to be
11:42
more of a hobby and just, you know, fun.
11:45
And I got to learn a new industry that I had nothing
11:50
like, no foundational knowledge about.
11:53
So when the pandemic hit, we tried to do something similar to
11:59
like virtual meet ups and, you know, those kinds of things, but
12:03
it just didn't work. We did like a sketch class where
12:08
we drank coffee and then we had this amazing illustrator and
12:11
then a couple other things. Then, you know, the idea for
12:15
familiar started coming up and I had limited time of, you know,
12:21
working a day job and then my personal life and doing all of
12:24
these things. So I had to scale back Long
12:26
Beach coffee club. So to answer your question is
12:29
just, you know, I looked at like my finite amount of time and
12:35
realize, you know, now Long Beach Coffee Club is what it is
12:39
and it's really just focusing on brewing coffee online.
12:44
I'm giving tips and tricks and just trying to be as accessible
12:48
as possible. So I kind of like the bare bones
12:51
of like what we learned as a group and then we might do an
12:57
event or two a year, but it's really not anything.
13:01
I was trying to do like 2 events a month when we were ramping up
13:06
and then we kind of shifted gears.
13:08
But yeah, I kind of deduced it down to what it is.
13:12
So then I can work on other projects that I was curious
13:15
about. You brought up two things there
13:18
that I think are really important for anyone listening
13:21
that is thinking about entrepreneurship or a business
13:23
in coffee or you know, even understanding, you know a lot of
13:27
the guests on this show, which is one that question could this
13:30
be a business and not just a hobby?
13:33
Because those are two totally different things.
13:35
And. You'll feel differently about
13:37
them depending on which category it falls into.
13:39
Something that you love as a hobby, you may not love as a
13:42
business. So asking that question I think
13:44
is important. And the other thing you
13:45
mentioned was finite amount of time.
13:48
And that is such a tough thing because as somebody who's
13:53
starting something you care about, the thing you have the
13:56
most of is your own time. Hopefully, you know, most people
13:59
don't start with a bunch of money.
14:01
If they do, good for them and that's great.
14:03
But most people have time to commit.
14:05
And when you start thinking about what percentage of your
14:09
life you're giving over to something, it it has to become a
14:13
business to keep, to keep down that path to can, to justify it.
14:17
I just did a content calendar for one of my sponsors.
14:19
So you know, the next 18 months. And I thought, Oh my God, like,
14:23
who's doing all this work? There's so much work to be done.
14:28
I need some help. You.
14:30
Mentioned familiar kind of started coming up and that was
14:32
one of those things taking your your time.
14:35
Could you give us a quick primer?
14:36
What is familiar coffee and why the focus on decaf?
14:42
Yeah, so familiar. The original idea came up during
14:46
the pandemic. It is a decaf only, especially
14:51
coffee company and we do a it's just like a basic website direct
14:57
to consumer and have like specific pillars that are really
15:01
important to us and that is just quality.
15:06
It's a great taste. So that's like probably one of
15:09
the bigger North stars and I'll chat about kind of like the
15:15
catalyst of like how that became so important, but design was
15:20
really another like pillar for us just because I consume a ton
15:26
of coffee globally from anywhere from, you know, Copenhagen or
15:32
Barcelona to Vancouver and and like regionally around the US
15:38
and then a lots locally. And I think for consumers to
15:43
really, I'm trying to think of a word that's not take you
15:46
serious, but it's like a succinct word for like, you
15:50
know, we'll see that your quality isn't just no hate on
15:57
like just a brown bag that's really minimal, like the
16:00
original kind of blue bottle thing.
16:02
But I think now with price point and what's out there, there has
16:08
to be defining principles that set you apart.
16:12
So that was one of the bigger ones.
16:14
So, you know, when we're on a retail shelf or when a consumer
16:18
finds this for the first time, they're like, oh, this is a
16:20
unique look at like a bag and a label.
16:23
And it's all of the different kind of aspects that you know,
16:28
are hopefully helpful. So and then the last is just
16:32
like customer service, I think after finishing mini books on
16:38
just entrepreneurship and leadership and business in
16:40
general, I think like the service part of online
16:45
businesses are kind of the make or break of like what separates
16:50
you. That's another important aspect
16:52
from me, but familiar started with me working at a start up
16:59
during the pandemic and I, I couldn't consume the amount of
17:04
coffee that I was consuming prior to being kind of
17:08
stationary at home. So my like three to four cups
17:13
shifted really quickly to one to two cups due to mental health.
17:18
And through that I was just like, OK, like I still want
17:23
coffee because I'm so used to this.
17:25
And it's one of the things that, you know, I, I really cherish in
17:28
life. So I just started ordering
17:32
dozens and dozens of different bags.
17:34
And it would take me a little while to get through them, but
17:38
I, I would want to go, OK, you know, I'm drinking, you know,
17:42
Luna coffee or, or whatever caffeinated version.
17:46
Maybe they'll have a decaf. And that's where I started of
17:48
like these coffees that were really delicious.
17:53
Let me just start with the roasters I'd already enjoy.
17:56
And then I started branching out because it wasn't the same
18:00
quality. The taste really just tasted
18:04
different. It kind of reminded me of, you
18:07
know, when you have a Coca-Cola and then you're drinking a Diet
18:11
Coke, You know, you're drinking Diet Coke.
18:12
So that's always like the metaphor of, like, I know I'm
18:17
drinking decaf coffee. And what if there was something
18:22
that could trick my brain and say, like, oh, this is like a
18:25
normal coffee? That's really where the idea
18:29
came from. I worked with a professional
18:31
coach out of Copenhagen named Lash.
18:34
That really helped kind of push me of like, hey, sit down.
18:39
This is like, you know, before you have kids, before, you know,
18:43
you life gets even busier. I, this is a really important
18:50
thing that you want to do. And this sounds like, you know,
18:53
a passionate aspect of it. And we really, she helped kind
18:57
of put a plane together for me. And then I had action items to
19:02
have the dream to kind of move on it.
19:05
And yeah, then you know, it, it took a lot, a lot longer than I
19:09
thought. I'll say that to to to get off
19:13
the ground. How did you start?
19:16
Finding sourcing coffees that were decaf and had that that
19:21
specialty craft taste that you were looking for Where?
19:25
And. The way I think of it is if
19:26
somebody sets a specialty coffee in front of me and then sets a
19:29
decaf specialty coffee in front of me, I shouldn't really tell
19:32
the difference. Or I hope that I can't tell the
19:34
difference between the two if they don't tell me which is
19:36
which, right? How did you?
19:38
Go about finding those first ones and that really made you
19:41
go, oh, this is possible, I can do this.
19:44
That was probably the longest process.
19:46
I, I felt like in business you talk about like your MVP, you
19:51
know, for me to like the proof of concept, I needed to find a
19:55
coffee that could do what you just explained, right?
19:59
It's you can put it on a cupping table and somebody couldn't say,
20:02
oh, that's definitely a decaf. You know, it could pass as like,
20:06
oh, that's a really good coffee. And then they're surprised
20:08
that's a decaf so. It was a lot of trial and error
20:14
requesting samples, but to be honest, like I tasted this
20:18
coffee from a roaster that I admired, which is black and
20:22
white coffee roasters. And that was the, as I was
20:28
building it. That was like the, the, the
20:31
coffee that I tasted that was like, wow, this, this can't
20:34
exist. You know, there's coffee out
20:36
there that is that delicious. And that coffee was really
20:41
special because it was an Ethiopian coffee that was a
20:46
really great coffee as it like from the raw ingredients, the
20:51
caffeinated version. And then it went through an EA
20:54
process in Germany and then came to the East Coast.
20:58
So it kind of traveled a lot. And I think like it was really
21:03
hard to get. But that was the one that kicked
21:06
us off and then continued to taste.
21:09
And for me, you know, not knowing what I know now, I
21:14
thought we were going to have, you know, probably like 6 to 8
21:17
offerings. But tasting decaf, there really
21:22
isn't a ton of offerings that meet that criteria of, you know,
21:29
like you, you can't taste that it's decaf.
21:32
So the second coffee took another like four months.
21:37
And it came from a local person that actually introduced us,
21:41
Jared from Hosea. And it was a really tasty
21:45
Honduras coffee. And I think as a founder, my
21:50
criteria was very rigid in the beginning.
21:53
And then I understood that, like, you know, this top 1% of
21:58
decaf is probably not realistic. I started to realize, OK, people
22:04
want something that might be not floral and delicate all the
22:08
time. They want like an everyday
22:09
driver decaf as well. And that's what the Honduras
22:13
offering is. And then one that I'm I'm
22:17
drinking now that will come up that will really soon is
22:22
probably the most complex decaf coffee I've ever tasted.
22:26
That are the same group that helped find the the decaf that
22:32
was that won the US Brewers Cup this this year.
22:37
So just really exciting. And it's just, you know, it took
22:41
a lot of diligence and like not giving up of, you know, having
22:45
that, oh, it's like still there and chasing it.
22:49
And yeah, it's really cool to see the the the things that are
22:54
now in the market that weren't there even a couple years ago.
22:59
To clarify, the the Brewers Cup winner was up against
23:02
caffeinated coffees as well, right?
23:04
I'm just making sure that I understood that right, which is
23:07
a pretty big deal for any decaf to be recognized on that scale.
23:11
You know, you mentioned that there there are new products,
23:17
things have been progressing in the marketplace and what's
23:19
available and what's not and there seems to be a burgeoning
23:23
demand for non alcoholic, non caffeinated is the question I
23:26
sent you. Are you feeling that, is that
23:29
pushing you forward to keep going that sort of demand for
23:32
something that's decaf high quality?
23:34
I mean, are the customers seeking you out because you're
23:38
decaf specific or is it something else that's pushing
23:42
this forward? I think that's a good question.
23:46
I would say like a year, year and a half ago I would say yes.
23:52
But I think there, there was one non alcoholic bar that opened in
23:59
Chinatown in LA that unfortunately is closing their
24:02
doors. I, I think like we might still
24:05
be a bit early with just alternatives as a generality of
24:09
maybe like a stand alone coffee shop that might be decaf only.
24:14
But I think especially with what I have been researching with
24:19
Gen. Z, there are new appetite for
24:24
alternatives in general. The stimuli is something the
24:27
next generation coming up is really focused on and careful
24:32
about. And that is something that's,
24:36
you know, exciting for me. I think there's a world, you
24:41
know, maybe 5-10 years down the road that you know, there's
24:46
maybe there are people are renting out their daily coffee
24:49
shop to decaf options. So there's like a night place to
24:53
hang out or kick it with like a DJ and things like that.
24:57
But yeah, I think it's still early.
24:59
The cool thing is people are it's we're really focused on
25:03
like word of mouth at the moment.
25:05
We don't have a footprint in person like at farmers markets
25:09
or anything like that. So a lot of it is people talking
25:14
and sharing. And we're up 13% year over year
25:18
in just overall sales, which to me shows there's like a growth
25:23
in appetite for new people finding it like a decaf option.
25:29
And even this weekend, I was chatting with someone at, like,
25:34
a kids party that is pregnant that told me, oh, you have a
25:39
decaf company. One of my friends, like,
25:41
introduced me. That's that.
25:43
And she really was sharing like, I was like a normal caffeinated
25:48
coffee drinker and I need coffee.
25:50
But, you know, now I'm shifting to decaf and it's really hard to
25:53
find, you know, decaf locally. And I was like, oh, sweet.
25:58
Yeah. Happy to, like, send you some
26:00
products and see what you think. So I think for me as a marketer,
26:07
I think of like groups of people as audiences.
26:10
And the hard thing is, you know, you really can't target like
26:16
very specific people that like drink decaf because it's more
26:20
like health related or maybe like a caffeine sensitivity.
26:25
So I believe that, you know, not only the people that are solely
26:30
decaf drinkers, but people that are decaf curious, you know,
26:34
like me, that kind of alternate between caffeinated and decaf
26:38
have there's a growth in that. And I think there it's
26:42
multifaceted that, you know, the market is growing.
26:47
There's definitely more demand. I was talking to Eduardo who was
26:52
in town who won the US roasting Championship, and he was talking
26:58
about the delay in putting like a container of coffee into the
27:03
decaf process. He said usually the turn around
27:05
was around six months and now it's delayed in like about nine
27:12
months, I would say. So there's definitely way more
27:14
demand and there's a lot of stress on these points in the
27:19
world, Columbia, Mexico, Vancouver that do the processing
27:24
of decaf. So we'll see how that kind of,
27:28
you know, develops over time. But the interest is definitely
27:31
there and growing. It's just what we'll see how
27:34
fast it grows as well. Developing a decaf, I'm in my
27:40
head, I'm thinking about challenges that I might face and
27:43
one being that a lot of samples that I would receive of green
27:46
coffee wouldn't be decaffeinated.
27:49
So you'd have to extrapolate the flavor of that and then
27:52
extrapolate how the decaf processing.
27:55
Will impact it. What's?
27:57
The difference for you between finding a coffee, a decaf,
28:00
versus a regular roast? I'm like you or I drink both.
28:03
And so the idea that I could have a a company that's only
28:08
selling decaf, I feel like would add a extra challenging step in
28:13
trying to figure out what it's going to taste like post
28:17
decaffeination. Yeah, I had a couple importers
28:21
like send me caffeinated coffee that said like hey, here's like
28:25
the quality of like X country that we use and I I just don't
28:30
find that helpful like I just need to like taste the finished
28:34
product. So whenever there is that
28:38
option, I just like politely decline because like you said,
28:42
the if you have the caffeinated version and the decaf version,
28:47
they're pretty different from the most part.
28:49
I have been to a couple events that Swiss water has put on that
28:55
gives you a taste of the caffeinated in decaf version.
28:59
And that's really cool. Just as somebody that's trying
29:02
to learn about the differences in taste, because the the two
29:07
coffees there is one Ethiopia coffee and then another
29:13
Colombian coffee. And the most recent Colombian
29:17
coffee was like a Co ferment a pretty, I would call like wild
29:23
coffee in my opinion, because I think I well, I know I consume
29:28
mostly washed coffees. So I'm pretty sensitive to like
29:32
Co ferments and things along those lines in the caffeinated
29:36
version was just like so over the top and the decaf version
29:41
was pretty mild. So I was just like, Oh well, I
29:44
actually as a consumer enjoy the more mild version because it
29:49
kind of turned down the volume on like the cofra red.
29:54
Needless to say, I, I think the wisdom I've learned is just
29:58
like, give me the final product. Like thank you for offering the,
30:02
the caffeinated version. But for me, I just need to taste
30:06
it and then also taste it when it lands.
30:09
Because yeah, this is like probably every coffee taster
30:14
roaster. Like, you know, sometimes those
30:16
two things don't align and then you're kind of have this whole
30:20
new experience and then you have to kind of go back and forth.
30:23
So because like there's very little really good decaf.
30:30
Yeah. I, I just tried to like stick to
30:32
like the samples. And we're so small, we don't
30:35
even have like a sample roaster. We lean on like friends in the
30:39
industry that will sample roast. But I'm probably like, there's
30:45
probably like a lot of resentment with like people that
30:47
work with me just because I always ask for roasted samples,
30:50
which is a whole other conversation of like
30:54
accessibility in the market and like how, you know, it's really
30:59
hard to get roasted samples. But yeah, I was just asked for
31:02
roasted samples just to cut out us having to borrow sample
31:06
roaster. But yeah, that's a lot in there.
31:11
But my experience with like getting decaf samples and
31:15
sometimes the offering of like that caffeinated because yeah,
31:19
they're pretty different. I.
31:22
Mean decaf. We mentioned accessibility.
31:25
I think even for consumers it's hard to find or even to know if
31:29
it's available at a Cafe or even at my local grocery store.
31:32
They only have, I think, 2:00 at the main grocery store I go to,
31:37
and I only buy them there because I can't find them at the
31:40
local roasters in my neighborhood.
31:42
If they do have them, it's usually in low quantities
31:44
comparatively, and so that's always a challenge.
31:47
Familiar coffee. I know I've had one other guest
31:50
on this show that was focused on decaf and that was talking Crow
31:53
roasters, and they were up there.
31:54
Oh. Nice.
31:55
They're super sweet. They're great, Washington.
31:57
At the time and now down in Arkansas, I believe.
32:00
But. Yeah.
32:01
And that was like, but again, the idea they do both
32:04
caffeinated and and non, but the idea being that there was this
32:07
alternative marketplace that they could fit into because it
32:11
wasn't being filled where they were.
32:13
Now that you have familiar running Long Beach Coffee Club
32:16
is kind of in the background there.
32:18
You mentioned your career. You mentioned that there might
32:21
have been kids at some point on the horizon, I believe possibly
32:24
in existence now, Yeah. Have a have a crib.
32:26
Have a crib like in the background.
32:29
I see that leaning up against the wall is trying to figure
32:31
that out. How have you been able to
32:33
balance you know? How is this process worked for
32:36
you? How are you making it work?
32:38
Yeah, so I'm, yeah, I have a toddler, I have a 2 year old and
32:44
then we have another kiddo on the way at the end of the year.
32:49
So it goes back to just really spending time on knowing what's
32:56
important for you and creating values.
33:00
I think for me, I, I, I have a lot of interest in many things
33:08
in the world. So it's hard for me to really
33:11
focus in. And I, I think that probably
33:15
there's like a shared value there with a lot of people that
33:18
want to start like businesses or, you know, new clubs or, you
33:24
know, whatever it may be. So finding balance is, is
33:29
helpful. And I learned that through
33:31
working at a Danish startup based in Copenhagen.
33:35
And I, I worked there three years and at a startup, you're,
33:39
you're doing a lot of different tasks, was leading, you know,
33:44
almost like more than 1/2 a dozen people at the time and
33:48
then trying to run the US operations.
33:52
And at that time, like learned how to time block, which is like
33:56
a weekly practice that I do and try to just be intentional with
34:01
my time. But also, you know, not be too
34:05
rigid because, you know, it can go either way, right?
34:08
You can go on one side of the ditch that you're so rigid that
34:12
you miss opportunities and you miss kind of things that you
34:17
should maybe consider more. And then on the other side where
34:21
you say yes to everything and then you're sitting face to face
34:24
to someone you don't know that has an agenda that really
34:27
doesn't align with you. So I think like over the years,
34:33
that is a big thing. And then I just love different
34:38
people from different walks of life or perspective.
34:41
So I am always, you know, 1 foot in with like people that love
34:47
the Premier League and sports and then another foot in on like
34:51
people that play Magic the Gathering and then another group
34:55
that, you know, might just be really into pickleball or
34:58
something like that. But I think with all of those
35:01
different communities and I'm part of, I really get, you know,
35:05
not just an echo Chamber of people that like everything that
35:10
I like, even in the coffee industry where, you know, it can
35:14
be an echo chamber at at the time.
35:17
So I think just being intentional and thinking through
35:21
where I spend my time, but also just trying to createspace for,
35:27
you know, unique spontaneity, which is very challenging.
35:33
Your other career is in marketing.
35:36
How? Important do you think it is or
35:38
how much of an advantage do you think it is to have that
35:41
background in trying to do what you're doing now launching this
35:43
company that is direct to consumer?
35:46
I think of other small startups in the coffee space and it feels
35:49
like they either have a lot of money dedicated towards
35:52
marketing but maybe not so much to the other half of the
35:55
business, or no money dedicated to marketing because they're so
35:58
focused on the quality and and. The.
36:01
Process. Where do you fit into that?
36:03
Because it seems like you have a little bit of both worlds there.
36:06
Yeah, so I'm kind of in the middle.
36:08
In the beginning, I thought my experience was going to be
36:12
gangbusters, and I think probably overestimated, to be
36:17
honest. Like I was just like, Oh yeah, I
36:20
know how to do Google ads. I know how to target on Facebook
36:23
and Instagram. I can leverage ads on Amazon,
36:29
but it became very evident that I needed to really solidify the
36:34
brand before I started doing product marketing.
36:38
I get a ton of ads from bigger companies like Onyx and Blue
36:43
Bottle and they have very deep pockets, but they already have
36:47
established brands so they can go the product route and say,
36:52
hey, we have this new Panama or whatever.
36:55
You know, the subscription you should consider there's
36:59
definitely some advantages, but I think like it all comes down
37:03
to your brand. And that's where I would say
37:07
that probably the biggest advantage lies with someone that
37:10
has marketing experience because I'm by trade, a performance
37:15
marketer. So I look at, you know, things
37:19
like ROI and ROAS and but most of performance marketing, I
37:24
would say all of it is just you need to have established brand
37:29
or have something in the market that then you can target
37:33
specifically and leverage that where, you know, going back to
37:38
what I said originally, it's just like there's not like a
37:40
targeting feature in these social networks that are, you
37:45
know, this person drinks decaf, you know, there's interest and
37:50
things like that. So even with Google, which is
37:54
more like intent marketing, focusing on like the small
37:59
amount of people nationally that type in a query like specialty
38:04
decaf coffee there you're going up against Stumptown and then
38:09
Telly and all of these, you know, huge companies where
38:13
people feel more calm, comfortable to try it.
38:15
So, yeah, I think it's definitely there's some
38:19
advantages of it, but I would say that advantages would come,
38:23
you know, maybe a year or two from now if the brand really
38:27
establishes itself to a household name.
38:31
And then that's where I can kind of use my skill set.
38:34
But, you know, I've learned so much about, you know, what
38:38
people care about and, and still learning on like, you know, what
38:44
are the coffees people are looking for and are trying to
38:47
replace or get alternatives. the US Brewers Cup, that really
38:54
opened the door to a lot of coffee people in the specialty
39:00
industry talking about decaf and trying decaf.
39:04
So I think that is like a gateway into, you know, there's
39:09
some appetite, you know, even for people that might have been
39:13
the death before decaf people, you know, So there's still, you
39:17
know, I'll try decaf. I can drink coffee at night, you
39:20
know, kind of vibe. So I think it's, it's definitely
39:26
growing and exciting to see. But I don't think it's at the
39:31
market saturation that I thought it was, but it's the biggest
39:35
segment of the market that's growing because it's been so
39:38
small. Well.
39:40
And decaf is up against an entire world there.
39:43
It's not up against just coffee, it's up against any other non
39:46
alcoholic drink as opposed to coffee.
39:50
And coffee is up against those two.
39:51
But coffee is fairly established as like a morning you wake up,
39:54
you have a cup of coffee. That's a thing.
39:56
But the idea that you could drink decaf at any time of day,
39:59
but or especially at night. Even myself who has spent a lot
40:04
of time talking and engaging with coffee, people didn't
40:07
really start thinking about decaf as an option for me in the
40:10
afternoons until much, much later into this this process.
40:14
Because in the afternoons I'd have a cocktail or I'd have a.
40:18
A hot tea or something else? It just wasn't.
40:21
It wasn't thinking coffee because it's so identified with
40:23
mornings. You mentioned that you've
40:25
learned so much. I'm wondering.
40:27
If you have any advice. You'd like to pass along to
40:29
someone else out there listening, thinking about maybe
40:32
taking on a challenge of their own in an entrepreneurial space?
40:37
Yeah, I, I think like for me, I'm a big vocal person on like
40:41
Dreaming. I think everything starts with
40:44
like Dreaming as big as you can, even if it sounds like it's not
40:49
possible, and then doing it with care.
40:52
I think like if I was talking to myself the beginning of this
40:55
journey, like I, I didn't need to like lie or fake it till I
40:59
make it. Like I found myself, especially
41:02
with Long Beach Coffee Club, trying to be that expert for
41:05
everything where I was still learning.
41:07
And you know, after I was like vulnerable with the group and
41:11
then understood my position, I really moved into a facilitator
41:16
that really helped the group grow.
41:18
And then also me realizing like my position, even as a founder,
41:24
right? Like I'm not the person that is
41:26
roasting the coffee. However, I am very like I'm a
41:30
very hands on founder where I'm tasting everything.
41:34
This Colombian coffee that we're going to release soon is a
41:39
coffee that we do, you know, different roasts and I'll taste
41:44
it and give feedback and we'll have a good conversation.
41:47
The roaster and I so just really like know what's important for
41:54
you. And because quality is so
41:55
important, I taste everything before it goes out.
41:59
I think like the values point of you know, what's important to
42:02
you and in that way you know what to stick to.
42:06
If you don't have value set up, then you're going to probably
42:10
change a lot and kind of be pushed around.
42:14
And I've definitely gone through that part where I really just
42:20
lacked the that structure and the values really helped there.
42:26
Yeah. And then I think at the end of
42:27
the day, the coffee is, is a people business and people such
42:31
like a common thing. But I remind myself, especially
42:36
with coffee fest where we got to meet briefly, just saying like
42:40
all the people I've met over the years.
42:43
And it's like a reunion and you know, from New York or Columbia
42:48
or all over, you know, it's wow, good to see you guys.
42:52
And because of those long lasting relationships, it's
42:56
really helped kind of grow my journey and I shifted a lot
43:02
during that the the years I've been a part of it.
43:06
If. You're out on the road, you're
43:08
headed to another coffee fest somewhere, and you stop into a
43:11
cafe that seems like they they care, they give a shit about
43:14
their coffee. What are you going to order?
43:17
So if I'm on the road, we're we're going up to Cambria in
43:22
like Santa Barbara area. So I usually like what I'll do
43:25
there is I'll do a filter coffee, potentially 2 if there's
43:31
like options, and then an espresso.
43:33
I do the espresso. It was a a struggle to become an
43:40
espresso drinker. I saw all the briefs as I would
43:43
hang out with always do espresso.
43:45
And then I was just like, OK, the cool kids are doing it.
43:48
Let me try to like get into espresso And it's, I don't know,
43:51
it's like drinking whiskey need or anything.
43:54
It took takes a while and then I I came to appreciate it, but not
43:59
to the point where I'm going to invest thousands of dollars in
44:01
the home setup. But I do enjoy it because it's
44:06
something that I can't do at home.
44:08
And for me that's really intentional because I am really
44:13
lazy and I don't want to spend an hour dialing in and cleaning
44:17
up and doing those things. I'm happy with my pour over at
44:20
home, but that's usually my go to like filter in an espresso.
44:25
I have to have different filter coffees or pour overs.
44:28
I'll get a couple just to compare.
44:31
And then if my wife's with me, she'll usually do like a milk
44:34
based drink that's seasonal. So I'll get some insight into
44:37
that, Yeah. And if it's like a neighborhood
44:40
coffee shop that I go to all the time, it's usually just a filter
44:43
coffee. Is there a Long Beach coffee
44:46
shop that we should know about for the next time we're visiting
44:48
Long Beach? There's.
44:50
A There's a lot I like hanging out at a coffee shop that it's
44:55
their second location. It's called Sala and it's Derek
45:00
does a great job. They're bringing in interesting
45:02
coffees. And then I would say Gusto
45:06
Bread, they started their own coffee program.
45:10
I met Arturo who does like amazing sourdough and Latino
45:16
inspired pastries and their coffee program is great.
45:20
Jose and the team there is doing a wonderful job.
45:24
And I really love Rose Park. Rose Park is one of the like the
45:29
OG coffee shops that, you know, Andrew and Nathan, I have been
45:33
doing it for a long time. Their 4th St. location is
45:37
probably my favorite, and it's just kind of like that cozy
45:41
Northwest kind of Seattle coffee shop that you can kind of bring
45:45
a book into and read. Their coffee's terrific.
45:48
Well thank you for that. The only place I could tell
45:50
people to go to in Long Beach, which I think is still there, is
45:54
the V room which does not serve good coffee.
45:57
But Oh yeah, that was only True Blood, right?
46:00
I don't know. I've never seen the show.
46:01
Oh. OK, yeah, I I think that was the
46:04
one that is was on that show. But yeah, yeah, yeah, it's cool.
46:09
It's right down the street from my house.
46:11
Yeah. The V rooms where you go to
46:12
watch Law and Order in the middle of the day and then when
46:15
you come out it's dark out and you didn't realize the day had
46:17
gone by. That's the kind of yes.
46:20
Matthew, I really appreciate you spending 45 minutes with us on
46:23
the show. I'm sure there's a million more
46:25
things that we can learn about decaf, and over the next couple
46:27
of years I hope that we get to share that congratulations on
46:31
Familiar coffee and for taking an interest in a corner of
46:35
specialty coffee that is growing and that people are learning
46:38
more and more about. Yeah.
46:40
Thank you so much for having me, Ryan.
46:42
This conversation flew by and it was a lot of fun.
46:47
Let's stay in touch. And I hope that if anybody
46:50
listening has any questions about decaf or just coffee in
46:53
general or starting a new project, being an entrepreneur,
46:57
please reach out because I think it's very lonely to be an
47:01
entrepreneur and starting things.
47:03
And I'm happy to try to give some of the things I've learned
47:08
along the way that I will hopefully continue to learn.
47:11
So yeah. Secretly in my head, I know this
47:15
is people think of this as a coffee show.
47:18
I mostly think of an entrepreneurship show, but I
47:20
also for myself think of it as a mental health show.
47:24
Because. Being an entrepreneur is is
47:26
challenging to your mental health in a million different
47:29
ways. Definitely, yeah.
47:31
I think there's there's part of me and this is might go to like
47:36
the what's in the future, the the portion of, you know,
47:40
creating time in an experience around a decaf coffee and then
47:46
being mindful in that moment. And I think it goes hand in
47:50
hand. I don't know exactly.
47:51
It's in my mind. So that's one of those dreams
47:54
that might be far out there, but I think that's probably where
47:59
I'm going. And it might look like in the
48:02
middle of the woods, brewing coffee and then having some
48:05
mindful conversation there, or it might look very different.
48:09
So we'll see. And I'm excited to like try to
48:12
extrapolate what's in my mind. And I think that's one of the
48:15
most interesting and special things about creating something
48:20
from scratch or just creating like a being in a new segment is
48:24
there's no really roads. So you're blazing it as you go
48:27
and building the bridge as you go, kind of saying.
48:30
And I think that is the thing that, you know, keeps me going,
48:36
you know, going back to that original question of why do you
48:38
keep doing it? It's just something new.
48:41
It's cool. OK, some quick key takeaways
48:58
from the podcast Today, Matthew is living a double life.
49:01
Well, a triple life really. He's a marketer for a major
49:04
corporate tech company by day, busy being a family man all of
49:08
the time and launching his specialty decaf coffee brand,
49:12
Familiar Coffee, in what little free time he still has.
49:16
Upon moving back to Long Beach after some time in Arizona, he
49:19
was searching for community. The welcome he received in some
49:22
local specialty coffee shops inspired him to launch the Long
49:26
Beach Coffee Club to further his own exploration of coffee, but
49:30
also to create a network of coffee friends who could learn
49:33
from each other, not to mention the industry professionals who
49:37
found value in engaging with passionate coffee drinkers.
49:41
But at some point he did have to ask, could this be a business?
49:45
Could he continue offering so much of himself to the project?
49:49
The answer was no. Long Beach Coffee Club had to
49:52
evolve to fit in with Matthew's life.
49:54
Enter his next project, Familiar Coffee, which is a direct to
49:58
consumer specialty decaf coffee brand centered around a few core
50:02
values, quality, functional, informative and elegant design
50:07
and customer service. His decaf exploration began with
50:11
trying decaf versions of coffee from roasters carrying
50:15
caffeinated coffees that he already enjoyed, but the quality
50:19
didn't seem to be translating over, at least not in any
50:22
consistent basis. Familiars first offering was
50:25
from Black and White Coffee Roasters, after which it was off
50:29
to the races. Just.
50:30
Kidding. It took four months of cupping
50:32
samples to find a second decaf that met the standard he was
50:36
trying to set with familiar coffee.
50:38
Many entrepreneurs are by nature curious, which leads them down
50:43
many paths. Finding the right ones to focus
50:46
on can be a challenge, even a roadblock.
50:48
Matthew is someone whose curiosity takes him down a lot
50:51
of roads, and what he's learned is that there has to be passion,
50:55
resources, and the necessary skills in that area to find
50:58
success. Not to mention, I'd say the
51:00
ability to balance the business into the rest of your life,
51:04
especially if that new venture is a side hustle, as Familiar
51:08
Coffee has started out as. And Speaking of life balance, is
51:13
pickleball dead? I feel like there are no lines
51:15
at the courts I walk past anymore.
51:18
Finally, I'm left with a quote from Matthew from near the end
51:21
of our chat that I'm going to print out and post right here in
51:24
the booth. It.
51:25
Goes everything starts with dreaming as big as you can, even
51:29
if it sounds like it's not possible, and then doing it with
51:33
care. That's pretty wise.
51:36
If you're headed down the path of entrepreneurship and feeling
51:39
a bit cold from loneliness, don't hesitate to reach out to
51:42
matthew.torres@familiarcoffee.com. He's been there.
51:47
That's our show for today. You can find a longer recap in
51:50
our newsletter at roastwestcoast.com.
51:52
And be sure to check this podcast show notes.
51:55
All the links you might be looking for are probably there.
51:58
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Coffee Smarter efforts, and we've also received support from
53:01
Ignite Coffee Company, Ascend Coffee Roasters, Civets Roasting
53:04
Machines, me and my Uncle Coffee relative coffee company Cozy
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Canine Coffee and Craft Fourty 2 coffee roasters.
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Aaron and Taylor from Craft Fourty 2 will be on this show
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for a pop in in a few weeks. Thank you to everyone for voting
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yesterday, for listening to and sharing this podcast, for asking
53:23
coffee questions and generally being coffee curious.
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This show, the Coffee People podcast is part of the Roast
53:30
West Coast Coffee Network and this episode is was has been
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written, produced, researched and recorded by me.
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Ryan Walt, wherever you find yourself today, I hope it's with
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a fine cup of coffee. Thank you for listening to us
53:45
tell the stories of Coffee people.
53:48
Cheers everyone. If you are in the early stages
54:05
of your coffee journey, we want to support you.
54:08
Check out the Coffee Smarter Education podcasts.
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Coffee Smarter is designed to enable coffee drinkers to brew a
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better cup of coffee at home, and Coffee Smarter Pro covers
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industry specific topics for baristas, roasters, shop owners,
54:22
and aspiring coffee professionals.
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You'll find both shows on your favorite podcast platforms or on
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our website at coffeesmarterpodcast.com.