Latest / Coffee People Podcast / Roast! - Jeremy Hicks, Goose Bear Coffee Curiosities

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Roast! - Jeremy Hicks, Goose Bear Coffee Curiosities · Coffee People Podcast

0:11
Hello, and good morning, everyone.
0:13
Welcome to season 4 episode. 5 of the roast West Coast coffee
0:17
podcast. I'm Ryan Walton.
0:20
This is the show where I bring you the stories of coffee
0:22
professionals entrepreneurship and coffee education.
0:26
Today we're joined by Jeremy Hicks.
0:29
He's the Under and had Roaster at Goose, Bear Coffee,
0:32
Curiosities in Carlsbad California, which also happens
0:36
to be where this show is based. At the end of every season, I go
0:39
back and ask all of the guests and my industry Partners, who
0:43
they think should be featured the next season.
0:46
Goose bear was one roaster that came up multiple times in the
0:49
responses after recording this introduction, I'm actually
0:52
headed over to the Gooseberry coffee, drop off to pick up a
0:55
natural Japonica that I ordered on Gooseberry coffee.com.
0:59
It is a Nicaragua coffee grown. On a small farm by a guy who
1:03
bought some coffee seeds on the side of the road.
1:05
In 2001, they turned out to be an Ethiopian long, very varietal
1:10
that is since placed in the cup of Excellence, so good for that
1:14
guy. There's much more to that story,
1:17
which I'll link to in the newsletter found on roast
1:19
westcoast.com for right now, I'm going to enjoy the mug of
1:23
steady-state. Roasting drip coffee that I
1:25
already have. I think steady state does one of
1:27
the best drip coffees in town. And I hope your mug is full with
1:31
something great to, because I'm going to flip the switch on my
1:34
podcast box. So, you can listen to the
1:36
interview, with Jeremy Hicks of Gooseberry, coffee Curiosities.
1:56
Well Jeremy, welcome to this recording of the roast West
2:00
Coast coffee podcast. If you could do us a favor and
2:03
just for the tape let me know your name.
2:06
Your business job title favorite Ninja Turtle.
2:10
Sure. Yeah my name is Hicks.
2:12
I'm the owner of Gooseberry coffee, Curiosities and agent.
2:17
Favorite Ninja Turtle stuff. Maybe, maybe Donatello.
2:21
Yeah. Oh, really, you're the first one
2:23
to say Donatello, I have asked that question to so many people
2:28
over my life, whenever I would hire a new employee, I would ask
2:31
that when I was in the bar business and at some point they
2:35
stopped knowing who the Ninja Turtles were.
2:37
So then and then it kind of came back around with the new movies.
2:41
All right, wasn't it was never the same.
2:43
Alright, so thank you for being here.
2:46
I have a ton of questions about your background and coffee and
2:49
all this stuff, but I think we need to start with goose Bear
2:52
Coffee Curiosities, which is a really unique name.
2:56
Where did that come from? Sure.
2:58
Yeah, it's so I am married. And I've got two kids who are
3:04
four and six gwennie and thin and their pet names are Gwen.
3:08
He Goofs and thin bear, so it was just kind of a match.
3:11
Mashup of those two names which is, where Gooseberry comes from.
3:14
And I've worked with a really talented designer in the past
3:18
for other jobs and what not, and I just kind of pitch to him.
3:20
The idea of like what if we kind of created like this fictitious
3:23
animal you know for The Branding and and he took on the challenge
3:27
and he's like I just feel like it looks silly.
3:29
I was like I kind of want that, like I wanted to kind of look
3:32
like, you know, like what the hell is this, like what am I
3:34
looking at, you know, and Curiosities, you know, that's
3:38
just more. So on the focus of kind of what
3:40
we're doing from a cop. See standpoint.
3:42
What kind of our focus is, which is really kind of focused, on
3:47
varieties of coffee. You know, that's always
3:49
something. The more I got into coffee, in
3:51
my younger years, the more I wanted to understand the
3:54
different varieties and like why it mattered.
3:56
And, you know, how those Affected the flavor of, you
4:03
know, the in cup. And so Curiosities is more, so,
4:07
it's a play with, you know, aren't you curious as far as
4:10
what type of coffee varieties you enjoy?
4:12
You know, like, let's let's be curious about like, how we can
4:16
enjoy coffee even more, you know, that's kind of the play,
4:19
the play on Curiosities. You just brought out something
4:22
that I don't think has ever come up on this show, which is
4:25
impressive because there's been like 60 episodes and I just
4:29
thought of it myself. But I think For I started
4:31
getting into coffee. I might go to, and have a cup of
4:35
coffee somewhere and not like that cup of coffee and think it
4:39
was because it was a bad coffee shop or a bad coffee roaster as
4:43
opposed to. I just don't like this
4:45
particular flavor of comedy, and I think there's kind of this
4:48
Tipping Point and in people's drinking habits where they
4:52
realize that it's not as coffee is not just one thing.
4:55
It's a million different things, a million different flavors and
4:59
we keep we do keep talking about that.
5:01
In forms of flavor wheel. You mentioned, when you were
5:04
younger and getting into coffee, did you have kind of a first
5:07
experience with coffee that you remember, that?
5:10
That stands out as some point where you thought?
5:14
This is kind of interesting. Yeah, yeah.
5:16
I think I first had coffee when I was maybe 12 or 13, like my
5:20
mom was just drinking it, you know, sitting at a table with
5:23
friends. And of course, it was probably
5:25
really shitty coffee. Like, I don't know.
5:27
You know something you could buy, extremely cheap the grocery
5:29
store and it was Loaded. I'm sure with some kind of
5:32
flavored creamer but I thought it was delicious you know, like
5:34
as a 12 or 13 year old kid and you know that's kind of what
5:37
initially got me into, you know, drinking it every single day,
5:41
but I think it wasn't until I was living in Nashville and I
5:46
guess, you know, kind of the third wave of coffee and, you
5:51
know, the coffee shops and cafes that we're doing things.
5:54
A little differently was becoming more and more popular.
5:56
And, you know, I was just that at that age where I was just
5:59
always looking for like, who It's the new cool coffee shop in
6:02
town and they were seem to be popping up everywhere.
6:05
And there was this one particular Shop in Nashville
6:07
that was it literally had just opened.
6:10
It was Barista Parlor and they have this East Nashville shop,
6:14
which was their first one. And they didn't have a sign on
6:16
the door that didn't have any signage.
6:17
They didn't have anything. I think I found it on Yelp or
6:19
something and I went in there and I was just like, you know,
6:22
it was just the way that they presented coffee in a different
6:25
way, just blew my mind, you know, and that was the first
6:29
time I was able to actually enjoy it.
6:30
Jack, you know, I tried to drink it, black, you know, time talk
6:34
for that but it wasn't until it was like presented in a way that
6:38
like, this is a very unique thing that you're about to
6:40
experience. And it was they were all they
6:42
were doing all pour overs and stuff which was you know unheard
6:45
of at the time. And and and the way that they
6:47
presented everything, like it was in a carafe with a mug on a
6:50
tray, and it had some information about it, like that
6:52
was the first time I'd ever seen that.
6:54
I think that was, that was probably a spark that really got
6:58
me going and just interested in What it was and then I later
7:03
worked for another coffee company in Nashville, just
7:06
doing, you know, worked in a cafe and then worked in helping
7:09
them with some of their digital marketing.
7:11
So I was in and around the Roasterie lat.
7:14
So yeah, that's that's that's probably kind of what where the
7:16
spark first started. Well, that leads me right into
7:19
this question of before, Goose, bear.
7:21
What were you doing or in hospitality and coffee?
7:25
I mean, what prepared you to start your own company.
7:28
Or didn't, right? Yeah, honestly, you know, like,
7:33
I think, definitely some experience, the coffee company I
7:37
work for Nashville was Bongo Java, which they were the first.
7:40
They had the first like coffee shop in Nashville in 1993, so
7:44
they were like, the very first coffee shop to ever open in
7:47
Nashville. And they're, you know, they're
7:48
proud of kind of being kind of Nashville's oldest coffee shop
7:51
and then they open a few other few other cafes.
7:55
I think they got, like eight or something different, like unique
7:57
cafes. Like they've got Fido and Bongo
8:00
East, which is very different from the original location.
8:03
And anyway, they've got kind of all these unique, cafes all
8:05
around town and I worked in the back of Fido in the bakery.
8:08
And, you know, that was kind of, you know, that was an experience
8:12
in and of itself just understanding and knowing what
8:14
it's like in the, you know, behind the bar and a cafe or,
8:18
you know, working in the kitchen and some capacity, you know,
8:20
like that's hospitality is definitely always, you know,
8:23
always been something that you can think back to even if you're
8:25
not there anymore and just like and I learned Much through those
8:28
days later on down the road. I've worked there for a few
8:31
years and I kind of expressed interest in helping them, do
8:34
some kind of digital marketing at help like my wife with some
8:36
projects among some other people and you're like, yeah, sure.
8:39
You know, like they were really big on, you know, kind of giving
8:42
people that had been with the company for a while even you
8:44
know, as a dishwasher like you could be a dishwasher and, like,
8:46
work your way up to, like, managing a whole Cafe and I saw
8:49
people do that. And so I just kind of threw my
8:51
hat in the ring for this kind of digital marketing stuff and they
8:54
they let me do it. And I did that for a couple more
8:57
years and I spent some time going to The Roasting Company
9:00
doing some of their, you know, talking with, you know, the
9:03
roasters and understanding even took they even, you know, some
9:07
of the roasters even gave some classes on, like this is you
9:10
know what a roast profile looks like this is first crack.
9:12
This is second crack. This is the things that we
9:14
measure and you know super basics of roasting in general.
9:17
But you know from there I think that that's that took me much
9:23
deeper down the rabbit hole of understanding coffee and that's
9:26
where I had my first like natural.
9:28
Coffee. And you know, that that
9:30
definitely kind of took me on on, on the journey, they are
9:34
very cool. We talked about how you're from
9:36
Georgia, you're living in Nashville and I think you're out
9:40
here in California now. Yes, yes I am.
9:43
Yeah. What brought you West?
9:45
And where is Gooseberry located? Yeah, so gooseberries located in
9:49
Carlsbad North County San Diego off poinsettia and it's, you
9:53
know, it's primarily I'm primarily run the business from
9:56
my home, you know, I roast a lot.
9:58
Not at the California, roasting collective in San Marcos and but
10:02
yeah, I grew up in Georgia, about an hour west of Atlanta in
10:05
the town called Carrollton, and I've moved to San Diego
10:08
initially right after high school.
10:10
I was just kind of ready to get away from a small town in
10:14
California was calling my name and I lived here for three or
10:17
four years before eventually making my way to Nashville.
10:21
I was playing playing music and wanted to kind of pursue that
10:24
dream and that's when I got into coffee there, it was kind of
10:28
Music and coffee like was, you know, definitely a simultaneous
10:32
thing. I've kept dabbling into over and
10:34
over. Anyway, I got married.
10:37
I had my first kid realized I didn't want to pursue the music
10:39
thing anymore. I didn't want to have to be on
10:41
the road and live away from them forever and so that kind of got
10:44
me further into coffee and actually still ended up working
10:49
with some music. I also currently still work for
10:54
live music venue management company.
10:57
So managing Ting, you know, music venues from, you know, a
11:00
few different states and cities and doing kind of their, some
11:04
of, their brand marketing and ticketing.
11:05
And that's something that's like, always been a constant for
11:09
me, and I enjoy it. And I like the people I work
11:11
with and it kind of, I'd still have enough free time to be able
11:16
to run. Gooseberry.
11:17
So it kind of works out something kind of steady from an
11:20
income standpoint to really grow working work on the business on
11:23
at the same time. So yeah.
11:26
So we had our first kid We realized we didn't want to live
11:29
in Nashville anymore. We really miss California.
11:31
We met out here. We got married out here.
11:33
We still have lots of friends and family and we just kind of
11:36
said like man like let's just leave, let's go for it.
11:38
You know, there wasn't really anything that pushed us over the
11:41
edge other than we kept coming back to visit and got harder and
11:44
harder to leave again to go back.
11:47
So we just kind of said like I think we can just do this like
11:50
let's just figure out if we can you know make make the plunge
11:54
and make the move back and we just kind of grit our teeth.
11:58
And did it and we're happy that we did.
12:00
We're definitely happy you're here.
12:02
And we're glad to be on West Coast.
12:05
And we're basically neighbors, because I'm also in Carlsbad
12:07
Carlsbad Village, just down the road, nice.
12:10
So, at some point, you're going to hear a train go by and then
12:13
I'm going to hear that same train go by a few minutes later.
12:15
Yeah, which is how I know where people are when I talked to him
12:18
on the show. Yeah.
12:20
Was there ever a thought to incorporate the music theme into
12:24
Gooseberry? Not necessarily.
12:27
I think that's just kind of He's been there for me and it's just
12:29
kind of like a part of who I am. You know, I think when I was
12:33
younger, I, you know, dabbled in some other projects where, you
12:36
know music was kind of cross related in some capacity but I
12:41
never, you know, I feel like music and coffee just kind of
12:44
always go hand-in-hand, you know, like you're always going
12:46
to be, you know, musicians tend to like good coffee and you
12:50
know, there's always, you know, I feel like Baristas in general
12:53
always have pretty good music taste as well like in, you know,
12:56
and they know like who the Coming people are and you know
12:59
that's cool thing about my job as well on the music side is you
13:03
know we managed like smaller venues like you know, not like
13:06
tiny clubs but we don't you know getting bigger than like 1500
13:10
1800 cap so it's like it's kind of that sweet spot of like you
13:13
know you I learn about all these artists that are up and coming
13:16
that are just kind of incredible to see live and have that great
13:20
kind of live music Atmosphere and so that I really kind of get
13:25
a lot of enjoyment from that side.
13:27
But I've never Never I never thought to kind of cross cross
13:30
music into into the coffee world just because I guess I felt.
13:34
I felt like it. I didn't need to, you know, it's
13:36
kind of always it's kind of always there for me.
13:39
One of my favorite things to do when I was running restaurants
13:42
and bars still. And probably the reason I did it
13:45
is long as I did was because I got to control the music and I
13:48
would get to create the playlist.
13:49
Yeah, and I would curate real playlist.
13:52
It's not just like, put on a radio station.
13:54
I want to get into sourcing and roasting and all that stuff in a
13:56
second, but what are you listening?
13:57
Earning to, when you're roasting these days, it depends on, you
14:02
know, it depends on the day, you know, if it's a gloomy day, it's
14:05
something. If it's a sunny day, it's
14:07
something else, you know, if it's if I'm feeling under the
14:10
weather, like it's one thing, you know, like I grew up in
14:13
Georgia, which is, you know, like, nobody ever it seemed
14:16
like, no one ever listen to anything other than my country
14:19
music and I, so I like resented country music growing up and
14:22
then I moved out here and then I kind of like missed it and so
14:25
like I like country music now, you know, like so I'm listening.
14:28
Sometimes or some, you know, some indie stuff or some, you
14:31
know. Sometimes it's cool to kind of
14:34
put on like some trance type EDM stuff to kind of like you know
14:37
kind of get you in the groove but yeah, it depends, it depends
14:40
on the day. I gave this challenge to visit
14:42
her coffee roasters the guys down there in.
14:45
Chula Vista Imperial Beach area because they're big into music
14:48
as well but to create take the same coffee and roast it to
14:52
different types of music and see if it comes out different,
14:54
everything the same, but play different music.
14:57
So that's my challenge. As for you as well alright yeah
14:59
I'll give it again and on that point how did you get started
15:03
sourcing and roasting how did you say I'm going to start this
15:06
Coffee Roastery. What do I do for the next step?
15:10
You already had some experience in the industry on that side of
15:12
things, but doing it for yourself is different than doing
15:15
it to someone else's spec. So how did you get into that and
15:19
how does that translate into what you're doing now?
15:21
Yeah, so started off just, you know, I got more and more and
15:25
wanting to know more about coffee and how I Kind of
15:28
developed my own kind of different flavors and, you know,
15:32
from even just the brewing stand point and then and then I just
15:36
got to wear a like, man. Like I just I'm just going to
15:38
get a home register and just like, see what happens, you
15:40
know. And and so, I did I got a home
15:42
roaster. And, and, you know, just
15:45
started, like, kind of picking the machine apart to try to
15:48
figure out like, okay? Like I know this is for home,
15:50
Roasters for people to do it with Hobbies but like, how can I
15:53
kind of push this machine to its limits to get it kind of as
15:57
close as possible? Bill to producing the quality of
16:00
like a commercial roaster, you know?
16:01
So, like, so I started dabbling in that and kind of pushing it
16:05
further and further, and, and kind of got to a sweet spot and
16:09
I eventually got to where I said, like, you know, I guess
16:12
I'm just going to try to sell some coffee to my friends and
16:15
family and just kind of see what they think.
16:16
And it was received really well and people kept ordering and I'm
16:20
like well then maybe I should just make a business out of
16:22
this. Like I'm I love it and I'm
16:24
enjoying it and I'm enjoying learning about it as I go and I
16:27
think I could kind of make something with this and I really
16:32
wanted to attack it from the variety standpoint of like let's
16:37
approach this like you know the wine industry has done this you
16:41
know and I think coffee is kind of coming far behind that where
16:45
you know you walk down a wine aisle and everything's
16:47
categorized by variety. Like you've got cabernets and
16:50
your Mallows and on the other side, you might have your Pinot
16:52
noirs or, you know, what have you and coffee is similar in
16:57
that room? Regard that there's, you know,
16:59
there's different varieties and sometimes they're mixed with a
17:01
blend and sometimes they're not and I think that that could be a
17:05
great way to identify. Like I really like that coffee
17:08
and I kind of like that one, but only on certain days, you know.
17:11
I think it's just it helps you enjoy the experience of drinking
17:15
coffee everyday more. And I wanted to experiment that
17:18
and especially with like honey process coffee's, a natural
17:21
process. Coffees.
17:22
I felt like that kind of brought out the the characteristics of
17:27
each variety of Little bit more. And so that was kind of my
17:30
focus, like, let's, let's just roast a bunch of Naturals, a
17:33
bunch of Honey's, a bunch of different processes, and kind of
17:36
find The Sweet Spot for each variety.
17:38
And let's just sell that variety at with that process.
17:41
And, you know, let people develop their, their, their,
17:47
their flavor profiles and what they like, and what they don't
17:50
like and approach it from that standpoint.
17:52
And so, that's kind of where, you know, the approach of what
17:56
we're doing for gooseberry. Kind of started was, you know, I
17:59
just started roasting the coffee's that I liked, which all
18:02
happen to be single varieties, either Honey's or Naturals.
18:05
And that's kind of where things started, and things are just
18:08
kind of broadened out more in her continue to do so, you know,
18:11
what you're talking about? Kind of speaks to maybe someone
18:14
who's a little bit more of a focused consumer, who's who's
18:18
interested in that sort of stuff?
18:20
Do you find? That is who your customer is
18:22
somebody who's really into coffee?
18:23
Or are you reaching a wider audience?
18:26
He's just going, you know what? I don't I don't care about the
18:28
elevation or the terroir, right? I just want a cup of coffee.
18:31
Is that is that customer have coffee from Goose bear?
18:35
That makes sense for that. Yeah, I think it's kind of
18:38
divided. A lot of my customers out here
18:41
are probably the more a little bit more advanced coffee
18:45
Drinkers and a little bit more informed and just have more
18:49
experience drinking specialty coffee, whereas a lot of my
18:52
customers on the east side of the country like near where I
18:57
grew up in mine. I'm town are just see that what
19:00
I'm doing and they want to try and they just love it and
19:02
they're excited to buy more. But I think it's I think my goal
19:08
for you know, as we're moving forward is to to eventually make
19:13
it to where anybody that, you know, at any level can see.
19:17
Like, hey, I, you know, I feel like I would like that, you
19:21
know, category of coffee. And here's the varietals in that
19:23
category or maybe I'm like, like little bit more bold and robust.
19:27
Like, even you can even categorize different varieties
19:30
kind of in that it's depending on roast level and things like
19:32
that. But essentially, you know, I'm
19:35
getting to the point where I'm identifying like, broad
19:38
characteristics to kind of categorize each coffee and then,
19:41
you know, it gets even more kind of linear into, you know,
19:44
individual varieties. But but yeah, the customer base
19:48
is pretty broad, but I want to get to the point where, you
19:51
know, it's it's kind of self-explanatory.
19:53
You can look at the, you can look at the options presented in
19:56
the categories. And Figure out what you enjoy
19:59
even from like a regular appetite and your regular eating
20:03
habits and then wow, I think I would like that coffee or that
20:06
coffee and then you know you're set, you know it's it's
20:09
definitely targeted for, you know, everyone's individual
20:12
unique tastes and I think your business is primarily online at
20:16
this point which so that would speak to the need for Quality
20:20
branding and user experience user interaction online.
20:25
Yeah. Is there any thoughts towards
20:27
Out into in person, you're a relatively young roaster, I
20:31
believe so. Correct me if I'm wrong, but
20:33
you've mostly existed during covid.
20:35
Yeah, that's that's about right, we moved back to San Diego in
20:40
February of 2020. So, right before, right before
20:43
everything kind of shut down. So, yeah, definitely existed
20:46
primarily during during covid and have been 100% online as far
20:52
as interested in branching out into kind of more of a physical
20:54
space. I don't see that.
20:57
Is something I'm not interested in doing, but I definitely want
21:01
to, you know, wholesale is kind of a different conversation, but
21:04
as far as right now, we're the main focus is primarily just
21:09
getting to where we can kind of, like you said, kind of have that
21:13
online experience for the consumer being really
21:16
buttoned-up, really dialed in. As far as understanding how
21:21
we're categorizing our coffees and how we can help people enjoy
21:25
their coffee even more based on their unique.
21:27
Tastes so, definitely looking forward to one day when we can
21:33
Branch out, do some wholesale options.
21:35
I think it'd be, you know, we'll definitely have to be partnering
21:39
with the right wholesalers. But, you know, further down the
21:41
road, definitely open to the idea of, you know, physical kind
21:44
of brick and mortar locations. But it's it's, it's not not a
21:49
current priority at not even brick and mortar and thinking
21:52
more about that, Hospitality experience.
21:54
What you do, have some background in, which may make
21:57
you not want. To do it for a setting up, in a
21:59
farmer's market or even have to be at the beach, that sort of
22:02
thing. Just, I actively am an
22:06
introvert. As I get older and I enjoy being
22:10
at home and not necessarily engaging every day, but even, I
22:13
am he to get out of the podcast with every now and again, and
22:16
like, just go host an event and and engage with people on a
22:19
bigger scale because I think I'm not sure what it is but there's
22:23
something about that Hospitality that's ingrained in me.
22:26
Where if I get far enough away I forget about all the stress of
22:28
it. Yeah, no totally.
22:30
And there's there's something special about when you're in in
22:34
front of someone telling them about, you know, something
22:36
you're passionate about and it gets communicated completely
22:39
different than, you know, if they're reading it on a website
22:42
or something, you know, or even a social posts, you know, it's
22:45
it's it's very much a more of a conversation and, you know, I
22:49
think people can can get more out of it.
22:51
And understand more of where you're coming from, when you're
22:55
in person. You know, that's that for me
22:58
goes back to, you know, the even the live music stuff, you know,
23:01
like, it's completely different from listening, you know, to a
23:04
recording to seeing it in person in front of your face, you know,
23:08
like right there, you know. Yeah.
23:10
I definitely see the value in that and looking forward to
23:13
doing that soon. No doubt, yeah, sure.
23:15
I'm actually thinking about those moments, where as a like,
23:19
a bartender or Barista your Teaching somebody about the
23:23
product that you're giving them, and then they taste it and you
23:25
see the click maybe before they didn't realize something
23:28
mattered and right, well, and they can never unlearn that no
23:31
matter what, part of that experience, I believe your wife
23:34
also works with goose bear. It you working from home?
23:37
Yeah. First of all, what is your
23:39
wife's name if you don't mind Melissa, how do you guys work
23:42
together in this business? How do you kind of create
23:44
boundaries, and responsibilities and delineate?
23:47
Kind of what is working and what isn't because we're all
23:50
experiencing a lot more. From home, if you're lucky
23:53
enough, mmm to some extent, I should say we all.
23:56
But like I find I have a hard time going.
23:59
Oh, well, it's okay. 825. I'm working.
24:01
No, it's kind of like it's 7 and I'm working.
24:04
It's 10:00 at night. I'm working.
24:06
Have you guys create a situation?
24:08
That's conducive to that? Yeah, you're right.
24:10
I do the lines. Definitely get blurred pretty
24:12
easily, especially when everything's kind of done from
24:14
the homestead. Yeah, I primarily run the
24:17
business on my side as, you know, from from a lot of
24:20
different angles. However, I've you know, from
24:23
everything that I've done, I've always loved and appreciated her
24:27
input. I'd say I'd say the biggest
24:29
thing that she offers is her kind of input and expertise in,
24:34
you know, just giving feedback, you know, whether it be like we
24:38
do all of our couplings together and she taste things that I
24:41
don't taste sometimes vice versa.
24:43
And, you know, having someone there to kind of always bounce
24:46
ideas off and, you know, and you're right.
24:49
It's, you know, Business is very much of a young business and
24:54
when that's the case, you know, there's there's a lot of kind of
24:56
personal time and you know, investment and investment into
25:01
the business from a young standpoint.
25:03
So it's it's kind of a kind of has to be a family kind of
25:07
invested into it. You know, it's a family business
25:10
kind of from the start. So yeah, I don't necessarily
25:13
think we have specific duties that are divided.
25:16
It's just kind of like this is kind of something that we want
25:18
to building to grow into something that can be.
25:21
An be sustainable for us and, you know, as a business to stand
25:26
on its own two feet. So yeah, I'd say, you know, the
25:29
lines hopefully, get blurred. But at this point in time that
25:32
kind of works for us. So, I hope, you know, from
25:35
making coffee in the morning in the afternoons and tasting and
25:39
cupping, you know, at both of those times sometimes as well,
25:43
you know, it's, it's kind of just always an open dialogue
25:46
about, you know, like oh, what if we did this, what if we did
25:48
that? What if we, you know, revamp
25:50
this and that area And and yeah, we're we kind of are always all
25:55
hands on deck to try to improve the business and grow it.
25:59
What are you guys working towards?
26:01
Next obviously you're still in this early growth phase but
26:04
where do you see Gooseberry and 2022?
26:07
Kind of, where do you see the local coffee industry going in
26:10
2022. We recently we're talking here.
26:12
Mid-January was recently a few announcements of coffee closures
26:16
in the area that were somewhat surprising.
26:18
I think two people establish businesses, you would have never
26:21
Ever guessed, but they're hitting a wall in the pandemic
26:24
being primarily online, keeps you.
26:26
So flexible some extent. So I'm wondering what is, what
26:30
is on deck for Gooseberry, and kind of, what do you see, where
26:33
do you see the craft coffee Community going?
26:36
You know, I think it's I think we're still going to continue to
26:39
see new businesses open brick, and mortar and you Cam.
26:43
I think it's going to be it is it is surprising to see some of
26:46
these, you know, well established Brands closing up
26:49
shop but it, you know, some of them Even you know, just going
26:53
exclusively to e-commerce because that is flexible for
26:56
them and that does work for them.
26:57
And they have a, you know, they've worked to build kind of
27:00
a successful model on that front and it's good enough for them to
27:03
kind of sustain themselves, which is great.
27:06
I think, you know, for us. We're definitely still focused
27:09
all online, keeping things, all e-commerce.
27:13
However, you know, really looking to expand kind of what
27:17
we offer from, you know, just from different varieties and
27:20
different processing. And you know, helping helping
27:24
people understand. You know, the educational aspect
27:27
of it is, is kind of a beast, but it's something that we're
27:31
passionate about, you know? Like the it was the, it was a
27:33
really cool moment when I made. I did like a I made a natural
27:40
Ethiopian AirLand coffee for my mother-in-law.
27:43
My wife's mom. And it was, you know, normal
27:46
everyday she drinks, you know, kind of a shitty cup of coffee
27:49
with, you know, sugary creamer in it.
27:50
And that's she And expect anything more, anything less.
27:53
That's that's her coffee, you know?
27:55
And but I convinced her to try it black for the first time, and
27:59
I knew this was like this coffee was really fruit forward, and it
28:02
was just like, it just kind of hits you in the mouth, like, no
28:05
other coffee. I had had before I had done and
28:08
I made it for and she was like, oh, I like her eyes, got big,
28:10
and she's just like her mouth drops use.
28:12
Like I had never tasted anything like this before, you know.
28:14
And, and that moments always stuck with me because like I
28:18
know there's a lot of other people that could have that same
28:21
That same kind of realization like I do like how coffee
28:24
tastes, you know, like it and it doesn't taste like what I
28:27
thought it did. You know?
28:28
It doesn't all taste the same. It's all very unique and that's,
28:32
that's one of those moments. I always reference of like, you
28:34
know, like that. I want.
28:35
I want that to happen to a lot of people like and I hope I want
28:38
to be a part of that with them because that's kind of the, the
28:42
experience that I have a lot of times.
28:43
And that's what I want for other people, when especially when
28:46
they come in contact with our coffees.
28:48
And so for us, it's a matter of, you know, expanding and what we
28:51
Offer from an educational standpoint and also just from an
28:54
offerings and also doing more a little bit more direct trade.
28:58
You know, I had the opportunity to go to Colombia this past year
29:03
and visit a coffee farm. And it was, it was kind of a
29:07
dream come true. I'd always wanted to go and
29:09
things just kind of lined up perfectly for me to make this
29:11
trip. And it was it was life-changing.
29:13
I came back and I was just like ready to hit the ground running
29:16
like I want to do more of that and I want to work with weird
29:19
with Andres and and like And I want to like, get his coffee
29:23
over here and have people try it.
29:24
And, you know, it's it's very different when you have that
29:27
personal connection with someone like in their country and see it
29:30
in your hands and you can pop a coffee chair in your mouth like
29:33
and see what that tastes like. It's really strange.
29:36
Like it doesn't taste like anything else, you know, and so
29:39
yeah for us. I think it's, you know, it's
29:42
expanding on what we can offer but still staying focused on
29:46
what we're doing online and what we can communicate through
29:49
socials and other outlets, Digitally you know for us that's
29:53
scalable until we can get to a certain point and as far as the
29:57
other Industries I mean I think it's going to be both there's
29:59
more and more Roasters, you know.
30:02
Booking the collective you know there are a lot of businesses
30:05
like me that are there and that number seems to be growing so I
30:09
don't see that stopping anytime soon.
30:12
I think that's still growing and I think that's pushing coffee
30:15
forward though. You know more and more people
30:17
understanding what specialty coffee is and what it can taste
30:21
like. Like and so, yeah.
30:23
Working at the collected, do you find that to be kind of an
30:26
inspirational experience like being motivated by what other
30:29
people do or is it more of a I go in?
30:31
I get my work done in the time that I'm renting and I get out.
30:34
It's both. I think when you're going in
30:36
there and I like to get get your shit done, I think that's, you
30:39
know, a lot of times it's like all right like I know what I
30:42
need to do or hey, I'm working on my profile like in and I need
30:45
to really dial in and focus on it, but I think it's the little
30:49
times where you see like, oh I think I know that.
30:51
Guy. I think he runs that, you know,
30:53
that brand or that one or like, you know, you see other people
30:56
that, you know, roast there and see what their brands are doing
30:59
and knowing like, they're like me, you know, like they're,
31:01
they're a small scale, they don't own, they don't have to
31:04
have, you know, the huge capital investment to buy their own
31:06
roaster like, you know, it's a really cool, you know, it's kind
31:11
of kind of feels like a new age of like, Uber or doordash or
31:15
like it's a collective. Like it's something where
31:17
there's like enough people involved to where we can kind of
31:20
all work together and collaborate.
31:21
And share. And for example, I'm working
31:24
with the farm that I visited in Colombia and I can't order a ton
31:29
in bulk myself yet. So I'm working with other
31:31
Roasters at the collective to collectively put an order
31:34
together for us, all to get our shipping costs down and for us
31:37
to put a place a bigger order with, with the farmer.
31:40
So it's it's kind of like I wouldn't be able to do that if I
31:44
wasn't in, somehow connected and collaborating with with other
31:48
like-minded, Roasters through the collective.
31:51
And That was huge for me. Luckily I was also able to work
31:55
with a farmer who was you know willing to work with me, no
31:58
matter what quantities, I could order.
32:00
But you know, that's not always the case.
32:01
Normally, it's kind of like well we kind of got to do this and
32:04
that's kind of all we can do but so that for me has been really
32:08
inspirational for sure. Is there anything else that we
32:11
weren't? We didn't cover today?
32:12
That you want people to know about gooseberry about you about
32:16
this journey that you guys are going on, you know, I'd say, I
32:20
don't know, there's anything we haven't.
32:21
Covered. I definitely want to you know,
32:25
the educational aspect of kind of what we're doing from, you
32:29
know, the coffee's that were offering from a variety
32:32
standpoint. Like if you don't drink wine and
32:34
you can't understand that reference I was like make the
32:36
comparison of apples like you might love honeycrisp apples and
32:40
maybe not so much a granny smith.
32:42
Like that's more of a red wine white wine types quick situation
32:45
but you might love you no red delicious or you know you
32:49
wouldn't expect them to taste like others you know like in but
32:51
From varieties of apples and similar is is to coffee.
32:56
So I think that's going to help. Once you kind of put those
33:00
references as far as you know, like real world things that you
33:04
can compare and contrast to like yes, I do love Honeycrisp and I
33:07
don't love red. Delicious me personally.
33:09
Just like, you know, sometimes I really love.
33:12
You know, you know, a good Ethiopian heirloom coffee or,
33:16
you know, a Keturah and from, you know, Central America.
33:19
But then sometimes I don't always Is Love A Cat Yae, you
33:22
know, like it's it's a little too light for me sometimes, but
33:25
sometimes it's just hit spot on, you know, like and understanding
33:28
that everyone can can kind of find something in that.
33:31
Everyone can kind of find, you know, the coffee's that you just
33:34
hits the spot every time, you know.
33:36
And that's, you know, that's the moment that we're trying to
33:38
recreate over and over so that leads us right into our last
33:42
question which is when you go out and get a cup of coffee
33:46
somewhere else or you see a cafe and you pull off the side of the
33:49
road, what are you drinking? What are you Ordering for you.
33:53
I'm, I'm a black coffee lover through and through at this
33:56
point, I'd rarely order espresso, or any kind of, you
34:00
know, cortado, latte, anything like that.
34:02
I'm generally always go black coffee and that's kind of
34:05
something for me that kind of correlates with.
34:08
You know, I feel like you can really taste the difference in
34:11
your different coffees when you're just drinking it black or
34:13
just, you know, straight, some type of extraction without
34:18
anything at it, my wife will get some Likes to do some specialty
34:22
coffee sometimes. Like if I cafes like had some
34:25
unique stuff going on, the cock, the coffee shop in Nashville
34:28
Bongo. They always had like a in a
34:30
signature drink competition where like all the Baristas from
34:32
all the different cafes like came up with their creations and
34:35
things like that and those were always fun and I like those but
34:38
that's not what I that's not usually what I would order.
34:41
So I'm usually I usually am looking for, you know what black
34:45
coffees they have available, how are they Brewing them?
34:48
And and then like what are my tastes and what can I No, how
34:52
can I get the best cup? Sometimes it's, you know, their
34:54
batch Brew drip, you know, sometimes it's, you know, I feel
34:57
like steady state and ironsmith both have like, solid drip batch
35:01
Bruce, you know, like in sometimes, that's all I want,
35:04
you know. But sometimes I want like
35:05
something more specific and a pour-over or something.
35:08
But yeah, I'm definitely a big advocate for just drinking black
35:12
coffee. I'm a black coffee drinker as
35:14
well. I find that I if I'm drinking a
35:17
coffee on site, that's when I'm going to order a pour-over,
35:20
something. Because I might have Questions.
35:22
And I might want to ask somebody like, hey, where'd this, you
35:25
know, all the details that we've been talking about?
35:27
If I'm getting it to walk away, then I'm just going to go drip
35:29
because it's kind of how I is a weird, weird tangent for anyone
35:34
listening. But I used to always judge
35:36
restaurants by the quality of the toilet paper.
35:38
Yeah. Because I knew if they cared
35:40
about their customers and their employees that have good cook,
35:44
good toilet paper, that's solid solid assessment.
35:47
Yeah. And I kind of feel that way
35:48
about drip coffee and calmly. Yeah, you know like if Care
35:51
about the people that are there every single day.
35:54
You're going to make sure your drip is on point.
35:56
Exactly. I'm always astonished by like
35:58
fancy restaurants that like you know you have they have this
36:01
amazing chef and they like do all these, you know, incredible
36:04
dishes and they give thought to every single detail and then at
36:07
the end of the meal, if you want a cup of coffee it's just like
36:09
it's garbage. And I'm like, why don't you pay
36:11
as much attention to detail? Has this if you get everything
36:14
else? Like I feel like that's a that's
36:17
you know, sometimes, you know, they're like, yes, this is from
36:20
this local roaster and they do this, Is this and I'm like yes
36:22
thank you like thank you for paying attention to this as well
36:24
as everything else. I used to be one of those
36:27
servers that long time ago, work for a very fancy restaurant.
36:30
That cared about every ingredient was sourced in the
36:33
state, every like beer was from the stay like even today till
36:37
now, they're so written up. We had Sunday morning, brunches,
36:40
and my complete training, making an espresso for someone at the
36:45
bar, or for a table or a coffee of any kind was, here's the
36:49
machine. You press this button, Water
36:52
goes here. The grounds go here.
36:55
But end of training, right? Yeah.
36:57
And looking back, I think they are that restaurant.
36:59
They cared about everything except for that.
37:02
Yeah. Yeah.
37:02
It's the I guess the times have not quite caught up to, you
37:07
know, like, wow, we should pay attention to this to like
37:09
there's you know, there's plenty of, you know, information out
37:13
there. Nowadays too kind of to gather
37:15
like this is quality in this is not and where that line is like
37:19
at least kind of make the effort and then You're, you know, Leaps
37:22
and Bounds above, you know, ahead of your competition.
37:26
Well, I after this I'm going to Google them and find out what
37:28
they're serving on their menu today because maybe they've got
37:31
they've they've moved up, it's been a lady.
37:32
So yeah, I mean I love those restaurants like I sincerely
37:36
like those are the kind of places that I have you know that
37:38
want to take you know, Melissa to on a date.
37:40
Like we love, you know, she's a foodie and she cooks all the
37:43
time and you know, she wants to order something that she can't
37:46
make herself, you know? And so like those are those kind
37:48
of restaurants are great. But yeah, I always want to be
37:51
like What's on your coffee menu? And like kind of, you know, it's
37:54
somewhat of a loaded question but I'm just curious.
37:56
Like I want to see if they care about that or not, you know, I
37:59
do know and I've certainly been that person on both sides.
38:02
The person who didn't know what to answer and the person who
38:05
wanted to know. So right always and always
38:08
empathetic Jeremy, it was really a pleasure meeting you and
38:10
chatting with you. Welcome back to the West Coast,
38:12
I think we're all probably going to be glad that you're here and
38:16
looking forward to trying some gooseberries in the near future
38:19
right on When I was researching albeit
38:33
briefly for this episode, I was struck by The Branding of
38:37
Gooseberry. It made me wonder how much stock
38:39
I put in The Branding of the coffee.
38:41
I'm buying and how much it might influence my coffee drinking
38:44
experience. I would have definitely been
38:47
pulled in by the name and the logo.
38:49
If I saw Gooseberry coffee Curiosities on the Shelf but I
38:53
don't know that I would buy it on that alone because I do have
38:57
enough of a baseline of coffee knowledge to go a step further
39:00
looking into the details of the coffee.
39:03
But if it were a bottle of wine, I'd be buying on The Branding
39:08
alone and I do love the branding at some of my favorite coffee
39:12
shops. I extend that term branding to
39:14
the overall experience. Ants inside and out of the shop.
39:18
Not just the logo. Is it a coincidence?
39:20
I love steady state and most your coffees.
39:23
And I also think highly of the design at the shop or that my
39:26
experience inside is always Top Notch.
39:29
Probably not Jeremy and his wife opened Goose bear very early in
39:34
the pandemic. It has been an online-only
39:37
business so far. They are part of an entire
39:40
generation of entrepreneurs. That will be looking at their
39:43
brick-and-mortar options differently, having experienced
39:46
this ongoing worldwide event. That is impacted.
39:50
All the ways of business may or may not have generated Revenue
39:54
before. I know that it will for me.
39:57
You may not notice it as a customer, but the line between
40:00
success and failure, and hospitality is very, very thin
40:04
and the details really matter. Take away coffee cups, are a
40:08
great example of this. The current wonky Supply chains
40:11
have caused a huge hiccup in the availability, and the price of
40:15
these coffee shop Staples, if a takeaway cup normally cost, six
40:19
cents one day and 12 or even 20 for the next, it can change the
40:24
entire Dynamic of a small. Notice that runs on fairly tight
40:27
margins selling a product that ranges generally between two and
40:31
six dollars and that is, assuming you can get them quick
40:35
trip or quick. Star is a chain of gas stations
40:39
and convenience stores in the midwest.
40:41
They spell quick K, wi K. And they're more like mini
40:46
neighborhood markets that offer fresh produce and all the
40:48
grocery Staples along with a wide variety of coffees to go.
40:53
They have more than 800 locations in Wisconsin Minnesota
40:56
Iowa and Illinois despite their size and their buying power.
41:01
They have run out of coffee cups.
41:03
Last Friday, they put out a statement that customers who
41:06
want coffee or any of their hot beverages will need to bring
41:09
their own mug, that's pretty wild.
41:13
If a company that big with a much bigger wallet than your
41:16
local roaster probably has, is having trouble.
41:19
Imagine what the neighborhood coffee shops are doing trying to
41:22
find cups of their own. They're competing with Any other
41:26
coffee provider in the world? Which brings me to my soapbox
41:30
item of the week? Bring your own mug to the coffee
41:34
shop. A lot of cafes will even give
41:36
you a discount if you do. So not only will you be helping
41:39
them navigate these supply chain issues, but you'll be keeping
41:43
one more disposable coffee cup out of the landfill.
41:46
Because, almost all take away, coffee cups, are not recyclable
41:51
due to the coating that they have, that is designed to
41:53
prevent heat loss and degradation of the paper
41:56
besides, it is just nicer to drink out of your own mug.
42:00
I keep a few on the counter next to the the door.
42:02
So I don't forget actually I think I have a few in the car to
42:06
and sometimes I still forget and that's okay.
42:09
But whenever you can bring your own mug Okay, I am off my
42:14
soapbox again. Is soapbox a reference that
42:18
people even still get. It doesn't really matter.
42:21
I just, I hope that you can figure it out from the context,
42:23
clues back to the coffee, part of the show.
42:27
Jeremy talked about his time at Barista Parlor in Nashville and
42:31
how those earlier coffee experience has impacted him.
42:36
They have some pretty great design Aesthetics to and I can
42:38
see their influence in Goose, bear, Nashville is famously, a
42:42
lovely town for music live music in particular and my chat with
42:47
Jeremy. Inspired me to take a look at
42:48
what I listen to when I'm brewing and drinking my coffee
42:51
every morning. It turns out it's mostly
42:53
podcasts. Mostly news podcasts.
42:57
So I made a point to turn off the chatter and listen to a live
43:00
music album every morning last week.
43:02
Instead, this is purely anecdotal, but I think it really
43:06
made for a more focused coffee drinking experience.
43:09
I was able to focus my senses on the coffee.
43:12
I was even able to pull out some unique flavors during a blind
43:14
tasting later, confirmed by The Roaster.
43:17
I'm proud to say that might have gotten lost, had, I been
43:20
listening to the latest on what was going on at the Ukraine
43:22
border. I've posted a playlist with some
43:25
of the songs from those morning, listening sessions in this
43:28
week's newsletter on roast westcoast.com along, with the
43:32
link to it on Spotify. Now, I'm not telling you not to
43:35
listen to podcasts. Please keep doing that
43:38
selfishly. Keep listening to this one.
43:40
If not, for my ongoing, coffee chatter, but for the interviews
43:44
and the coffee smarter sessions. And if you find yourself,
43:47
appreciating this show, or appreciating your coffee
43:51
experiences more because of it, please tell a friend and
43:55
subscribe. Subscribe to that just mentioned
43:57
newsletter on roast westcoast.com that newsletter is
44:01
free but there is a paid option if you'd like to support the
44:05
creation of this content and future coffee content.
44:09
Speaking of creating this shows industry Partners provide the
44:12
world with some incredible coffee and coffee drinking
44:16
experiences. They include Cafe litter, mostra
44:20
Coffee Company, coffee cycle, roasting leap coffee, zoom bar.
44:25
Coffee and tea Maria coffee steady-state, coffee, roasting
44:30
Camp, coffee company, and Cape Horn coffee importers.
44:34
Plus, first light, whiskey is always there to help with the
44:37
nip at happy hour. I usually Splash mine in with
44:40
some Makers Mark blended into some vanilla ice cream, or add
44:44
it into a hot cup of decaf late in the day.
44:47
Some great coffee decaf SAR available from the roasters, I
44:50
just mentioned, you can find links to all of those companies
44:53
and Gooseberry coffee Acid is in this shows podcast notes.
44:58
And if you can't find them wherever you're listening, you
45:01
can also click into any article on roast westcoast.com, and
45:04
they'll be there. A reminder, I'll see you at Camp
45:08
Coffee Company on Saturday, where I'll have the microphone
45:11
set up. And hopefully, I'll get a chance
45:13
to chat with some of this shows listeners about why they love
45:16
coffee. That's Saturday, morning
45:19
February, 19th from 9 to noon at Camp, coffee company in
45:23
Oceanside, California. Thank you to everyone for
45:26
subscribing. Thank you to everyone for
45:28
listening. A new coffee smarter episode
45:30
with Chris O'Brien. All about Bulletproof Coffee.
45:34
Comes out tomorrow and I'll be back next week with an interview
45:38
with Aaron Nino. She is the founder and owner of
45:41
a send Coffee Roasters. In San Marcos, California.
45:45
This episode of the roast West Coast coffee podcast is was has
45:50
been written produced and recorded by meet Brian Walt.
45:54
I hope this show is found you. You happy healthy and with at
45:57
least enough sanity and coffee to make it through the day.
46:01
And please always tip your Baristas now.
46:04
More than ever in be sure to drink.
46:07
Good coffee. I like beer, it makes me a
46:34
jolly. Good fellow welcomed.
46:36
I like beer the podcast where we discuss great beers and the
46:40
stories that go with them. I'm your host Jeff and I am your
46:43
host. Jeff we are lucky enough to live
46:45
in North County, San Diego, a beer Mecca, within a beer Mecca,
46:48
where it's 72 degrees all year long and there are over 160
46:52
breweries within minutes weather's.
46:54
Nice, the water's warm, the beer is cold and there are stories to
46:58
be told and we believe beer is a A drink for friends for sharing
47:01
a laugh, telling a tale or two and four contemplating life and
47:04
how to live it. We're not your ordinary beer
47:07
pod. So grab a beer, pull up a
47:09
Barstool. Join us for a few laughs.
47:11
You can find us wherever you get your pods and also on Instagram
47:15
and Facebook at I like beer the podcast as well as on Twitter or
47:18
a website I like beer the podcast.com looking forward to
47:22
having you join us. Cheers.