The year was 2004. Google had launched their own email platform called Gmail. A company called Facebook was just founded and eventually overshadowed the then-popular social media site, MySpace (anybody still friends with Tom?). Apple had introduced iTunes to the world in a time when it was still popular to go to a music store or Borders to buy an album. Youtube was about to make its entrance to the internet. Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith was anticipated to release the following year. Christopher Nolan’s “Batman Begins” was also on the horizon. In this same year, Alejo and Jonathan were destined to meet, thus forming the beginning of a great friendship and The Coffee Nerds.
A Meeting that Almost Never Happened
We get a kick out of how we met. We almost didn’t! Alejo had applied for a job at a local Starbucks and received a call for an interview. On the date of the interview, he drove to a Starbucks store, walked in and told the staff he was there for an interview. But they said that they weren’t expecting an interview. Alejo had drove to the wrong store! On a whim, they agreed to interview him and Alejo was hired that day. It just so happened that this was the same store that Jonathan was already working at. The potential for us to not have met was pretty high that day.
Coffee Nerd Beginnings
So this is where our story begins. In that well-known coffee chain, Alejo and Jonathan started to work together and quickly became friends. You could say this was the beginning of The Coffee Nerds. We were making lattes and serving pastries to the local community. Our mornings were filled with the hum of the espresso machine pulling shots as we opened the store half asleep. The hustle of the morning rush filled the cafe as we called down the line, back when it was standard to handwrite codes on a cup with a sharpie (we still remember those codes!). We enjoyed making quick small-talk with our regulars as they grabbed their coffee to run to their workplace.
After the morning rush, we’d clean the store, work through some coffee tastings and figure out which pastry paired best with the coffee we were tasting that day. We’d have fun with our coworkers and figure out what we’d be doing after work. We’d go all over the place and still end up at the coffee shop. The coffee shop, in many ways, was where things happened. At this point in time, this is where life happened.
The Third Place
I think that’s the charm of the coffee shop. It can be a place for meeting friends. It can be a place to retreat by yourself. Or it can be place to spend time with someone special. Actually, both of us met our wives at a coffee shop!
People spend hours studying, reading or writing. People are talking. People are thinking. People are connecting. People are creating. Spend some time in a coffee shop, and you are bound to run into some really cool people. Additionally, if you go to a coffee shop a few days a week, you become a regular – which is basically a rite of passage of becoming a coffee nerd.
The Most Important Thing
On one hand, the root of the coffee shop is the coffee. The bean, roast, grind, water temperature and brewing equipment all combined create amazing flavors that we all love and enjoy. Who doesn’t like the smell of coffee in the morning? It can be simple if you want, or it can be complex. It can be automated with a timer, or it can be completely manual. It’s an amazing drink that changes the more you learn about it.
But on the other hand, at the root of coffee is the people. The farmers who grew the coffee. The people that process the coffee. The people that ship the coffee all over the world. Then there are the coffee roasters. But most of us benefit from what is known as “the last 10 feet” of the coffee journey. These are the people that stand behind the counter brewing the coffee for you so that you can experience that first sip. It’s only fitting that coffee is all about people and bringing people together.
After the Coffee Shop Days
As you know, we didn’t stay working at the coffee shop. After some time, we moved on to other things. But our friendship remained. We both participated in each other’s weddings. We both would still hang out. But as you know it, coffee was still something we both continued to share and enjoy.
Starbucks gave us a pretty good start in learning about coffee. We began to expand our taste buds and started buying from roasters all over the US. We would still get together and do coffee tastings at home. We even attempted (and probably failed) at roasting coffee at home!
That’s when the idea was born
We had notebooks where we would write our tasting notes. We took pictures. But our wives are the true geniuses here. One night after finishing up brewing coffee and bellies full of snacks, they suggested: “Why don’t you start an Instagram and post your tasting notes there?” So that night, The Coffee Nerds was born. The rest is history.
Final Thoughts
Coffee is such a big part of our lives and we absolutely love sharing what we know with others. The coffee community is a growing group of creative individuals that we enjoy interacting with and supporting. Additionally, there are many inspiring stories behind the individuals who make your coffee. Our goal is to discover and share these stories with you. Or we may share a recipe or how to brew one of our favorite brew methods. Or we may recommend some of our favorite tools we use. However you like your coffee, we hope we can provide useful resources that will help you appreciate coffee in a new and exciting way. We also hope these stories inspire you the same way they inspire us.
Thanks for reading. Cheers!
-Alejo and Jonathan