Topics: roaster profile, SF25, California, coffee roaster, commercial coffee roaster

Like many coffee professionals, Micah Svejda didn't set out to dedicate his life to the elusive bean. Nor, years ago in a philosophy program in St. Louis, Missouri, could he forsee roasting on a red San Franciscan coffee roaster in the stately city of St. Paul. "I took a job at Kaldi's Coffee to supplement my income as a teaching assistant," says Svejda, who'd put in years behind the bar in chains like Caribou and Dunn Bros., "and the truth is that I fell in love with coffee and out of love with academia."

Topics: roaster profile, coffee roaster, commercial coffee roaster, roaster, Successful business, Local, SF6

Through the Lebanese culture runs a thick ribbon of honor and pride of legacy, father to son, mother to daughter. Hrag Kalebjian grew up dreading Saturday mornings, when his father Henry would drag him out of bed and into the specialty foods store where he roasted coffee. "I just wanted to watch cartoons," Hrag says, and eventually he left the family business altogether to work in corporate finance.

Topics: roaster profile, SF25, California, coffee roaster, commercial coffee roaster, roaster, Successful business, tradition, legacy

Avoca Coffee was established three years ago in the historic Near Southside district of Fort Worth, TX, the project of childhood friends Garold LaRue and Jimmy Story. “I’m a fifth-generation coffee grower,” says Garold, “and at eighteen when I started working, I decided to become a barista. I’ve been in coffee ever since—seen part of the 2nd wave, the 3rd wave, and the birth of the new wave, whatever it is.” Living with his coffee-farming family in Nicaragua until 1985, when the family escaped the revolution to Fort Worth, Garold has a unique perspective on coffee.

Topics: roaster profile, SF25, coffee roaster, commercial coffee roaster, roaster, sf1