For some people, their morning cup of coffee is a religious experience.
“When we got our machine, it took less than a year for it to be declared the religious shrine in the house,” coffee enthusiast Jeff Levin said.
For others, like Omid Ghamami, a micro coffee roaster in Carlsbad, it’s a science.
“At around 200 centigrade, it's going to start experiencing the first exothermic reaction,” he explained while roasting a batch of Bali Blue Moon organic wet-hulled process beans in his garage.
All that’s to say, the era of generic supermarket coffee beans from the can may be over, especially in San Diego County. The local coffee scene has reportedly grown immensely in the last few years. A crowdsourced list shows 96 roasters in the county.
So what’s changed? According to the Specialty Coffee Association (SCA), a coffee industry group, consumers are now looking for an experience.
“The essence I think of specialty coffee is that it's not just a product. It's like it's a story, and it's an experience, you know,” said Peter Giuliano, a researcher at SCA.
That experience is what keeps Ghamami’s customers coming back.
Ryan Johnson is a former coffee roaster himself and self-proclaimed coffee nerd. He discovered Ghamami while riding his bike home from work one day.
“I used to roast coffee … so the smell was familiar. I went past, I smelled the smell and then realized like I should go find out who that is,” Johnson said. “He was exactly who I was looking for.”
Johnson said he enjoys Ghamami’s personalized recommendations and depth of knowledge.
“I thought I was a coffee nerd but he's to the nth degree, and that's been really cool because every bag can be something new,” he said.
The personalization is part of the bespoke coffee experience Ghamami can offer by sourcing high quality beans from all over the world.
“All I want to do is show people how incredible the world of coffee is, how unique it is, how different it is,” Ghamami said.
There’s also a large community of enthusiasts. Ghamami said it’s not uncommon for his customers to strike up conversations when they come to pick up their orders.
“There's a notion that we're supporting someone local,” said Levin, also a customer of Ghamami’s. “There's a notion that there's a whole community of us doing it. And then it's just the richest collection of varieties and commentary on it, which is really neat.”
