Our Blog
Beyond the Beans: Thamer Bajjali
By: Brittany Leslie – Wholesale Account Manager and Educator, Kean Coffee This week I sat down with one of our wholesale Roastery team, Thamer Bajjali. Thamer found his passion for coffee after his first sip of a doppio cappuccino at our Newport Beach coffeehouse. From coffeehouse guest to wholesale delivery driver to now roaster, he has come a long way in his coffee journey. Read more about how he became a roaster and how his coffee knowledge has developed with time. What is your position and how long have you worked with Kean Coffee? I am one of our wholesale …
Beyond the Beans: Jaydon Charles
By: Brittany Leslie – Wholesale Account Manager and Educator, Kean Coffee In this week’s Beyond the Beans interview series, we talk to the man behind our most recent pour over YouTube video, Jaydon Charles. He has been working with Kéan Coffee for 6 years, taking on the roles of barista, roaster, and one of the Roastery managers. Jaydon grew up as a fan of Diedrich Coffee, drinking coffee as early as 3rd grade, and was not surprised to find himself diving into coffee behind the bar at our Tustin coffeehouse. He gives us insight into the roasting process and explains …
Beyond the Beans: Michael Bingham
By: Brittany Leslie – Wholesale Account Manager and Educator, Kean Coffee From Barista, to Production Member, to Roaster. Michael never expected that his curiosity towards specialty coffee as a young teenager would end up setting him on the path of building a coffee career. Through 8 years of hard work and demonstrating his skills as a barista and Roastery team member, Michael continues to gain more coffee experience and knowledge that makes him a valuable member of our Kéan Coffee family. He shares his Kéan Coffee story with us and dives into his passions outside of the coffee realm. Can …
Making your home a Coffee-house: An Introduction to Home Brewing
Staying at home does not mean that you must give up your morning ritual of drinking fresh specialty coffee. This article will help home baristas and coffee newcomers alike. We will go over the procedures and brewing techniques for a home brewer, Hario v60, Chemex, and French Press.
Guatemala February 2015: Shawn’s First Coffee Origin Trip
We have been a bit remiss in chronicling our Kean Coffee origin trips over the past several years…just too darn busy roasting coffee! At some point we will backtrack and share more of our adventures. But here, at least, Shawn Anderson, our wholesale division roaster, has shared some of his experiences on a recent trip he and Martin made. When we (Martin Diedrich and I) arrived in Guatemala City the first evening, I had no idea what to expect. After all, this was my first origin trip and, as I would soon find out, Guatemala City is in no way …
Meet the Barista: Eight Questions with MANUEL RODRIGUEZ
This is an ongoing series in which you will get to know a little bit more about the fine young men and women who prepare your coffee at Kean Coffee through a set of random interview questions. Manuel “Manny” Rodriguez has been with Kean Coffee for two years, as a barista in our Newport coffeehouse. In addition to being an awesome barista, Manny is a successful college student who aspires to become a teacher. Whatever he is doing, Manny works hard and always strives for excellence, while at the same time keeping a great attitude. That’s why we love Manny! …
2012 Trips to Origin: Mike’s adventures in Costa Rica – a first person account
Mike Richardson has been with Kean Coffee since our doors first opened in late 2005, first as a barista, then becoming a manager and barista trainer. Mike is passionate about coffee and about what he does, and has participated in several barista competitions- three times competing in the Western Regional Barista Competition and the Ultimate Barista Competition, and once judging the WRBC. Below is his fascinating account of the trip to Costa Rica he went on this past April along with our roaster Ted Vautrinot, who was invited to judge for Costa Rica Cup of Excellence. Enjoy! Everyone has been …
Judging Guatemala Cup of Excellence 2011 – by Ted Vautrinot, Kean Coffee roaster
There is a special magic wafting through a room filled with passionate coffee professionals intent on finding the absolute best coffee from Guatemala’s crop this year. Every sniff, every slurp is carefully evaluated and scored- descriptions of honey, cherry, chocolate, caramel fill the margins as each coffee gets a meticulous assessment before moving on to the next possibility. I was fortunate to return to Central America to be a judge for Cup of Excellence Guatemala. Our 22 member international panel hailed from Japan, Germany, England, Australia, Russia, Korea, Canada, Morocco, Norway, and the U.S. Our purpose was to identify the …
Yemen Haraazi Supreme – a coffee pictorial from Martin Diedrich
The steep, rugged Haraaz Mountains of Northwestern Yemen are a world apart from the rest of the country. The terrain is dramatic, wild, rocky, and often inaccessible.The area has resisted the modern world and in the hinterlands one can still feel the pulse of medieval times. Ancient fortified hilltop villages of stone houses cling to the steep slopes, creating a near bibilical panorama. Rocky mountain slopes are carved with ingenious centuries-old stone terraces to preserve the scarce soil and precious rain in this dry region, in order to grow coffee. Approximately 500 families, living throughout the region, continue an unchanged tradition …
Musings of a Nicaragua Cup of Excellence Judge – by Ted Vautrinot, Head Roaster for Kean Coffee
April 26, 2010; Ocotal, Nueva Segovia, Nicaragua. Twenty four judges, all coffee professionals, focus beyond the 90 degree heat and humidity in the classroom/cupping lab to give their undivided attention to flight after flight of the very best coffees Nicaragua has to offer. Every detail is scored to a strict protocol on the journey to find the ten absolute best coffees in Nicaragua this year. The event is Cup of Excellence Nicaragua, and I am one of the international judges discovering these often stunning coffees. The panel hails from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Central America, and the …
One Year Anniversary of Kean Coffee Tustin
March 23rd marked the one year anniversary since opening the doors of our second Kean Coffee at 13681 Newport Ave, Suite 14, Tustin, CA. The opening of our Tustin store was not so much a new venture as it was a return to our roots, as this was the exact location where Martin opened his first full-scale Diedrich Coffee coffeehouse many years ago, which had become a popular hangout in the community. With coffee roasted fresh onsite in a roaster built by Diedrich Manufacturing, the company created by Martin’s brother Stephan who went into the roaster building side of the …
A Roaster’s Eye View of Honduras by Ted Vautrinot, Kean Coffee
Lush mountainous rainforest, beautiful warm people, countless hectares of coffee, miles of rutted dirt roads, stunning Mayan antiquities; I experienced all these just days ago on my trip to Capucas, Honduras. I made the journey to view the coffee production firsthand and evaluate this year’s production at the cooperative. I found people that live a life I’d never imagined- difficult yet joyful and built on a commitment and love for producing coffee that continues to improve in quality. Little Feet, a non-profit whose mission is to provide soccer equipment and instruction all over the third world, made the …
Our roaster Ted Vautrinot wins 1st place award at the 8th Annual Roasters Guild Retreat
Imagine yourself in a room with 200 people each intently slurping 135 examples of different roasts of just one single origin coffee. The 8th Annual Roasters Guild retreat in Minnesota which took place in late August of this year was a gathering of specialty coffee professionals who roast coffee as part of their job: sample roasting in origin countries, production roasting, green coffee brokers, and roaster manufacturers. The purpose was to hone roasting skills through classroom learning, cupping (tasting) coffees, sharing best practices with peers, and a hands-on competition using various brands of commercial roasters. Our roaster Ted Vautrinot attended, …