Andy Newbom of Silicon Valley - Founder of Barefoot Coffee Roasters

Barefoot Coffee Roasters’ Andy Newbom, was one of my most exciting interviews. Why? Because this is a coffee roaster story that is not only one of stunning success.

It is one of hard work, persistence, and discovery!

Andy’s story is appealing to those of us who have started out really not that interested in a concept and later found themselves in love. We have all had these kind of surprises in life, but Andy’s comes alive as he tells his story of a beginning love-hate relationship with specialty coffees.

Please settle back and enjoy this great story by the founder of an award-winning coffee roaster. This is all how it came to be.

ABS) How did your love affair with coffee begin? And how did this evolve into the business you love today?

Andy) My wife and I always wanted to run our own cafe. She was the coffee lover. I was the coffee hater. I just liked the social and food aspects of a cafe. So as we were working on opening our first cafe I decided that I should at least try coffee if we were going to have a coffeehouse. I started with the giant 64ounce big gulp Starbucks milkshakes with very little coffee. Those weren't so bad as long as the darned nasty coffee was drowned out with sugar. I tried many different coffee and espresso drinks at many cafes but they were all basically nasty.

But then we went to the San Francisco Fancy Food show where she was looking for coffee roasters to buy coffee from and I was looking for local wineries and cheese purveyors for the cafe we wanted to open. So while there we tasted 11 different straight espressos from 11 different coffee roasters. They were all varying versions of nasty burned and bitter to yucky burned and bitter.

I decided that enough was enough of this torture. I announced I was all done with coffee and was going off to get drunk on wine and cheese samples. My wife Nanelle said wait lets stop at this one last coffee roaster and talk to them. I was annoyed and said I was going of to get wine.

Then the Barista working the espresso machine in their booth said “do you want an espresso?” I looked at him like he was crazy. “No”, I said “I have had 11 different espressos today and they were all nasty. I am done.” But he kept insisting and pushing me and eventually wore me down so I said Fine! Sure give me one. I blew him off. He made me an espresso. I waved goodbye to my wife and turned away to walk off. I took a sip absentmindedly and was stopped still in mid step. A huge light went on over my head and I actually said out loud “This is what everyone is talking about!” and then I announced out loud to myself “I MUST be the one who makes something this good!” I then turned and ran back to the Barrister and asked him “What is this?!?!?!” He said just an espresso. I said NO I have had 11 today and they were nothing like this. He could not explain why this espresso tasted so amazing.

I then spent the next 2 years trying to figure out what made that one so amazing. After the two years I discovered that the number one factor in the flavor of the coffee is “La Mana” or the hand that crafts the coffee. It is the care and craft and passion that each person along the chain puts into it that makes it so amazing or can make it so terrible.

ABS) How did you develop the knowledge necessary to become an expert coffee roaster?

Andy) I went to a roasting school and then fanatically read, studied, absorbed, asked, talked, watched and harassed other great roasters. Then I just roasted hundreds of batches and tasted everything all the time. Constant experimentation and trial and error. We also had the privilege of having John Gozbekian consult with us for the last year on roasting. He is a true master roaster and a great coffee person. But the number one thing that makes us great at roasting is that we taste our coffee obsessively.

ABS) How important is an online presence for the modern coffee roaster?

Andy) It is crucial because that is how most people find information and products. It makes you more real and solid and makes you teach and share information.

ABS) How did you get involved in Latte Art?

Andy) Saw it, loved it, did it. The first cafe I worked at did it sometimes so I learned it. It showed that you care and had great milk and espresso.

ABS) Are there any current charity or fund drives you are involved in? Your work with the Katrina effort was well-known, what is the status of that today?

Andy) We donate fresh coffee to EHC for all of their homeless shelters and housing programs every week. We also support them every year at several major charity events where we help raise thousands of dollars at each one. We also support many local schools and children's groups in our area with coffee donations. Our favorite support is where last year we helped pay for and build a medical clinic on the farm we buy direct from in Guatemala Finca Vista Hermosa. This is used to provide medical care to all of the farm workers and their families and the surrounding villagers in the remote mountains of Huehuetenango.

The Katrina drive was very fun and rewarding. We raised over $3500 dollars in one month. It was very satisfying.

ABS) What is the Barefoot Manifesto?

Andy) It is our statement of purpose and reason for existing. It is summed up by:

1. Great coffee

2. Coffee as a culinary Art

3. Sustainability

We treat coffee very seriously and work very hard to buy, roast and serve the best coffee the best way. We treat the entire aspect of coffee roasting and preparation as a culinary art. It takes skill, precision, recipes, passion and danged hard work to make coffee taste fantastic. We eschew adulterations in coffee like sugar and syrups as they are masks to cover bad tasting coffee. We strive to operate sustainable as much as possible.

ABS) In your manifesto you state that coffee is a culinary art, explain.

Andy) Coffee is a culinary art. It is the same as a chef in a restaurant. The equipment, the ingredients, the preparation and the person making it are the crucial pieces just like in cooking great food. A well trained Barista is akin to a pastry chef. They are taking many different raw ingredients that are constantly changing and morphing and combine them on the fly to make a perfect beverage that combines all the ingredients in the best way with balance and great flavor. It takes a lot of hard work and skill. Great coffee should taste great. If not it is no great coffee.

ABS) Food and Wine ranked Barefoot Coffee Roasters number four in the entire nation, what do you see as the secret of your success?

Andy) We work really hard. Seriously we work harder than most others do. We are obsessive, compulsive, terrified of not living up to the full potential of the amazing coffee that the farmers have worked so hard to bring us. It is amazingly hard work to stay ahead. Our goal is to serve the best coffee possible anywhere. We are striving for coffee perfection.

ABS) Explain taste differences between Central and South American coffees.

Andy)Besides the obvious that one is from central and one is from south America!!! But as a general rule central American coffees tend to be a bit brighter and tangier. South Americans tend towards a bit smoother and sweeter.

ABS)Is there anything you would like to add here about Barefoot Coffee? It is obvious that Barefoot is a happy and successful place, tell a story about some of the funny occurrences that may have happened over the years. Or anything else you would like to add.

Andy) As a final note I would like to encourage everyone out there to be more demanding about their coffee. Demand that all coffee you drink tastes fantastic. If it does not then demand your money back. It is the only way to improve coffee in America. And support coffee places that treat the coffee with respect and make great coffee. Love them like they love the bean.

As is evident Andy is fervent about great tasting coffee. He is not only in the specialty coffee business to turn a profit, he is in it for the love of the wider trade. That is why Barefoot Coffee Roasters is not only successful, it is an award in itself.