In 2007, after working all alone for 10 months, I hired a guy I called “The Profit,” Isaiah, who had the same devotion to coffee that I do.

At the time, there seemed to be a lot of people like us in what is known as “the third wave” of coffee. People who sought out interesting and pristine coffees from the far reaches of the planet. People who dreamt of doing away with all the milks and sugars and flavors that distract customers’ focus away from that special thing, the divinity we all fell in love with.

We’d each discovered, in our own ways, how coffee’s unique character can taste amazing on its own if every single detail is managed with care and precision.

Isaiah and I watched the third wave grow, and we scoffed whenever one of our own backslid, sold out, or gave up. Had you asked us t

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