My brother and I have been passionate about coffee since we were kids.
Don’t ask me how we got into it… I really can’t remember. Maybe it was the smell of our mom’s coffee each morning, or our dad’s passion to always have a cup in his hand. Nonetheless, we found a passion for the sweet nectar of heaven we all call coffee and the rest is history.
Before we were out of high school, we served espresso the old Italian way. The dark roasts. The artistic preparation. The European sizes (not American “Vente” and “trenta” sizes). And the art on top. Yes, all of this was a passion of ours long before the third wave of coffee hit the United States.
We owned our own coffee company in Denver and started another one in Chicago. Our early twenties were spent slinging grounds and pouring traditional cappuccinos. it sounds better than it was— we spent a lot of time doing the “unglamorous parts” of owning coffee businesses. Yet, when a pitcher was put in our hand, we couldn’t help but dream about the next pour.
Jake and I have released a course on YouTube that is totally free of charge. We teach the basics of latte art. This series of fifteen short videos are great for the vocational barista or the novice barista at home.
