Portola Coffee Lab - Roaster Magazine's 2015 Micro Roaster of the Year

[Mr.Peaberry]

PORTOLA - 2015 Micro Roaster of the Year in Costa Mesa, CA

PORTOLA COFFEE LAB who won 2015 Micro Roaster of the Year from Roaster Magazine.
My wife and I used to go there a lot, even though they are bit out of the way from our place. however, the ambiance is the best in Costa Mesa along with the quality of their coffee. When I was there for a latte yesterday, I realized that they have won 2015 Micro Roaster of the Year. A great accomplishment and well deserved all around.
Congratulation Jeff Duggan.
http://www.roastmagazine.com/…/ROY15_Micro_Reprint_lores.pdf


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Last edited by ensoluna; 04-09-2015 at 04:28 PM.​

I wanted to revive this thread due to the fact that I just got off the phone with Craig at Brewer's Hardware to ask a bunch of stupid questions about making a thermocouple for my home roaster using components they sell. Portola Coffee came up in the conversation as Jeff Duggan has sold coffee to several micro brewers in the area, and had been a visitor to Brewer's Hardware to give a talk on using coffee to create some interesting coffee based beers.

I visited Jeff while he was at Layer Cake Bakery in Irvine before he started Portola Coffee Lab...responding to an ad he had for a sales rep. I was "hired", but the job never materialized. He and his wife had ideas about what they wanted to do, but no real world experience on how to accomplish this...BUT they knew they wanted someone else to do the sales end of it while they focused on setting up the business. At one point Jeff just stopped returning my calls, so I figure he felt I was not a good fit, couldn't pay me what I needed to sustain a consistent effort in marketing his coffee, or I pissed him off because I honestly felt he was putting the cart before the horse so to speak, to be making customer contacts before he was officially situated in his new digs. Although I was annoyed that he would not man-up and call me back to discuss his concerns, I am happy to see that he is finding success in furthering the cause of good coffee in The OC. I now also have Bohdi Leaf Coffee within walking distance of my home, and that is where I will be buying my greens in the future.

Also from Alex (ensoluna) as he has been very supportive of my efforts, and has even gifted me a cupping spoon, and Guatemalan peaberry from his last trip. Plus he has invited me to join him in Guatemala to visit some grower's and do some cupping with his group. I am very appreciative of his generosity no matter what issue this forum has had in recent interaction. Alex is one of the most genuinely passionate people I've met in my life, whether he is studying a new language, like Chinese or Spanish, or eager to learn something new in the coffee business. Although they are not much, my good words about Alex are the least I can do to let everyone here know what a truly great person he is.

Cheers,

Peaberry