The Sunflower Coffee Program Part 1: The Awakening (From Gas Station to Avid)
I certainly do enjoy coffee.
But I have to laugh when I look back. As a much younger man working in construction, living in a little two-bedroom apartment in Rohnert Park, my morning routine was simple. On my way to the job site, I would pull into the local gas station on the corner of Commerce and the RP Expressway. I dragged myself over to the coffee island like a moth to a flame.
Those lovely black carafes with their steaming hot, highly caffeinated liquid awaited my choice. My signature move? A heavy-handed mix of hazelnut and vanilla, topped with about three of those heavenly little plastic thimbles of shelf-stable cream. I would mix up my sweet, decadent concoction and voila, my morning had truly started. I could face the world. I was invincible.
Now, sitting in my office at the cafe, I occasionally wonder how in the hell did I ever enjoy such a bastardized version of what is truly one of the most pure delectables in the known universe.
The answer, I think, is just dumb luck and a bit of evolution.
A simple toast breakfast and cup of coffee
Accidental Excellence: The Ecco Era
My real coffee journey began through the lens of cafe ownership. Back in 2007, my wife Mila and I took over the germinating seed of what is now the Sunflower Caffe on the Sonoma Plaza. We took the baton and just started running. But that handoff came with an existing setup, including the coffee program. We were serving a little boutique brand called Ecco Caffè. Being the gas station coffee connoisseur that I was, I had absolutely no idea what we had our hands on.
As it turned out, Ecco’s founder, Andrew Barnett, was a visionary. He was winning awards, gaining massive notoriety in the burgeoning Third Wave coffee world, and roasting some of the most beautiful, light, expressively sweet espressos in the country. That elite coffee world was completely foreign to me at the time, and I probably could not appreciate it for what it truly was. A few years later, as happens to many brands that achieve that level of brilliance, Ecco was purchased by Chicago-based Intelligentsia.
Cultivating the Local Soul: Equator
By that point, I was starting to develop my own knack for the cafe business. One of our core philosophies from day one was to embrace local as deeply as possible. Knowing our beloved little roaster was being folded into a much larger operation halfway across the country, we chose to pivot.
In came Equator Coffees. Nationally recognized but locally roasted right over the hill in San Rafael, they had fabulous ownership, a massive commitment to sustainability, and an incredible reputation. It was a no-brainer.
But over the years, a funny thing happened. We started seeing Equator everywhere. They opened more of their own beautiful cafes, and their bags popped up in every local mom-and-pop shop and bakery in the Bay Area. For what we wanted the Sunflower to be, it began to feel a little less unique, a little less soulful.
Don't get me wrong, I one hundred percent applaud these companies reaping the rewards of their hard-earned success. Andrew selling to Intelligentsia, Equator growing leaps and bounds, it is worth celebrating. They grew because they absolutely crushed it and made delicious coffee. Absolute respect.
But I was changing. I was learning. And I wanted something we could truly call our own.
Equator Coffee on retail shelves with other big-name coffee brands
Creative Participation: Acre Coffee
That craving for creative participation led us to a friendship with Steve Decosse, the force behind what was then Acre Coffee. Steve is a classic serial entrepreneur, high energy, happy disposition, just a great guy. We hit it off instantly. He sensed where my head was going and embraced it wonderfully.
We wanted to participate. Steve had the patience and the infrastructure to take us to the next level: the cupping table. For the first time, the Sunflower team and I sat down for formal cuppings, editorial tastings of various origins and roast profiles. We were quite literally choosing the exact flavors we wanted to represent us. We were part of the process, and I absolutely loved it.
But little did I know, this taste of creative control was just a gateway drug. I was about to go completely down the rabbit hole.
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