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Did you always know that you would work with coffee for a living, or did you think about other careers and work in other careers?

Mike McConnell: Coffee is the first thing that actually stuck for me. I probably had 100 jobs before I found coffee. It’s the only job I could keep and still feel passionate about. I was pretty lucky to get paid to do what I love. Very fortunate.

Daniel Shewmaker: All of us are. That’s all of us. We’re all really lucky to be doing this.

Was it hard to get a handle on Los Angeles? Did you have to tailor your approach at all, or did you just bring your approach to Los Angeles?

Bob Prince: We brought our approach to Los Angeles. We think it will fit in Los Angeles. We come from the Northwest and there’s a style of coffee that’s produced there, but it’s a style of coffee that’s being produced all over the country now. We bring it from the Northwest, we plant it here in Los Angeles and think it’s a fertile ground for it to grow.

You have pizzerias too. [Via Tribunali]. Any chance you’ll be bringing one of those to Los Angeles too?

Mike McConnell: You never know. Pizza seems to follow us wherever we go. We may.

What’s a typical coffee consumption day like for each of you?

Daniel Shewmaker: I usually get into work and make myself a brewed coffee, filtered coffee. Then I cup coffee every day, so I’m tasting coffees as well. I spit those out, but I’ll taste 10 coffees, samples I’ve roasted and am considering bringing in. After lunch, I’ll have espresso too, for sure, and sometimes a lot more than that. That’s a typical day, and that’s the bare minimum. Certain days, there’s a lot of cupping going on. You can drink a lot of coffee in one day.

Bob Prince: Four, five, six, 10. It just depends on who you’re with.

Mike McConnell: If you’re with other coffee drinking people, it can be a lot more.

John Hornall: Sometimes it’s uncomfortable, the amount of coffee you have to drink in this industry. The coffee sweats. Your palms get all sticky, and you know you just went too far, but you’ve got to keep doing more.

Mike McConnell: Are we talking about coffee?

Daniel Shewmaker: How about you? How much do you drink?

Normally about three cups a day.

Daniel Shewmaker: That’s a good number. That counts.

Mike McConnell: More importantly, where do you drink your coffee?

Top three in terms of frequency are Intelligentsia Silver Lake, Cognoscenti in Culver, which is new, and Paper or Plastik, also kind of Mid-City.

Mike McConnell: The last two, what do they use for coffee?

Multi-roaster. Yeekai [Lim], who runs Cognoscenti and also runs the coffee program at Proof in Atwater, probably has five our six roasters at any time. Paper or Plastik, they just started roasting their own, and they also have Intelligentsia, Handsome, and sometimes a fourth roaster.

Do you ever brew coffee at home?

Mike McConnell: Rarely. I don’t really have a home these days, but I’m surrounded by coffee wherever I go.

John Hornall: It’s disappointing at home, because you don’t have the professional equipment. You’ve got home machines, and they just don’t do as good a job.

Daniel Shewmaker: I drink coffee at home on the weekend.

What’s your brew method of choice?

Daniel Shewmaker: I go through phases. Right now, I’m hooked on the Aeropress because I make it just for myself. I make a cup at a time. I’ll take home my favorite sample roast from the week, and I can drink multiple cups, a small amount. I have a hand grinder. It’s also what I travel with. It’s very portable, you can grind coffee fresh and you can make it just about anywhere. I’ve been using the Aeropress a lot.

Bob?

Bob Prince: Chemex, at home, on the weekends. We Chemex a lot. I’ll have one of the good single origins. I had a little Pacamara this last week.

Daniel Shewmaker: I brew coffee French press almost every morning before I get out of the house. I’m up early, so I need a little something before I get out.

Any chance you’ll be roasting in L.A. at some point?

Daniel Shewmaker: Right where we’re sitting. I’m glad to get this view in right now. This is a good seat, but this is going to be the roaster’s seat soon.

Does that mean this might not be the last café in L.A.?

Mike McConnell: We’re open to other opportunities.