INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS PAGE

JL: What were the biggest challenges in producing the equipment?

KB: Really, it was understanding it’s a balance between functionality and understanding what the industry wanted. Initially the industry said, “You know what, we don’t want this much automation. We want it to be a very intimate experience between the barista and the barista has to be involved.” We built a machine that required a ton of barista interaction. It was very barista-intensive. We delivered it, and they were like, “It’s too much. We want it automated.” Okay. We went back and six months later, we have a hybrid that involves the barista but also automates a large part of the process that would normally be done with timers and all this other stuff. I guess the last year, we spent the last year dialing in what the industry was asking for and developing equipment that would provide answers to their asks.

JL: What’s a typical coffee consumption day like for you?

KB: I don’t even know in terms of volume, but it’s a lot. When I taste, I don’t spit, either. Most days, maybe 24-30 ounces, which to a lot of people doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s really rich, strong coffee, so it’s quite a bit.

JL: Do you drink coffee anywhere else At home?

KB: No, because I don’t have a Steampunk at home. My wife feels to squeeze too, because we used to have coffee on the weekends together. I’ll labor through drinking another cup, but we’ll end up coming down here on a Saturday morning so I can brew a cup.

JL: Any cafes you go to around town?

KB: I’ll hit Nobrow up because they have one of our machines. There are other cafes around town doing nice coffee. I’m just really infatuated with what’s going on with this right now.

JL: No espresso?

KB: I love espresso. Espresso’s huge. I’ve been drinking espresso for years. I still like it, but I’m so focused on the different things we’re doing with this. That’s where I’m at right now.

JL: Do you remember the very first cup of coffee that you had?

KB: My very first cup of coffee? I can’t. I first started drinking coffee in high school. I was drinking bad coffee.

JL: Do you remember your very first cup of good coffee?

KB: Khristian: There was this roaster in Bozeman, Montana, where I was going to college. It was this wasteland of coffee. There was no good coffee. He had this little kiosk on this entry at a Safeway, and they had an espresso machine there, and he was doing – I didn’t really know about excellent coffee – but I knew that when I had his coffee, he didn’t sell me on it. It’s funny, we’d go to Safeway and get coffee out of a kiosk. That was my first introduction to really nice coffee.

JL: What will it take for you to consider Alpha Dominche a success?

KB: I already consider it a success in that we’re brewing coffee I’m personally very pleased with. Then other people in the industry are giving us great marks too. I guess my definition of success would be the ability to keep developing new ideas and equipment in coffee brewing, and in 10 years, still have this company as an outlet for the vision of progressive coffee preparation. For me, success will be if I’m doing the same thing in 10 years.

JL: Is it possible to improve the Steampunk at this point?

KB: Oh yeah. Certainly. We have all kinds of ideas for the future. I’m very pleased with what we have now, but we bring guys in like Joseph. They’re like, “We like this, it’s doing great, but have you ever considered doing this?” We’re like, “Okay, let’s put that on the drawing board.”