As grandkids, we affectionately called my our grandma “Nana," which in Japanese means Seven.
She taught me many of the values that I carry with me today: hard work, kindness, generosity, and community.
Those values carried me through my early coffee roasting career, and I hold them dear to this day.
Just great coffee. No fuss. No frills.
We keep it simple. No fancy packaging or lavish cafes. Just a singular focus on making great coffee that brightens your morning and fuels your day.
We are members of the Specialty Coffee Association and Kona Coffee Counsel, two of the most highly respected organizations in specialty coffee.
We're not part of a big conglomerate. We treat our customers like locals at ourMarket & Cafe.
We're a small business that thrives on serving loyal customers with great taste.
We also understand our impact on the world and our local community, and we're happy to be a part of organizations like Seattle Made and EnviroStars, as well as purchasing offsets through Carbonfund.org.
In Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood, I started roasting and opened my first cafe in 2006. It's now the home of Makeda and Mingus.
We also began roasting for Seattle businesses, gaining the name "The Small Roaster for Small Businesses." The moniker stuck.
As the wholesale business grew, I had an appetite for retail. In 2012, we set up a new market and cafe in a century-old historic landmark in Seattle's Ravenna neighborhood.
In a post-COVID world, we're continuing to adapt and help people discover great coffee with a focus on our online shop and subscription service to bring our incredible coffees to the rest of the country.