Greeting to see you my coffee friends. My name is James Luke. I can trace my foray into specialty coffee back to three specific moments in my life: My grandma, the relationship between art and coffee, and the first cup of Turkish coffee I ever had that helped me to begin my personal coffee journey. I think what those three moments have in common are the three recurring themes of my story with coffee: community, craft, and people. To me, that is what specialty coffee is about.
My favorite roaster is Merit Coffee Co, a local roaster from Texas, and my favorite brewing method is the AeroPress! It’s such a versatile one. I do a new recipe almost every day, and it’s the perfect method with my travel schedule.
Pre-Covid 19, my day-to-day mostly consisted of community and volunteer work, coffee, some freelance, meeting with people, and a lot of personal development. When I was 17 years, with my mother’s help, I began my dive into the nonprofit community and slowly discovered what mattered to me: helping others.
Post Covid19, I’ve had time to stop and think about what is important to me and realize that we can connect with others, even in isolation. I’m very eager to get back to work in the community, and at the advice of friends, I’ve finally begun work on a book!
As for the coffee community, reach out to one another! Look at your career trajectory and map out the steps you need to take so you can maximize longevity. Consider what your talents are and where you give your time. Maybe you want to own a cafe or go into certification training, or perhaps you enjoy meeting new people- find out what you really enjoy about your work.
Lastly, don’t focus on being the best. You can only be the best if you are focused on being the best version of yourself and take little steps to get where you want to be.
I have a long-running joke about one day moving to an island and inviting all my coffee friends and calling it Cafetopia with all my favorite things in this industry: coffee, people, and community. An island for coffee lovers. No island as of yet, but if you’re ever in Texas or I’m in your neck of the woods, I’d be more than happy to say howdy and grab a cup!
Article by Natalia
