Ritual Coffee Roasters and Us.

After coming back from Tokyo, tasting probably one of the best cups of cappuccino in the world at Coffee Amp in Koenji, we were having a quite hard time finding a cup of coffee we enjoyed. We tried most of the top coffee houses in SF, and some in LA and they all tasted so bitter.

We first thought maybe the milk was richer and water quality was better in Japan, and that was causing the California coffee houses to offer bitter espresso drinks. But Ritual Roasters proved us wrong.

The cappuccino I had at Ritual on Valencia was the first one that we could compared to what we had in Tokyo. The sweetness of the espresso and milk was really present, and it was very, finally, enjoyable.

So it was pretty a no brainer for us to want to carry Ritual's coffee at our cafe. We were just not sure they would take us as their client, since they have their beans placed at Whole Foods and all, and we were just 2 normal people. But boy were we wrong, and what a humble group of people they were.

We had a priviledge to visit their roastery on Howard St to learn more about the company and taste some coffee. Our wholesale account manager Brandon gave us a great tour and very informative tasting process called "cupping."

It was great to learn that guys at Ritual also appreciated the sweetness in their coffee flavor. It was great to see them hand packing the bags of beans I saw at Whole Foods one by one with care. It was also great to know how much they cared about the farmers that bring them these great coffee (and yes, they know the farmers by their names!) The whole company culture was very heart warming.

What we didn't expect at all was how supportive they were of their clients. Not only they have a great barista training program, they have a great system where you can be completely set up to open up your shop: from La Marzocco machine line up to the water filetering system, and the fabulous milk pitcher washier drain system that you see at thier Valencia location. Brandon took his time to explain us all the information in details and we felt very releived to have people that can help us so greatly.

Ritual Roasters just don't taste delicious, but they really, really care. It's always a pleasure to be on a scary small business jorney with people that care, wouldn't you agree???