Coffee People: Andy Kleitsch, Atomo Coffee

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Guest: Andy Kleitsch
Company: Atomo Coffee
Role: Founder • Based: Seattle, WA
Online: www.atomocoffee.com • @atomocoffee
What they drink: A true Americano

SHOP ATOMO COFFEE

“What is coffee?”
• An existential question posed by Andy Kleitsch

“Atomo is the world’s first molecular coffee containing no coffee beans. By reverse-engineering the coffee bean, Atomo has created a naturally-derived and sustainable coffee which can be used in place of traditional ground coffee.”
• Atomo Coffee

Is beanless coffee, umm...coffee? Is it the physical bean that creates coffee, or is it the experience that makes coffee a valued daily meditation? That is the question and argument being put forth by Andy in this episode of Coffee People. You'll have to decide for yourself. Someday, in our lifetime, we may be forced to decide if we are unable to slow the impacts of climate change.

How does Atomo create a coffee without the coffee bean? At its simplest, the answer is that they analyzed coffee to create a database of essential flavor components and then found those flavors elsewhere, bundled them all together to create a product that resembles what we know as ground coffee in appearance, flavor, and experience.

Andy's motivation to start Atomo was to do something better for the planet. He decided to explore all sorts of industries until he found an opportunity that spoke to him. Redesigning a more sustainable coffee-drinking experience was the idea that floored him first, then inspired and motivated him to launch Atomo.

However, doing something better for the planet in a timely manner is a more significant challenge than just convincing the specialty craft community. At Atomo they are looking toward a future where beanless coffee is produced at scale with some of the largest coffee companies in the world.

The question that Andy is putting forth to the coffee industry as a whole is: Can you participate in coffee sustainably today if you aren't considering the future impacts of coffee growth, demand, transport, and so on, as it will impact climate change. Are the smaller efforts at sustainability in the cafe or roaster space a bit like throwing a Whiffle ball into the wind, where one gets to feel good about the effort, but the result is the ball lands behind us. It is a significant and scary question—one that might make us feel uncomfortable, even, but perhaps inspire us to be better consumers for having considered it.