Crossings Coffee Corner
The intersection of coffee, community, and creation.
Topic: Why do you love coffee?
Coffee Smarter Expert: Alden Hozouri, Crossings Coffee Roasters
Connect: www.crossings.coffee • @crossingscoffee
Alden Hozouri is the founder and head roaster of Crossings Coffee Roasters based in Encinitas, CA. He’s also been a repeat guest on Coffee Smarter and someone I consider a friend. We regularly meet up for coffee, where I inevitably learn something new about coffee.
You see, Alden is a coffee nerd. I say that with the highest of compliments. I don’t know that I’ve ever asked him a random coffee question, and he didn’t have some sort of answer to my query. Often that answer takes us down a rabbit hole that I never knew existed.
I’ve always thought, If I could just harness Alden’s passion for coffee knowledge and package it in bite-size portions, I might understand it better. It takes me a little while to really understand coffee science. I need to let it sink in and then return to it time and time again.
I approached Alden with an idea. What if we had short conversations, say 10 minutes long, to cover the basics of a topic? Then I could marinate on that topic and decide if I wanted to pursue it further without tumbling like Alice and without preparing myself for the inevitable overload.
I introduce you to the Crossings Coffee Corner. Every month, Alden and I will chat about a coffee topic of his choosing. He’s already sent me a list that includes: home espresso machines, roasted coffee defects, and acidity vs. bitterness. I’ll transcribe our chats to be posted here. The first of which will drop in early June.
We’ll explore the winding depths of Alden’s nerdy coffee brain together. Before we got started, I wanted to get him on the record about why he cares so much about coffee.
WHY DO YOU LOVE COFFEE?
Alden explains why coffee is important to him as the intersection between his passion for coffee science and creating community.
Listen to this short clip, featuring Alden Hozouri.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND CROSSINGS COFFEES
Online! Click to shop CrossingsCoffee.com
San Diego-area vendors including:
Plus Six One mobile cafe
Wayfarer Bread
Cafe La Terre
Mesa Rim Climbing Gyms
THE ORIGINAL INTERVIEW:
Alden first appeared on the Roast! West Coast coffee podcast—now called Coffee People—in November of 2021.
Roast! - Alden Hozouri
Listen now (52 min) | You didn’t think we were going to skip Thanksgiving week did you? Coffee is part of my daily routine in a way that I hope someday this show can be. I love coffee and go out of my way to drink good coffee. Sometimes way to far out of the way, but that doesn’t mean I’m drinking a perfect single-origin, 95-point roast pour-over every morning.
Ryan Woldt
R!WC INDUSTRY PARTNERS
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Roastar • Zumbar Coffee & Tea • First Light Coffee Whiskey • Steady State Roasting • Mostra Coffee • Coffee Cycle • Camp Coffee Company • Ignite Coffee Company • Ascend Coffee Roasters • Marea Coffee • Cape Horn Coffee Roasters • Hacea Coffee Source • Crossings Coffee • Acento Coffee Roasters • San Franciscan Coffee Roasters
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