We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Kalesa a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Kalesa , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

The Kalesa, simply put, is a traditional horse-drawn carriage in the Philippines. Brought over by Spanish colonizers during their occupation of the islands, the Kalesa is a reminder of our violent and complicated history, and how it affects our identities to the present day and beyond. While the Kalesa is presented today as a charming and nostalgic icon of Philippine culture, its usage was highly exclusive, being characterized by Spanish nobles and rich Filipinos. It was accessible to only the highest classes of society at the time. Our mission at Kalesa is to subvert these complex aspects of our history through the simple joys of hospitality, accessibility, and dedication to our craft. The coffee shop is just a means for us to learn more about our heritage and ourselves, honor the community around us, and push back against any cultural narrative that prioritizes status and exclusivity. For that reason, within our branding, you won’t ever see a physical Kalesa, instead, our logo is a horse that is free from its carriage.

Kalesa , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

We’re Leilani, Tim, and Keanu. We are the founders of Kalesa Coffee, a small community-oriented coffee shop in Portland, Oregon centering Philippine flavors. Within our our own individual experiences in coffee, we all noticed a lack of representation of Philippine flavors within the coffee industry. It became a shared passion to create coffee spaces that represented our heritage and cultivated genuine community. We started off as a pop-up coffee cart and are now in a brick & mortar located in the Elliot neighborhood.

We are most proud of the community we’ve built through the shop. The collaborations, everyday service, mentors, and the strong bond we share within the team has helped cultivate a vibrant and meaningful space that we are proud of. Although we serve cups of coffee, our hope is that the impact extends much further than that; we hope Kalesa feels like home and a space you can find rest and joy at.

How’d you meet your business partner?

Leilani and Keanu are married and met in college through mutual friends. After graduating, the two of them created a videography/photography business that taught them an array of entrepreneurial lessons. Through spending a lot of time at coffee shops throughout their college days, they began dreaming of creating a space of their own one day.

Tim and Keanu grew up in Vallejo, CA together. They shared a lot of mutual friends, and spent a lot of time together as young adults. Tim spent time in San Diego for his college years, while Keanu was in Los Angeles. The two spent some of their college years working at various coffee shops and gaining a lot of love and appreciation for the craft. When they both moved to Portland, OR, they decided to team up with Leilani to create an inclusive, community-forward coffee shop.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

Before starting Kalesa, the three of us were fortunate to spend a lot of time working in various cafes up and down the West Coast. Looking back, the years working in these spaces shaped our love for coffee and built up our desire to start a shop.
So when it comes to our product and being able to offer something consistently, a lot of it flows directly from our experience. That experience affects and informs every part of what we do – from the behind the scenes work of administration, logistics, and roasting coffee, to the front-facing service, making drinks, and facilitating hospitality. It takes a lot to keep Kalesa healthy and moving, but our time spent in the industry has made the process of making and offering product feel a lot lighter.

That said, we know that our experience can only take us so far. Collaboration is foundational to how we operate and, when our experience reaches a ceiling, we’ve leaned on others in our industry and community to help us grow.
Early on, the team at Magna Kusina gave us a space to pop up and get our feet planted as a business.
White Label Coffee has also provided an opportunity for us to roast our own beans and start the process of offering Philippine coffee.

For baked goods, local bakers such as Eat Balong, Kalat House, Sweet Creature PDX, Jen’s Pastries, and Allie G have all contributed to our pastry case.

We’ve also had the privilege of partnering with Joshua Minnich, a friend and local artist, who is the creative talent behind our branding and design.

We’re lucky to offer something that fully embraces our unique culture and experience as founders, while also celebrating our community through collaboration.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kalesacoffee.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kalesacoffee/?hl=en
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/kalesa-coffee-portland

Image Credits

Leilani Banayat Photography