We recently connected with Reina Cornelius and have shared our conversation below.

Reina, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

I think approximately 75% of our operation is different from the industry standard. Large corporations have massive infrastructures in place that produce their product in mass quantities. Having such a large output invariably impacts the quality negatively. Being a small and local business, we have the luxury of roasting our coffee beans in small batches with complete control over roasting levels and profiles. Our product is sold within weeks of roasting, unlike coffee from corporations that may sit on a store shelf for several months.

Another key difference is our ability to interact directly with local residents. All of our feedback comes directly from them for they are able to speak to us in person with any comments or suggestions. Some of our best beverage ideas have come from our customers.

It is this sense of community that helps us build upon our mission to provide the best coffee in town.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Reina’s Coffee started in the garage, (literally), by Reina and Dan Cornelius. We were frustrated by the lack of variety of coffee offered at the local supermarkets and decided to try roasting our own at home for personal consumption. We bought a small air fryer and gave it a go. After a few failed attempts, we were able to combine a good mix of time and temperature that produced a roast that was far superior than anything available at our market.

It was at this point when we decided to seriously consider selling our roasted coffee to the public including the possibility of making coffee beverages using our own roast.

We invested in an espresso machine and upgraded our roaster to a larger model and transformed our garage into a mini-coffee roasting facility. For the next few months, we practiced making drinks until we felt we were ready to take our tiny operation on the road and Reina’s Coffee was born.

Vacaville Farmers Market.

The obvious choice for us to introduce our brand was the local farmers market. Our first day was filled with problems! We ran out of milk. Our espresso machine was not calibrated. We ran out of coffee. And… so on. We were simply not prepared for the amount of people.

The first day, as disastrous as it was, turned out to be a fantastic learning experience for we fine-tuned all the potential issues to be better-prepared for next time.

As the weeks went on at the farmers market, we enjoyed engaging with the public and asking for their feedback. The most encouraging words were about how are coffee was indeed better than the bigger brands. The recipe for making better coffee is simple: Our roast is fresh and we use beans from a variety of origins. One week we can offer a blend of Sumatra and Costa Rica and the following week we can offer dry-processed beans from Ethiopia. The fact that we are a small mom-n-pop operation gives us the flexibility of trying new flavors and profiles every week, whereas the store bought brands always remain the same.

It was this love of coffee that motivated us to roast the beans ourselves and share it with anyone who is interested in tasting the best coffee in town.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Making and/or selling the best possible product.

We have found success with our clientele by focusing on making the best possible product. This means spending a little extra for premium ingredients. Our coffee beverages cost more to make than the big brands, but our drinks taste better. We will take a hit on our bottom line but it’s worth it because the word will get out that Reina’s Coffee is the best in town.

It is a lot easier to sell a product that is immutably better then the competition.

Can you tell us the story behind how you met your business partner?

Interestingly, Reina and Dan met in a San Francisco coffee shop in 2005.

Dan worked two blocks from Reina and decided to get an Americano. Reina was the barista. Six months later, they would become partners in life and later partners in coffee!

Contact Info:

• Website: reinascoffee.com
• Instagram: @ReinasCoffeeNow