Life & Work with Cute Coffee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cute Coffee. Them and their team share their story with us below:

Cute Coffee is more than just a drink. We are two besties who started Cute Coffee in our former 3200 square foot warehouse space in Long Beach, CA in 2016 after meeting at a coffee shop in Venice a year prior.

After unexpectedly being in coffee for nearly 15 years at that point while also being an artist, it is no surprise that Bianka would eventually become a roaster of her own coffee lifestyle brand. For Sabreen, working in coffee was quite a surprise. With a background in designing and producing flower crown headpieces for her own company, she discovered and had her first sip of specialty coffee at an LA gift show she was exhibiting at in 2014. Later that year, she ran into a friend who mentioned she was opening a coffee shop with some friends in Venice and said, “you should come by sometime!” After having just recently fallen in love with specialty coffee, Sabreen felt it was too divine not to take her up on that. It didn’t take too many visits for her to realize that this special place called Menotti’s was going to become her go-to spot! There she met Christopher “Nicely” Abel Alameda, three-time latte art champion, and was wowed by all the love and passion that went into each and every drink by all the baristas. Not long after that, she happened to go on a day when Bianka was working and was immediately pulled in on an even deeper level!

Saying we hit it off is an understatement.

Bianka orchestrated the most beautiful cuppings with delicious coffees from all over the world! Always with a record player in the background playing all the feel good music! These moments we will never forget and became such a substantial pillar for the community. Sabreen knew this was a special introduction into getting down with all the particulars of coffee and was hooked!

Bianka and Sabreen shared many passions including photography, dance, music, art and now coffee! We quickly learned that we worked very well together and not much longer after meeting started our first business together at the 3200 sq ft warehouse space in Long Beach we called Sunnyside Up (IG @sunnysideupyup). At this creative space where artists of all mediums came to utilize the space, we had our first brand of coffee called Sunnyside Up available at the space. It was a private label, roasted by roasters not too far from the area called Solid Roasters. Rose Park Roasters in Long Beach was also very helpful in our early pursuits of learning how to roast.

After several evolutions, prayers, ups, downs, downs and ups, we decided to move to the Bay Area in 2018 to expand on our coffee knowledge. Bianka got a job where she learned about green coffee, the basics of roasting and importing/exporting. Sabreen worked at Rasa Cafe in Berkeley and also learned about production at Dandelion Chocolate. These first couple of years in the Bay were not always easy, but the mission was accomplished and we both learned more skills to advance our dream along. Early visions and doodling for the Cute Coffee logo happened in 2017, business licenses happened in 2018 and the official launch was in Oct. 2019 at a pop-up at Miracle Plum in Santa Rosa, CA.

With a pretty strong vision of doing direct trade from the start so that we know exactly who we are working with and who we are paying, it took us about a year to cultivate relationships with farmers/coffee producers and their families. From cold calling a database from the International Women’s Coffee Association to emailing and being put in touch by mutual acquaintances, we eventually became on phone call status with the farmers we began working with. This was HUGE and sooooo cool!

So many roasters told us we wouldn’t be able to do direct trade but we were determined and felt that we wouldn’t want to do it any other way. Uplifting all hands involved in the supply chain and authentically sharing the stories of the farmers became more and more important to us. Once the hard part called the logistics of shipping finally got somewhat figured out, we were on our way!!

For the last couple of years, Cute Coffee has been selling coffee online from farms in Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia, Costa Rica, Yemen, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of Congo and soon more! Cute Coffee is staying true to its roots and is also a platform for artists to showcase. All of our merchandise is in collaboration with talented artists that we admire and want to support. Cute Coffee also does wholesale, pop-ups/special events and has become a popular coffee brand in the Bay Area and throughout the world. Cute Coffee is roasted in Berkeley, CA at CoRo and has been planting roots in the Point Reyes National Seashore region over the last year providing coffee to the neighboring communities by popping up at the local businesses.

Cute Coffee has plans of having something more permanent in the very near future! It’s a wonderful opportunity to service a community that does not have access to a lot of coffee, wants good coffee and is so supportive of local businesses. This region we are in is also a popular vacation country beach town with loads of beautiful hikes and trails! A highly recommended adventure!!! Tama One in Olema, Brickmaiden Breads in Point Reyes Station, Toby’s Feed Barn in Point Reyes Station, Saltwater Oyster Depot in Inverness and Bolinas Market in Bolinas.

Once it’s on and poppin’ where we are currently at, we envision eventually establishing something on the westside of Los Angeles where it all started 🙂

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has been a lot of smooth bumps! Hehe! No road is smooth. With all the ups and downs, it’s been a beautiful journey. We have learned that the down parts are actually Blessings in disguise. Like many businesses, we have had financial struggles. We have experienced being burned by jealousy and envy that crept into people that once upon a time were on our team. We have had a hard time actually getting our licensing and insurance because we had been moving and searching for the right place to set up. None of the foundations we had been working on creating were the right place to do it. It was wild because we had been offered tons of money and multiple locations between the Bay Area and LA to set up shop. Nothing felt right. We’re grateful for the struggle. In the end, it’s good to have a bumpy road with struggles so you can learn, grow, and thrive.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Our work has been driven by creating a space and platform for everyone to shine. We are emerging multi-disciplinary artists who see and understand the importance of having a place to showcase what you do. When we created Cute Coffee, we had this in mind. Whether one is a painter, woodworker, photographer, videographer, dancer, musician, writer, farmer, or whatever their heart desires, there is a space to shine on the Cute Coffee platform. We specialize in this and spreading love, joy, success, upward movement, and the fuel to do what you are dreaming of.

What makes you happy?
SabreeN says, “It sounds so cliche, but helping other people enhance their life. It’s a form of love and it’s selfless which makes it the most fulfilling.”

BiankA says, “I find great joy in making food and beverages for people. It makes me so happy because I get to immediately see how the love I put into what I make goes into someone who consumes it and they immediately feel good.”

We’re essentially saying the same thing. We just do it differently. 🙂

Pricing:

• $19 – $200 for coffee
• $5 – $200 for Creative Merchandise on our site
• Free Tastings
• Free Cute Coffee App
• Free Conversations and Love Shared

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ilovecutecoffee.com/
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/Ilovecutecoffee/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ILOVECUTECOFFEE/

Image Credits
BiankA AlloyN BrunsoN SabreeN NaimaH WilkeS Marysabel Gainza Rebecca Dixon