Meet Adrian and Natalie Contreras and Stephen Schreiber of Brot Coffee in Orange

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrian and Natalie Contreras and Stephen Schreiber.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Adrian, Natalie, and Stephen. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I (Adrian) started working in the coffee industry back in February of 1998. A friend of mine worked at a Coffee House named Diedrich Coffee in Old Towne Orange. I would come by the coffee shop after my shift at Togo’s Eatery. When he was behind in his tasks he would ask me to wash dishes. My payment was a bottle of root beer and a slice of strawberry cheesecake. After a few months of doing this, he pushed me to apply with Diedrich’s. So on April 18th 1998, I got my first paid job in the coffee industry.

Pretty early on I noticed a difference in the interaction between the guest and the Barista. Before I knew it, I was hooked. I found my passion in service, but not for delivering a perfectly crafted latte, but rather in fulfilling a need for someone that listens and remembers who you are.

I spent nine years with Diedrich Coffee until a costly operation left them vulnerable for a buyout. Diedrich Coffee agreed to shutter nearly all locations for a lease exchange deal with Starbucks Coffee. Only two shops remained due to the Irvine Company refusal to allow a tenant switch. One month before I left Diedrich Coffee I received a phone call from another company named Peet’s Coffee & Tea. They offered me a position, but my acceptance of the position was contingent on them allowing me to honor my agreement to stay with Diedrich until all closing procedures were completed… and I had a week off to relax.

I spent ten years with Peet’s as a Store Manager at the Tustin and UC Irvine locations. I tried to move into a more influential role, but the management team ahead of me did not believe I was ready for the position change. This left me confused and frustrated. In 10 years of service, I never had a negative producing year, and I bonused every quarter. I had peers that had never bonused. When I asked I direct boss why I was not given the role, his response was that the management team are threatened by my style. When I asked him to clarify what my “Style” is, his response was that I manage like I own the place. He and another District Manager(Now the Regional Director for Stumptown Coffee) said my path was ownership. They encouraged me to leave and be an owner. So, I did.

Rewind a bit to 2008, Natalie Kohler(Contreras) walks into my life… as an employee first then my wife. She just relocated from Vancouver, Canada with her family. We got married in July of 2010. In 2011, Stephen Schreiber applied as a barista at my Tustin location. Almost immediately, he and I became partners. He was a very eager kid and clearly passionate in learning the ins and outs of coffee and community building. From there, the three of us started planning and dreaming. There was a lot of what-ifs that had to be worked out, but six years of planning got us to Brot Coffee. Now two years in, we could not be happier.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Opening a business is a process. Luckily we started planning for this a long time in advance. That said, nothing goes as planned. We started construction in November of 2016 and hoped to be opened by April of 2017. Brot Coffee was funded solely by our savings and sweat, so when April turned to May then June, and then July, Things got pretty thin around the house. We would have run out of money if we had gone one more month.

Brot Coffee – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Brot (rhymes with wrote, goat, boat, tote, moat) is the German word for bread and started with an experience. The morning routine. We always knew we wanted to have a place that really took care of the human experience of doing life together. This meant we needed space and something to experience while you’re in said space. I approached Natalie and Stephen with the idea of Breaking Bread with one another. There is not much more intimate than sharing a meal with family and friends. So, growth in experience begins with sharing. I wanted to share what I loved in my coffee experience. My morning routine of Coffee and Toast (Bread… the stuff you break). That is when Brot was born. From there the three of us built our concept around a community space that is large and available to share and invite people into your morning, afternoon, or evening experience by breaking bread and sharing a cup of coffee and toast.

Coffee and Toast is what we do, and Toast is not something we take lightly. We made the decision early on to not overly control how guest enjoy their Brot experience. Your toast, your toppings, your yield, your way, but we encourage you to enjoy it with company.

Our main goal is to create a space that is inclusive and warm. This can include young, old, the student, the professional, moms, and dads, but especially families.

What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Opening the doors to Brot. I made a promise to my wife and friends that we would create a space where we could do more. That is the goal. To just do more.

Pricing:

• In house roasted coffee ranges from $17.50 – $22 for a full lb
• Manuel Brew from $3.50 – $4.15
• Toast w/butter – $2.50 – $3.25
• Toppings – $.25 – $1.50 (Seasoned Olive Oil, Hard Boiled Egg, Tomato, nut butters, Jams, Mozzarella, Avocado, etc…)

Contact Info:

• Address: 316 S Main St. Orange CA 92868
• Website: www.brotcoffee.com
• Phone: 714 – 602 – 9894
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brotcoffee/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brotcoffee/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/brotcoffee
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/brot-coffee-orange

Image Credit:
Stephen Schreiber

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