Today we’d like to introduce you to Marcelo Kim.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Marcelo. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I started coffee as a part-time barista just to get some extra money outside of my full-time job. The more time I spent doing coffee, I realized I really love the craft and the relationships that are made through coffee. The depth and range that coffee holds is still unimaginably deep and wide, and the whole learning experience is really something special.
As I started managing the shop, and now being a Director of Coffee here at Alchemist Coffee Project, our team and I went through a lot. And each and every experience we got here is what made who I am and where I am now. Every step that I take into learning and crafting coffee, digging into espresso and brewing theories, practicing latte art and creating new special menus, all these are valuable memories and another part of me that helps me grow to become a better professional in this field. It’s the passion and love for the craft that lets me continue this.
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?
Many things happened down the road. Definitely not a smooth ride. Every bits of steps we took had to be met with obstacles and hardships. But the team worked as a whole, and we overcame every obstacles. Running a business in the middle of Los Angeles, especially in Koreatown can be a difficult thing. A lot of different businesses are constantly closing down, and even though the demand is there, it is not an easy deal to be able to hit the right spot and satisfy the customers here. As a coffee shop, we had to deal with equipment and machines constantly breaking, building permit problems, parking situation is horrible in Koreatown, etc.
Please tell us about Alchemist Coffee Project.
We are a specialty coffee shop dedicated to serve the best coffee and provide the best hospitality. Our goal is to satisfy our customers. As simple as that. We love the craft and all the fun stuff behind the bar. We want to utilize these skills to serve great tasting coffee, fun coffee, delicious food, and constantly create relationships with our customers. We do great on classical drinks like manual pour overs and cappuccinos, but we get pretty crazy with special drinks too. One of our most popular drinks is the “New Orleans” cold brew which is a menu I brought up from before when this shop used to be “Bourbon street Cafe.” Back in those days, our shop was a New Orleans themed cafe with live jazz music.
We kept the drink as we rebranded to “Alchemist Coffee Project” because people just loved it. Our idea is that Los Angeles has so much diversity, and even though we know we won’t be able to satisfy everyone, we should at least as professionals be able to pull out the best from classic, minimal drinks to fun, special drinks. The point is that we must be able to do all this with consistency and meet a high standard in each and every cup and plate we make. At the end of the day, it’s all about the whole experience.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
I was into music playing drums before I started coffee. I feel like music and coffee have a lot in common, and going back into my childhood of playing music and really digging into it with my colleagues and band members is really something I will never forget. It might be because of my background as a musician that transitioned so well into what I do now as a coffee professional.
Contact Info:
- Address: 698 S. Vermont Ave. Ste. 103, Los Angeles, CA 90005
687 S. Hobart Blvd. Unit C, Los Angeles, CA 90005 - Phone: 213-388-8767, 213-315-5700
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alchemistcoffeeproject/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alchemistcp/?ref=br_rs
- Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/alchemist-coffee-project-los-angeles-2
- Other: https://www.yelp.com/biz/alchemist-coffee-project-los-angeles-6
Image Credit:
Marcelo Kim
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