Today we’d like to introduce you to Yeekai Lim.
Yeekai, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The 2008 economic downturn became a blessing in disguise. It was the year that most of my architecture projects were finishing and no new ones were in the pipeline. I recently moved back to Los Angeles from NYC to lower my cost of living.
On a typical sunny day in LA, I decided to check out what the buzz was about with a Chicago roaster that had opened a shop in Silver Lake. The store immediately caught my eye with a design language that utilized conventional veneer plywood, reminiscent of the early works of Frank Gehry. I strayed away from the conventional dark drip coffee days from overnight studio charettes and ordered a cappuccino.
It became the cappuccino that sparked fireworks both on the palette and my imagination. The following weeks, I became obsessed with coffee: where it came from, the history and social order of coffee shops and who else in the US was sourcing and roasting coffee as it was intended. We were no longer in the dark ages of the caffeinated beverage that was also to be enjoyed.
Within months, I had purchased a USBC manual Compak burr grinder, a La Marzocco GS3, and an array of brewing tools, from V60s to French presses and Aeropresses, and began my technical coffee education. I traveled up the Northwest coast, to San Francisco, Portland and Seattle, where I visited lots of emerging roasters. Many of those early connections remain dear to me, and many of those people are still in the industry today.
In architecture, a project might take five years to complete. In coffee, a cappuccino or pour-over takes one to four minutes. That immediate sense of accomplishment was deeply gratifying. Every cup became an exploration, of flavor, technique, and culture, revealing tastes I had never experienced before, even after a lifetime surrounded by Malaysian, Chinese, and Taiwanese cuisines.
In 2008 I started a pop up coffee cart inside BlueDot in Eagle Rock.
2009 Partnered with Na Young Ma at Proof Bakery, Atwater Village.
First brick and mortar in 2012 Culver City Arts District.
2015 opened roastery and a coffee shop in DTLA.
Alright, 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?
The biggest challenge in working with coffee is this notion of perfection, the belief that somewhere out there, a “perfect cup” exists. As a barista, that illusion can be even more consuming. You chase it shot after shot, day after day, until you realize that perfection is fleeting, and simply left to a moment.
In our shop, part of the training we emphasize is balance: minimizing waste, improving efficiency, and prioritizing customer experience. It’s easy to get caught up in the precision of technology, the pressure profiles, the extraction curves, and forget that coffee can only ever be as good as the beans we source and the care with which they’re roasted.
And then, there’s the other truth we often avoid talking about: it’s a business. Behind every cup are the hard realities of cost of goods, staffing, and the endless balancing act of keeping things lean without losing soul. Coffee may be an art, but running a shop is a lesson in humility, patience, and pragmatism.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I started a pop-up back in 2008 with a multi-roaster program. One regret is not getting into roasting earlier, as challenging as it may be, but the knowledge gained is invaluable. Getting to meet the farmers and producers is what makes my work easier and furthers my passion for coffee. If we could all see the rigor it takes to produce green coffee at origin, the labor, the care, the uncertainty, we’d never waste a single bean in the shop or complain about what a cup of coffee costs.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Specialty coffee continues to grow around the world as customers become more informed, not just about flavor, but also about sustainability. Why pay the same price for a commodity coffee loaded with sugar to mask its defects when you can enjoy a complex, clean cup of single-origin coffee from a small producer south of the equator?
We’re witnessing a broader shift away from second-wave chains toward quality and transparency, much like the growing support for local farmers’ markets.
As water becomes an increasingly precious resource, I hope to see more research and innovation aimed at minimizing waste. Here in Southern California, our hard water, high minerals, poses a challenge for coffee extraction. Most cafés turn to reverse osmosis systems, which unfortunately, waste between two and six gallons for every one gallon of usable water. Hopefully in 5-10 years we will see better technology to process not only harsh chemicals out but also be able to control the water hardness.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.cogcoffee.com
- Instagram: cogcoffee
