Small Business Highlight: Connoisseur Coffee
by Sigona's Home Deliveries: March 5, 2021
At Sigona’s Home Deliveries, we strive to bring you the best local produce and goods that our area has to offer. We’re excited to introduce our newest vendor, Connoisseur Coffee, which has been serving the Bay Area delicious, hand-roasted coffee since 1985.
For over 36 years, Connoisseur Coffee, a Redwood City-based family business, has been roasting and blending quality coffee. Connoisseur prides itself on selecting only the very finest green beans from over 25 countries. Each coffee is scrupulously hand-roasted in small, controlled batches under the watchful eye of their old-school master roasters. Every batch roasted at their store is confirmed by sight, smell, and sound to ensure their 1933 machine makes the perfect batch every time.
"We're proud to offer the Sigona's Blend, one of our most popular roasts, that's a blend of eight different beans and four different roasts. This coffee is smooth with notes of fruitiness and a little acidity to balance out the flavor."
- Sean, Owner of Connoisseur Coffee
Get Connoisseur Coffee delivered to your doorstep.
When did Connoisseur coffee start?
Sean (owner): Connoisseur has been in our family from the very beginning starting off in Palo Alto and moving to our current location in 1984. We will be celebrating our 37 years in April. We roast daily and roast to order. We use hand-picked beans from all around the world. We’re master roasters and have developed these skills over many years.
What makes your coffee special and how much coffee can you roast a day?
Erin (head roaster): Everything we roast is roasted by hand on this 1933 Austrian roaster built-in 1933 by a 4’2 guy named Auto. We hand-maintain the machine now and roast in small, 24-pound batches and roast around 200 pounds of coffee a day. What makes us different from the “third wave” roaster is that we confirm everything by sight, smell, and sound. We listen for the crackle of the bean that tells us the roast is done. We don’t use technology to roast our coffee beans because there are so many factors into making a perfect batch of coffee; the temperature outside and inside, which batch it is, and type of bean are a few of the elements to consider. We truly make every roast with the most love and attention.
What do you love about your job?
Sean (owner): I love being able to make someone’s day with a good cup of coffee. Coffee is not one roast fits all. Everyone has different tastes and preferences. That’s why we experiment and have many different blends. I’ve even named a roast after my daughter—the “Matti’s Blend”! Being able to blend coffee beans from around the world is experimental and leads to delicious cups of coffee.
What’s your personal favorite way to enjoy a cup of coffee?
Sean (owner): My favorite way to enjoy coffee is with my friends and loved ones. I’m looking forward to doing that again. I do enjoy a nice pour-over!