It’s Founder Friday! I am thrilled to be able to feature a conversation with an old friend and coffee OG, Jeff Taylor.
Jeff is the Co-Founder and CEO of the legendary PT’s Coffee Roasters in Topeka, KS and the Owner/ President of Bird Rock Coffee in San Diego, CA.
In todays episode we dive into Jeff’s 27 year journey from founding  a small shop called PT’s with his business partner Fred Polzin to now being at the helm of an amazing team of coffee professionals that run 10 cafes and two wholesale roasting company’s in 3 states.
Jeff left a very successful career in photo journalism to work fully in coffee and I am so glad he did. PT’s has been at the forefront of many of our industries firsts. Jeff worked with a select group to develop what eventually became the United States Barista Competition (USBC), dating back to 1999. Jeff made the transition to Coffee Buyer for PT’s Coffee in 2004 and began the process of building relationships with producers around the world which led to forming one of the first Direct Trade models. (Today, PT’s Coffee Roasting Co. Coffee and Bird Rock Coffee Roasters (acquired in 2017) source approximately 85% of our coffee’s directly from farmers)
Jeff also served one term on the Specialty Coffee Association of America’s Board of Directors through 2010 after which he returned to focus on growing the business sharing sourcing responsibilities with his wife, Maritza Taylor, and Director of Operations Brent Pipiergerdes, so that he could lead the transition and purchase of Bird Rock Coffee Roasters in San Diego, CA. In 2016.
This has been a long and winding path leading to what is undeniably a great coffee career. Patience, relationships, stubbornness, dedication, and trusting your gut are just a few of the themes that emerge here and I feel like we can all see a bit of ourselves and our star in Jeff’s.
I hope you enjoy this episode. Like Jeff’s career, it’s a bit on the long side but worth every minute to be able to learn from one of the original specialty coffee professionals.
Links:
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