About Sweet Maria's Coffee
Sweet Maria's was founded by Thompson Owen, alongside Maria Troy, in a dimly-lit Columbus, Ohio basement in 1997. The two met through the Masters program at School of the Art Institute Chicago. Thompson (or Thom/Tom) takes charge of Sweet Maria's green coffee side, and does much of the writing and photography. He evaluates incoming coffee samples and travels to meet our sources around the world. Maria, now retired from the business, led the business and logistical ends prior.
Coffee options weren't great in 1997. Having done a roasting stint before (in New Orleans...a different story!), Thompson wanted to find green coffee and roast it at home. That was no easy task back then.
A local roaster offered to sell green coffee at 10% off the roasted price. It dawned on Tom that, factoring in 18-20% weight loss, he was actually paying extra for the favor of having them not roast his coffee. Given that all their coffee tasted smoky because they didn't maintain their machines, he figured it was still worth it. But it seemed like there must be a better way.
Where We Started
Armed with a cursory knowledge of how to code html in a text editor, Tom made a web site. Then, realizing that doing business in a dark basement was generally a bummer, he found a small, well-lit, and rather well-hidden retail location 9 E. 2nd Avenue in Columbus. While SM then became a small coffee shop and roastery (with a 12 kg Diedrich), it was really just a location to do the home coffee roasting mail order business.
Tom and Maria moved the company to Emeryville, CA in 2002. Emeryville is a city wedged between Oakland and Berkeley, across the bay from San Francisco. It used to have the largest scrap heap of crushed cars in the state. Now, there’s a giant Ikea and a fancy shopping center. Times change.
We moved to our first Oakland warehouse on 21st Street in 2005. It was a huge upgrade for us ... but we grew out of it as well. At times we had coffee and merchandise stacked to the ceilings. Ever play the video game Tetris? Well, our amazing crew had to play the real life version every day with boxes and bags of coffee.
Back to The Present
We moved up the street to our current Oakland warehouse during the summer of 2016 and are still only a few minutes from the port of Oakland, the Specialty Coffee port in the US. The majority of top grade coffees come through here - and you know it, New Jersey! Cupping with local coffee brokers and picking up coffee from the local warehouses has made up for all the annoyances that come along with being based near some of the trendier areas in California.
We have a staff of dedicated folks that work tirelessly through the week to make sure your orders are shipped to you ASAP. This location is larger than the last, which means more room for coffee and our staff can work a little more comfortably.
Get In Touch
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2823 Adeline Street, Oakland, CA 94608
Don't know where to start?
Check out our guide on How to Pick A Home Roaster. and see our available Home Roasting Starter Kits.
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