Why should you care that there’s another coffee shop in town? Well, for one thing, Cat and Cloud co-owners Jared Truby and Chris Baca are both award-winning baristas. (Yes, they won actual barista competitions). The two of them, along with third co-owner Charles Jack, opened Cat and Cloud a month and a half ago. Before that, they had been selling their coffee through an internet delivery subscription service (which they still offer). Oh, and they have a popular coffee-themed podcast, Cat and Cloud. Truby gave us the scoop on what makes Cat and Cloud the best place to get your next cup of coffee.
How is your approach to coffee different?
JARED TRUBY: I don’t think a lot of coffee roasters are doing it the way we are doing it. The way we roast coffee, it allows us to keep a lot of the flavors that are exciting, and balance it out in such a way that it’s really approachable—so everybody that comes into our shop can easily find a coffee that they love.
But is there room for another cafe in Santa Cruz?
We’ve seen a lot of cafes open because they serve “the best coffee” or have the “coolest-looking place.” There’s nothing lasting about something that looks or tastes cool. We needed to have a place where people could come together and be a community. I could talk to one person and Starbucks is the best coffee. Some will say that Verve coffee is the best they ever had. My job isn’t to make them right or wrong. My job is to make them say, “I feel better, and more supported, and I feel in tune with my community when I go to Cat and Cloud than I do at these other places.”
What do you talk about on your podcast?
It’s honestly just a platform. There is almost no agenda in that we just talk about coffee and our experiences. People write in and we answer their questions. We’ll interview people and talk about their experiences. Chris and I have been in the coffee community for the past 15 years. There are a lot of coffee theories on the internet. It’s great to be able to tell people what’s true and what’s not. I recently did the podcast with a guy from Honduras. We talked about importing coffee. People worldwide are listening to it. We have 30,000 listens a month, and more. It’s an outlet for Chris and I to be honest about the things we believe in, while having conversations with others.
3600 Portola Drive, Santa Cruz. catandcloud.com.
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