67: PAUL GALLEGOS AT CUTBOW COFFEE

Cutbow Coffee at first glance is a cafe with a roastery, in Albuquerque. In this episode we dig deep. This roastery is years in the making. Paul Gallegos opened Cutbow Coffee to share his love and dedication to coffee roasting. Roasting, education and sharing are clearly at the core of this one man, and the fantastic team at Cutbow Coffee.

Paul worked for Alfred Peet, who started US’s obsession with amazing coffee. Paul Gallegos learned directly from Alfred Peet and Jim Reynolds. Paul Gallegos carries that great appreciation for the education Alfred Peet, Jerry Baldwin and Jim Reynolds gave him — all the fine nuances of green beans, roasting, and tweaking. Paul Gallegos has adopted the habit of coffee education for Cutbow Coffee that began in Berkeley, CA. The team at Cutbow understand that underlying mission. You’ll hear Paul Gallegos share so many aspects of running his roastery, including how he chose the name for his cafe, how he’s connected with the community, and how the pandemic has made their business more focused on quality, education and pure enjoyment of the ritual of drinking a cup of coffee. Also discussed was online shop and his sisters’ web skills, fish, respect for elders, an old Ford truck, and more. Our conversation is rich with history and delightful with the love one feels for this delightful drink called coffee

Ready to buy a bag (or three) of beans? Here is their online shop. My purchase took 35 seconds.

Paul mentions his early morning photos he posts of New Mexico’s beautiful sunrises. Follow their IG to remind you of good coffee and beautiful sunrises.

67: PAUL GALLEGOS AT CUTBOW COFFEE

66: BABY'S ON FIRE

Today’s show is an exemplary story about cafe ownership. Topping off their business is their decision to add a subscription plan—made possible with downtime in the pandemic.

Considering being a cafe owner? Wonder how people choose, start and create a cafe? How do you write a cafe’s business plan? This episode captures those points, with a compelling story from two dedicated and involved owner-operators of Baby’s on Fire in Baltimore historic Mt Vernon neighborhood.

Owners Shirlé and David Koslowski named their cafe after a Brian Eno song from 1970. In 1992 these two met and fell in love while playing in bands. David’s band was Liquor Bike and Shirlé’s was Women of Destruction (Baltimore's first Riot Girl band). Their journey was an unlikely starting place for cafe ownership…or maybe not…

Their love and appreciate of music is a perfect starting place for building a community. David grounds their faithful customers in music! Come in, listen, and sift through a vast array of vinyl. Yes, you can buy a record or two. More importantly, and one of the notable reasons for having them on Holy Guacamole was to discuss their subscription business. Subscriptions for vinyl. Don't live locally? Don’t worry, David and their team created a monthly record club.  

Shirlé has great skill that serve the business too. She is a talented chef. She honed her culinary skills during those year of playing in her band. You’ll hear the variety. Shirlé’s menu at Baby’s on Fire is much more nuanced and creative than any average cafe. In fact, Baby’s on Fire is one of Baltimore’s few places for an amazing breakfast burrito. They have a full espresso bar, formed from their relationship with Open Sea Coffee. Open Seas Coffee owners are a great fit for Baby’s on Fire because of their mission to see coffee communities empowered and thriving.

This show is a real treat. Full of stories or places, vinyl, music and a wonderfully tight knit team. 

Enjoy listening. 

Here is their website: Baby's on Fire

Support one of Baltimore’s local cafe. You don’t need to be local to support them—join their  monthly vinyl subscription. 

66: BABY'S ON FIRE