The story of a coffee man: come on, open a coffee shop with me!

I heard about L'Alchimiste when I was testing coffee cups in a laboratory in Panama in February. At that time, an American walked casually through the gate, said hello to the plantation owner, and entered the laboratory without an appointment. One of us who made it to the finals of the 2014 World Coffee Brewing Competition in Taiwan and won the annual micro-batch roasting star in the United States is Chuck Patton from Bird Rock.

After several conversations, we learned that this man is Jamison Savage, the owner of Finca Deborah Plantation. This time he is only visiting the Elida Estate Plantation temporarily. Since leaving the United States, Savage has come to the volcanic belt of Panama to grow Rose Summer Coffee. We talked about coffee, talked about why he came to Central America, and shared our love and understanding of red wine. When I mentioned that I would visit Bordeaux in France next month, Savage was very excited. "I just got back from there." He said, "when you go to Bordeaux, you must visit Arthur Audibert and his L'Alchimiste Cafe, which is the only boutique cafe in Bordeaux."

Since then, Savage has kept in touch with us on this email, and a few weeks later, I really had the privilege of visiting Arthur Audibert and his bakery in Bordeaux. After tasting a few samples of Rosa coffee, I asked him why he was in the boutique coffee industry and how he became the benchmark for the city.

Like many people who like to develop a sideline because of his hobby, Audibert finally decided to join the boutique coffee industry after nearly a decade in business. After earning an MBA degree, he joined a consulting firm and started eight years of busy working hours. At that time, he was responsible for specifying strategies for clients and designing implementation plans for the transformation of large European companies. He often left work late and went to bars or restaurants in the middle of the night to relax and relieve stress. In his view, the pressure was completely meaningless, and spending hours making PPT didn't bring anything to him. Dissatisfied and tired, he finally decided to get rid of everything and start a new life.

In 2009, on a business trip to New York, Audibert accidentally tasted his first cup of V60 hand-brewed coffee in Blue Bottle. As a wine enthusiast, he found that lightly roasted coffee could be so delicious that the roasting process was designed to highlight the subtle taste of the coffee rather than erase all the traits and tend to be unified. After returning to France as a Bordeaux native, Audibert began to study the development of the coffee market in his hometown. Audibert visited Belco, the most famous importer of raw beans, and the company staff made him a cup of Ethiopian Sidamo espresso. "I couldn't believe the taste of the coffee," he recalled. "I found that the taste of coffee was as complex as red wine. It was the first time I learned about the taste, acidity, complexity and aroma of coffee. I was still hesitant to start a new life, but it was that espresso that strengthened my confidence."

Audibert found that coffee culture in France lags behind and there is a huge gap in the market. "I want to improve the quality of coffee in this country." The French are born to love good food, while Bordeaux is famous for its red wine, and the locals have a high level of taste in food and red wine. "since red wine and coffee have so much in common, why not introduce fine coffee to Bordeaux and to more French people?" He said. In his view, with the exception of a few parts of Paris, French cities still know nothing about boutique coffee. In the end, a life-changing espresso made Audibert quit his job and devote himself to the boutique coffee business. Since then, Audibert has also become Bordeaux's first high-quality boutique coffee roaster.

In two years, it took Audibert two years to start the L'Alchimiste Cafe. "I wrote 12 versions of the business plan, spent three months looking for baking trainers, another four months decorating the store, and two months getting a loan from the bank." Audibert said. In his view, getting bank loans is his biggest challenge. "it's really difficult because there are no boutique coffee roasters in Bordeaux or even the whole of France." Although he is still under a lot of pressure at work and has no rest seven days a week, in his opinion, this is the life he wants.

Original address in English:

Http://www.forbes.com/sites/lmowery/2016/06/30/how-to-quit-your-job-and-start-a-coffee-roasting-company/#814c4745e470