A conversation with founders Paolo Maliksi. Edited for brevity.

On the name Regalia —

PM When people think of Regalia, there is obviously some regal connotation that comes into play. I had actually discovered this during my first trip to origin. I was on my way back from Guatemala to the United States to pick out certain coffees that we felt were very exciting, that people would really love. During one of these trips, I'd met this farmer who didn't think of his coffee as commodity. He viewed them as these precious jewels. He kept on referring to them as diamonds, ones that look like emeralds. That really rubbed off on me. I really enjoyed his ability to bring out the jewels of the earth in a way. From that experience, I thought well, what better way to celebrate this notion of the treasures of the earth by calling the business Regalia? And it really is a celebration of these extremely lovely coffees. Some of them are rare than others. Some of them, I call crushable coffees. They're ones that you drink and crush over and over and over again. That’s what we're known for.

On how you got into coffee —

PM The earliest coffee job I had was working for a subsidiary of Starbucks called Seattle's Best Coffee. It was a non-traditional barista gig where you actually apprenticed under a coffee master. He’s somebody that I really admired. You had basic research duties, you learned under the coffee master-- he took up his lineage studying from Italian roasters and whatnot. It was just this odd sort of occurrence that I, as a lowly barista, trained under this coffee master. I went to college for cello, classical cello and I'd always pick up a coffee gig here and there just to make some extra cash, but it was one of those things where in life things don't go as planned.

I found constantly more opportunities effortlessly in coffee rather than in music. I finally got my first orchestra gig, which is a pretty secure gig for folks in the music industry. And we would tour around the United States. We would play in this city and that city. And I really missed the type of people I would engage with the world. It was usually the same crowd. It got a little tiring after a while, honestly. There's something about coffee that allows me to branch out and engage with people that I don't normally engage with. 

On legacy, impact, and influence —

PM I actually don't think about this enough. I find, but I start to get in small glimpses. We have been opened for quite a bit now, both our coffee line and our collective line for people to run a roasting collective, think of it as a roaster time share or a roaster shared space. The coffee line is expanding quite quickly, which I'm really happy about. I believe that people are really enjoying the quality and the consistency and hopefully the story behind the coffees. But one thing that has been very apparent is how successful our collective family has become. We have people that are leaving to start their own roasteries. And most people you might think, well, you've just lost a customer. To me, that means that the system works and that it's super powerful. And I cannot be any happier because I have to start moving down a wait list of people.

The premise of people moving onward and upward it is relieving because it tells me that perhaps we are doing something right in a way. And perhaps people are starting to really invest into these businesses with little to no risk. And that's kind of what coffee needs right now, right? I'm very happy for everyone who participates in the roasting collective family, but I hope that many more of the collective family will be able to do so in the future start their own businesses and start their own spaces and grow within them.

One the coffee from Nyeri Kenya —

PM Kenyan coffee, if you love wine is probably closest to old world pinot noir. You either love it or hate it. And sometimes you don't want something that intense. Kenyan coffees are some of the most celebrated coffees in the world. The specific region where this coffee is from is called Nyeri and this coffee is grown on the south slope of Mount Kenya. The soil structure there is volcanic, its mineral rich and its abundant. This is what gives birth to this incredible profile, the aromatics and the intensity of the qualities of the flavor. I happen to love it. To me, the coffee is intensely black currant. It's sweet. It's not so much of a tomato quality as many people come to think about Kenyan coffee, but the texture and the vibrancy of the coffee is just so rich. It's a mouthful, right? The power of expression is incredible. I hope that everyone enjoys it for what it is.

On something fun to experiment with —

PM One little tip, if you live in a city, chances are your water is a little soft. One thing I want you all to experiment with is buying a bottle of Evian. So go to your local department store and grab a bottle of Evian and go ahead and brew that coffee with normal water and brew a second coffee the same day or the next day with Evian. You will taste two completely different coffees. You can even go crazy and mix and match your water, just try that and it'll remind you of how different those expression are.

The best water you'll have is the water at your home, most often than not, but this will be extremely educational, especially if you've never dabbled with this kind of stuff. One of the things that I realized when I went to Italy was that none of the coffees were overly acidic and I couldn't figure out why. I'd light roast or dark roast coffees from Africa coffees from central and south America. None of them were super acidic. And after I did a water test in Rome, I understood why it's because the water composition is so different than what we have in the states. I'm not saying that everyone matches what they have in Italy, but I think you'll see that there will be a big enough difference between the two.