Antonio's Story - UVU Feature

This experience was amazing. I enjoy sharing my story, as it allows me to connect with others and gain a mutual understanding. Watch the full interview above, or read the full article here.

Here is a small excerpt: 

Connections Through Coffee

When I was in third grade, my grandpa had a big backyard full of coffee trees, I didn’t know [about coffee cherries]. So, I started picking the cherries, throwing them in a bucket, and we would throw them up on the roof and let them dry. It's called the natural process. Let them dry for a couple of weeks, and then get a two-by-four and take out the seed of the coffee, let it chill for a little bit, and roast them in the cast iron pan on the stove. We didn't have a grinder, so we just used a rock to grind the coffee.

Coffee has always been part of my life, and I think that's the nostalgia about it. My dad no longer lives, my grandma no longer lives, my grandpa no longer lives. But I was able to experience coffee with them. I would drink it with them [and] do the whole process with both my grandpa and my dad. So, it kind of brings me back to that.

I remember moving back to California in 2019, and coffee shops were popping up. There were a lot of roasteries in the neighborhood where I grew up. And I thought to myself, “I can do this. I learned about coffee early on. I could run my own coffee business.” So, I bought a home roaster, and started roasting coffee at my house. I was working at UCLA, and I would take my colleagues samples of my coffee and they liked it. Then, I moved back to Utah in February of 2020. With my little roaster, I was able to get a couple of local bakeries to buy my coffee. I remember I got one order for 20 pounds, and for 10 hours nonstop, I was roasting. I got some bigger roasters and was able to do some bigger accounts.

I’ve always wanted a space for people like me (I’m Mexican American), and in Utah County, there’s no place to get a pan dulce and drink a coffee. I’m all about community, and I wanted a space where people can sit down and have a good time and students can do their homework. So, I opened a shop called Pueblo Coffee on Main in Springville, UT, in November 2022.  We were honored to place number two in the Daily Herald’s Best of Utah Valley for coffee shops. That was a big accomplishment.

I just like connecting with the community here in Springville. My coffee journey has always been about connections, right? Connecting with people from different backgrounds. Pueblo means village, [it] means community. Sharing a cup of coffee, it’s like breaking bread. I wanted to build a community space where people could come together and drink coffee and break bread. I think Pueblo coffee on Main is becoming that. 

-Antonio