Ask the Roaster - Harijs from Cocora Coffee

How was the Roastery founded, what was the inspiration?

Originally from Latvia, we had been living in Spain for some time already. I had been in IT for all my life and specialty coffee was very new for me at the time, I was brewing my AeroPress in the office with specialty beans from the internet, there were zero roasteries in the area.

One day in autumn of 2016 on a flight to Oslo I was reading an article in the inflight magazine. It was the story of Langøra - a small and cozy specialty coffee aroastery in the countryside in Stjordal, Norway. I was so inspired by the story behind it, that the idea about running my own specialty coffee micro-roastery seemed more real than ever. With the invaluable support of my wife Julia we sketched out a plan for 2017. Most of 2017 we spent in educating ourselves, acquiring SCA diplomas and getting to know the industry. Two other family members joined us and just before Christmas 2017 we opened the doors of our roastery/coffee shop and a new chapter had started, passion had turned into a job.

In the Spring of 2019 we felt that we need more space and decided to move to Malaga to open a bigger roastery and expand our roasting operations. A cozy coffee shop in Malaga is still on our ToDo list but that is already another story.

What's your favourite part about working at the Roastery?

For me personally it is definitely the sensorial experience, but also the technical side of roasting is loads of fun, I love pressing buttons and watching the data flow.

What's your proudest accomplishment?

Our proudest accomplishment is converting people to speciality coffee. It is that moment when people are telling us: “I didn’t know coffee can taste so good!”.

Apart from that, we participate in the Spanish coffee competitions on a regular basis since 2018. Already in the first year of our operations, we earned 2nd place in SCA Brewing and 3rd place in Spain’s roasting champs, which completely blew our minds.

What three words best describe your Roastery?

Dedication - Sustainability - Responsibility... and Kindness as the fourth

What’s your favourite place to enjoy a coffee, and what coffee would that be?

Best place to enjoy coffee is when hiking. A fruity medium bodied African filter paired with mountain forest air and an avocado sandwich is a match made in heaven.

Finally, what Dog & Hat combination would you choose?

I’ll go for Labrador in a Summer hat, because of Lila, my dearest furry friend for already 10 years who happens to be a Labrador herself.