Today we’d like to introduce you to Mark Peterson and Livia Klein.
Hi Mark and Livia, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Our coffee roasting adventure started around The Holidays of 2019 when we were looking for unique gifts for friends and family. We wondered if it was possible to replicate some of the fun coffee flavors that we saw in stores, but we discovered that true natural coffee flavors are incredibly complex. It wasn’t just as easy as buying a bag of coffee and adding cinnamon or vanilla flavoring to it, and what we were able to actually create was much more satisfying and enjoyable. We fell in love with the entire process immediately and began home roasting for personal use in early 2020 and launched Angels With Filthy Souls Coffee Co. in August of that year. We wanted to create a light-hearted brand that reflects our sense of humor and makes people smile. Playing off of the name, all of our coffee labels feature different cloud formations and sun patterns inspired by the region the beans are from. Quick note, the name of the company is an obscure reference to one of our favorite holiday movies that we’ve watched every year since the early days of our relationship.
We started by roasting very small batches on our stove top with a metal pot and wooden spoon and taking them to a very small farmer’s market in East Atlanta Village every Sunday to sell a few bags of what we made. Over time, we have been able to gain enough interest and following to where it was reasonable to invest in the business by buying a larger capacity air roasting machine. We still frequent a particular artist’s market in East Atlanta every month almost year-round, but we are very lucky and grateful to be a part of larger events now, like EAV Strut, Ormewood Park Maker’s Market, Midtown Garden Stroll and Chomp and Stomp!
We get so much joy out of what we have built on so many levels. The entire process of coffee from farm to cup is so fascinating that we are continuously doing research on different origins, processing methods, roast profiles and brew methods that the possibilities seem endless. All of our roastings is still done in our free time after work or on weekends, but the act of roasting coffee feels like a creative expression. We absolutely love being able to share and talk about what we create with anyone interested at our market events. Of course, one of the best parts is waking up every morning and being able to decide which coffee is best for the day. That first decision that a lot of people make every day speaks volumes to what we really think coffee is, a culinary staple that we want to celebrate!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
We cannot say “thank you” enough to the people that have worked to set up all of the markets and events that we’re able to attend and promote our coffee! Those opportunities for us to interact with our customer base to share our product and experience is really what make this journey worthwhile.
We started our coffee journey without any industry knowledge, tools, experience or direction. In fact, neither one of us had any real food service experience before Mark completely switched industries in 2022 to manage coffee shops and get a better understanding of coffee business. We had to figure out a lot of the same things that come with most production companies: sourcing, branding, packaging, marketing, production schedule, etc. Luckily, we’ve been able to figure out things as we go, and we re-invest everything we make from our coffee sales directly back into the business to grow organically (how we like our coffee…)
The one thing that we will continuously work to hone and improve is the actual coffee roasting. There is no exact science to a perfect roast, which is what makes what we do so much fun and interesting to begin with. The challenge for us is what we work towards every day, which is just to continuously improve our product and build our business step by step.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We love coffee and we love finding unique flavors to offer our customers. We are incredibly lucky to have the resources to source raw coffee from almost any growing region around the world and share it with Atlanta, so we try to pinpoint flavors that are interesting and maybe even unusual. We continuously curate a variety of different origins and flavors for our available lineup of offerings.
We meticulously roast each coffee and hand package each bag, and one of our favorite parts of the business is being able to get out and talk to our customers. Naturally, great coffee is better when it’s shared with friends and family, so for us being able to share our product directly with customers is one of the most fulfilling aspects of what we do.
At the moment, we sell our roasted coffee (often with cold brew and baked goods!) at various artist markets around Atlanta and on our website. The real dream, though, is to have a true brick and mortar coffee shop. We don’t know exactly what that looks like yet, but we know how it should feel. Our unwavering belief since we started the business is that great coffee should be inviting, approachable and accessible to everyone. In many parts of the world, coffee is an incredibly important part of people’s daily social lives. We want to capture that energy and attention and create a space that is an opportunity to give yourself a coffee break.
What matters most to you?
Frankly, early on we noticed that specialty coffee had barriers. It can be intimidating walking into a respectable coffee shop and not knowing what half of the menu means or initiating a conversation about a product that you might have very little knowledge of compared to people that work with it daily. Not to mention, spending a significant amount of money on a new bag of coffee just to try it.
It’s true, coffee is incredibly complex. Coffee has hundreds of flavor compounds in each bean, and it is often compared to wine in terms of nuance. We do a lot of research on the subject, and we find all of it fascinating. So we feel that we have a responsibility to be a resource because we believe that everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy great coffee. Everything we do from our variety of offerings to branding, pricing and interacting with our customers comes from our own perspective of at one time not knowing much about the world of specialty coffee.
We believe that we make great coffee, but the most important thing that we do is create an opportunity to share something fun with whoever wants it.
Pricing:
- 12oz Papua New Guinea Morobe – $12
- 12oz Ethiopia Sidamo – $12
- 12oz Guatemala Candelaria – $12
- Market Cold Brew – $4
Contact Info:
- Website: www.awfscof.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awfs_cof/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AWFS-Coffee-Co-106624774444793
