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F OA M: NEW S FAMILY BUSINESS DONE RIGHT: KLATCH TURNS 20 FEW BUSINESSES IN THE SPECIALTY-COFFEE industry are as equally entrenched in excellence and family as Klatch Coffee, home of the Perry family: Mike, Cindy, Heather, and Holly. Opened in 1993, the company was originally called Coffee Klatch, named after Cindy's Dutch grandmother's weekly gathering with her girlfriends. Countless awards for roasting excellence, barista skill, and community contributions later, Klatch celebrated its 20th anniversary on October 19 in southern California. The Klatch clan did it up right with an all-day party they dubbed Klatch Coffee-Con at the roastery, where visitors enjoyed espresso, nitro cold brew, Gesha coffees, and cascara iced tea. Mike led roasting demonstrations throughout the day, while Heather and Holly gave tutorials on latte art and brewing at the free event. Some of the company's distinctions include being named "Best Espresso in the World" at the World Barista Championship (WBC) in 2007, and having more than 80 percent of its coffees score 90 or higher by Coffee Review. In 2012, Klatch Coffee won the first America's Best Coffeehouse competition at Coffee Fest Seattle, and this year the company is opening its first overseas café in Seoul, South Korea. Of course, Heather is known the world over as a two-time United States Barista Champion (2003 and 2007), and continues to hold the record for highest place earned by a woman—2nd—at a WBC. Klatch's honors and awards are well-known in the industry, so we wanted to learn more about what makes the family tick. On the eve of their company's 20th-anniversary event, we sat down with all the Perrys to reminisce. Sarah Allen: What are your earliest memories of Klatch? Holly Perry: My first memories are from my parents' "research phase." I remember being so excited on our way to the beach—but what would normally be a one-hour trip all of a sudden took three hours because of all the stops we made at different cafés. Granted, I got to drink a lot of hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles (I was only six at the time). I spent a lot of time sitting around wondering when we were ever going to make it to the beach. Heather Perry: I remember working nights with my dad. When we first opened, I was 10, so initially I did sweeping, dishes, and dusting—things like that. I also remember being really excited to use the register. Cindy Perry: In the beginning, Heather was involved in stocking the customer area, unpacking and putting away orders that came in, sweeping, doing dishes, wrapping bagels, putting out dessert. She wrote a few orders when time allowed, and when it was slow, she even got her hands on the cash register. She always walked around with a pencil and notepad, but constantly tried to get her hands on the espresso machine. Holly, on the other hand, had it a little easier. She played with her Polly Pockets, she did some art cards and pictures that she tried to sell, she watched a little TV in the back storage room, she played checkers with customers, and she swept out our bean bins with a little whisk broom. 18 barista magazine Sarah: Mike and Cindy, where did the idea to start a café come from? Mike Perry: Backing up just a bit, in 1991 I sold my half interest in a steel construction company and had what I thought was a pile of money. Not knowing what to do, and wishing I hadn't dropped out of college at age 18, I decided at the age of 32 to go back to school. Two years of not working and being a full-time student, I learned that what I thought was a pile of money was quickly disappearing and I would be broke soon. At the same time, my wife and I would have weekly date nights at many of the local coffeehouses that were starting to pop up in southern California. (Starbucks was nowhere around us at that time.) Loving the coffeehouse ambience but finding disappointment in the cup, we felt opening a coffeehouse might be a great way to pay our bills and still earn my degree. Our vision was a place where people could not only enjoy good coffee but also enjoy it in a clean, comfortable ambience with friends; the kind of place Cindy remembered as a little girl when her Dutch grandmother would have "Coffee Klatch" with her friends. After much thought, our vision of "Coffee Klatch: a place for coffee and conversation" was born. So we spent the rest of our savings and in 1993 opened our first Coffee Klatch in Rancho Cucamonga in a historic old winery building that was the center point of a neighborhood shopping center. Prior to opening, though, we visited over 50 coffeehouses and every roaster we had heard of, and because we couldn't find one roaster who met all our needs, we settled on three to start: one for espresso, one for drip, and one for—do not laugh—flavors. By the