Our Story

Santa Ana began when I was visiting my grandparents in Puerto Rico. They live up in these mountains of San German where the soil is incredible - my grandpa grows everything you can imagine. I mean, we're talking sugar cane, starfruit, cranberries, grapes - you name it. I have vivid memories of eating all kinds of fruit up there, and squeezing sugar cane juice - guarapo. Homie even tried growing vanilla. like, what?!

During one of those trips, we found out that the coffee farm my grandpa grew up on - and where my dad used to work when he was younger - was just around the corner. I grew up hearing so many stories from dad about it - specifically how much the fire ants love coffee as much anyone else. So we decided to check it out. The place was totally overgrown. But we managed to find this one tiny coffee plant. The picture you see there is my great grandpas house, underneath a Flamboyan tree.

We brought that little plant back to my parents' place, and that's basically where my coffee obsession started. Now, Hurricane Maria ended up killing that plant in 2017, but my interest never really died.

I started getting really into coffee. First, I was just checking out different coffee shops in Raleigh, like Heirloom, Morning Times, B&W at Videri. Then that escalated into buying my own gear (thank you Burr man). We made the move to Copenhagen, which I had never realized was a coffee town, and where I even started drinking coffee without sugar - sacriligious amongst my family back home. Mad props to Cecilie of April for pushing me to try it.

Then, while in Denmark, we had our son, and I started questioning my corporate job and thinking a lot about legacy (as one does). I really wanted to show him that you can actually pursue your passion. I left my corporate job and joined this small coffee shop called Hip Hop. I learned so much during my time there - how to buy green coffee, do sample cuppings, roast, do quality control, the whole nine yards. I learned a style of brewing that has gripped me and hasnt let go - 15 second espresso shots, at a 1:3 ratio, using filter roasted coffee. The balance between sweetness, acidity, and body was something that I had never come to expect from my espresso shots. Nobu Matsui has an incredible touch, and is a perfectionist when it comes to brewing. I continoulsy learn from him and only wish I had had more time to learn from him. Ultimately, long talks with family and friends motivated me to buy myself an Aillio Bullet roaster and team up with Studio Xinyi to build this brand.

Honestly, I owe so much to all the people I've met (Calum, Tom, Iohan, Marcus, Luke, Nobu, Natsuko, Mikkel, Eugenia, Alex, to name a few) who've let me pick their brains and taste coffee with me. They've been instrumental in helping me so much in better understanding coffee.