California's Mom and Pop Shop Renaissance

Sherman Oaks - There's a renaissance of mom and pop shops run by people who've given up on the corporate world to be their own boss in California. One of them, Tracy Meehan, shucked the corporate grind to spend about fourteen hours a day hand-roasting the perfect cup of coffee at The Coffee Roaster.

Tracy Meehan
"Isn't that gorgeous? I'm very protective and careful, and I keep everything as fresh as possible. Most of my beans come from small farms or a buy direct."

Producer
"Why are you thriving?"

Tracy Meehan
"I'm better? (laughs) A couple of reasons... everything's hand-roasted so it's all done in a small batch. It's fresh. My beans are great quality. It's all done by sense of sight and smell and sound. It's not a giant machine... it's a little machine.

"We know what we're talking about. If you wanna talk coffee you've come to the right place.

"It's hard. I came from the corporate world for over 30 years. It's a lot of work."

Producer
"So the California dream is actually working for you?"

Tracy Meehan
"It is working for me."

More information:

The Coffee Roaster
13567 Ventura Blvd.
Sherman Oaks

thecoffeeroaster.net