Web Feature: The Biggest Little Café in the World

Mark Trujillo and his 21-year-old son, Joey, opened the Hub Coffee Company in a gritty former garage in Reno, Nev., last June. It has quickly lived up to its name, serving as a central point for Reno’s young, artsy, bike-riding crowd. The elder Trujillo says he has put his focus on providing great product, and he says the spot’s growing popularity is a natural offshoot of that commitment to quality.

Q: What coffee experience did you have prior to opening this shop?
A: I owned Waldens Coffeehouse [also in Reno] for three years. I tried to change the previous culture. It was pretty much a Starbucks mentality, and I tried to bring in the “third wave” of coffee. We brought in the best coffees in the world. But people [said]: “Just give me my mocha with tons of whipped cream on it. I don’t care about what it tastes like.” So me and my son went out searching in more of an urban area.

Q: Who roasts your coffee?
A: We offer both Intelligentsia and Barefoot. Barefoot gives you a crazy, out-of-this-world fermentation of their beans. Intelligentsia are the forefathers of Direct Trade, and they get the best coffees in the world and do a perfect, even roast. So you kind of go off the limits with the crazy coffee and then come back to something sane. That’s why we offer both.

Q: And you also offer a rotating single-origin espresso from one of those companies?
A: Yeah, we have the Black Cat from Intelligentsia, the Barefoot Boss and a single origin. There are three espressos to choose from every day. If you do it right, it’s unbelievable what an espresso can taste like. We’re attracting people who know what quality is all about. There’s a guy up the street who owns a wine bar. He understands taste profiles, so guess where he comes for his coffee?

Q: Do you see a healthy market for high-quality coffee in Reno?
A: Absolutely. We’ve been open nine months, and the first two or three months we probably averaged 100 customers a day. Now we get about 240. You have to kind of create the market. We educate our customers as soon as they walk in. We explain to them there’s a reason a 12-ounce coffee costs $2.50—it’s all French press. I also talk about the farm each coffee comes from and the roaster’s relationship with that farm. Then we talk about the profiles and flavors of the coffee. People leave and tell their friends, and when their friends come in, we don’t have to say anything because it’s all been explained to them.

Q: Your shop is only a few hundred square feet. Does it ever feel cramped?
A: You don’t have to make this huge, elaborate production to serve coffee. Just look at what’s working other places, whether it’s Blue Bottle in San Francisco or all these places in New York. These things are coffee carts. If you have great product and great service, you can sell it out of a shoebox.

Q: How has it been opening a shop with your son?
A: The nice thing is you get a perspective. At 21 years old, he’s bringing that downtown Portland-type scene with bikes and culture. He brings that flavor to it. It’s always nice to have that younger mind with you. He’s keeping me aware of the progressiveness out there in the world.

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Purchase the April 2010 issue (does not include this Web-only feature)

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