La Finca Coffee & Bakery 's Podcast

From Bean to Brew: The Inspiring Journey of La Finca Coffee with Lee Gonzales

August 19, 2024 • Lee Gonzales • Episode 1

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Curious about the journey from bean to brew and beyond? Join us this week as we host the passionate and multi-talented Lee Gonzales, founder and CEO of La Finca Coffee and Bakery. Discover how Lee's decade-long adventure in Mexico and his 15-year dedication to coffee and cuisine have shaped La Finca’s mission to bring exceptional flavors to Frisco. Listen as Lee shares captivating stories—from the serene joy of sipping coffee in remote mountain regions to the gratifying act of creating beauty through carpentry.

This episode promises to be a treasure trove for coffee enthusiasts and creative souls alike. Lee opens up about his favorite coffee experiences, highlighting the unique flavors that make each cup special. He also gives us a glimpse into his life beyond the café, revealing his love for traveling to coffee-producing countries and his creative outlet in woodworking. Whether you're here for the coffee wisdom or the inspiring tales of craftsmanship, this heartfelt conversation is sure to leave you inspired. Join us for a rich blend of stories that celebrate the essence of La Finca and the passions fueling our brand.

To learn more about La Finca Coffee and Bakery go to:
https://lafincacoffeebakery.com/

La Finca Coffee and Bakery
7511 Main Street, #150
Frisco, Texas 75034
972.486.9600

2281 E. University Dr #10
Prosper, Texas 75078
972.503.9400

Speaker 1:

welcome to the la finca coffee and bakery podcast, where coffee beans and connections are brewed to perfection. Leading the way is our owner, founder and ceo of the baristas, lee gonzalez welcome everyone.

Speaker 2:

I'm sofia yvette, co-host and producer here in the studio with Lee Gonzalez Lee, how's it going?

Speaker 3:

Everything's going great. How are you today?

Speaker 2:

I'm great Now. I know you've built an impressive following over the years and your show's momentum is undeniable, but some of your listeners might not know the full story yet. How about we start from the beginning? Could you tell us a bit about your company and what you do?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely Well. La Finca is a company that's been in process for much longer than most people know. This has been a journey probably over about 15 years. It took a 10-year journey into Mexico, where this passion and knowledge about coffee and Mexican cuisine really became a part of something we enjoyed, we experienced, and one of our main objectives was, as we came back to Frisco is how do we share that with our local community?

Speaker 2:

Okay, and when you're not busy running your business, what do you do for fun? How do we share that with our local community?

Speaker 3:

Okay, and when you're not busy running your business, what do you do for fun? So when I'm not running the businesses, you would think I'd probably try to do things away from a business, but I still enjoy coffee. It's something that I just enjoy a lot of. I have a lot of connections. So one of the things I love doing more than anything else is traveling to other countries, getting to experience coffee and the countries where it's produced and grown. And then a second thing that's completely different from work is, I would say, is I love to do carpentry. For me it uses a different part of the brain be able to be creative and take a piece of wood, take a piece of a natural you know something natural and make something of it that can be used and enjoyed and just kind of visually also, again, it just creates an atmosphere and appeal to it. So those are a couple of things that I just really enjoy with my free time.

Speaker 2:

Awesome. Those are some pretty interesting hobbies. Which is your favorite?

Speaker 3:

Which is my favorite, I'd say I get to do. I don't get to travel as much as I would like to to other countries, so one of the things when I do get to do that, I mean it's just, it's a great time being out of in the middle of a mountain, somewhere in a remote area and just experiencing, you know just kind of what that feels like, where there's not any noise from any cars, the city, and be in the middle of a, you know, in a mountain with trees and in a jungle. I mean that's it. You can't beat that right. That's something that's an experience. I would say. If you ever get to do it, take advantage of it. It's just a great experience, no matter if you drink coffee or not.

Speaker 3:

And then the other, when it comes to the carpentry. Well, it's just something that I get, you know, it's something I can do with my free time. And this whole idea of creating something out of, you know, just a basic item and making it something that just is useful or just can, you know, bring the beauty out of it, I mean I'd say I struggle between deciding between the two. They're very different, but I think they're both just as enjoyable. Yeah.

Speaker 2:

And, as an owner of a coffee and bakery, what's your favorite type of coffee?

Speaker 3:

I've gotten to learn is to enjoy old coffees, one of the things a lot of people don't realize. Those people in this industry get to experience and know. But how different coffee is, everybody thinks this. If you think about it, they say they they think coffee is a flavor and coffee has many flavors. But most of the time we've gotten used to what is common is a bitter type flavor. They we always hear a lot is I like my coffee strong, what? What they're used to is a very bitter type flavor.

Speaker 3:

But when you start experiencing the range of flavors we I think the the wine industry has done a great job of just kind of how many different you know a white versus a red, versus all these it becomes a citric fruit or if it comes something tropical to all the way to the spectrums of things that are very floral, to things that are very blueberry-ish.

Speaker 3:

And then you get to the other side of where you get nuts and chocolates and dark chocolate, a milk chocolate, and you get caramel and you get all these things and you realize the spectrum of what's available there. It kind of gets you down this rabbit hole where you realize there's way more to it than you realize and it becomes something that can get you addicted to experimenting and tasting different things. And then we haven't even touched on experimental processes that bring in just another whole aspect to the coffee experience. So I think that's one of the things the misconceptions but I think that's what's fun about it is learning and experiencing all there is and the variety there is to it, and that's not even included in the stories behind the people that are behind the product. It just brings another depth to it.

Speaker 3:

Wow Well, Lee, you're a very busy person and I can tell you really love coffee. In your own words, why are you doing this With that storefront? We would get a lot of people coming in asking will you rent this out? We would love to put a business, and I wasn't really looking into being a landlord and so I just started thinking about one of the things missing in the city we were at is a place where you could get together, gather and just enjoy If it's friends, family, significant others or just have a business meeting. So we wanted to create that place. Significant others or just have a business meeting. So we wanted to create that place, and before we knew it we realized that how we were able to bring a group of people together to form that community. We were in the Pacific coast of Mexico, a lot of expats that were there from both Canada, US and then even some other parts of the world, along with the local Mexican people, and then we created a spot where people of all different backgrounds could come together in one place, and that was exciting to us to see that. And so when we moved back to Frisco, we wanted to see to bring that kind of place to where we were living here.

Speaker 3:

The interesting idea or the interesting fact behind this is the building we're in right now. Before this building was built was a gelato ice cream place and there was a very much a gathering point for this community and it was. Eventually the property was sold, they had to move and it kind of went away and we we had the ability to how do we come back? Bring one of those places that could be iconic to the city we were in. They could bring that gathering place again and we're literally set right on top of what used to be the, the count, the front counter of that place.

Speaker 3:

That was that for many years here and what our goal is to bring another place just like that, and so that idea of bringing a couple of things together in place where people can have real connections. I think the second thing is is to have a genuine coffee experience and really understand and get to know what coffee really is. And then, lastly, we wanted to bring that authentic Mexican cuisine that we experienced as we lived in Mexico and traveled all of Mexico, bring it back and share it with this community. And so, when we thought about what better thing to do is people gather around food, gather around drinks and create that place where you could gather people but also give them that experience that we aspire to be unique to them versus what they typically get anywhere else.

Speaker 2:

Wow, love it, lee. We'll catch you in the next episode where we'll dive into some frequently asked questions. Have a fantastic rest of your day.

Speaker 3:

Thank you. It's great to be here and we look forward to this next episode. In the meantime, we look forward to seeing everyone that listens to the podcast. Hopefully you get a chance to visit us soon.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to the La Finca Coffee and Bakery podcast, where coffee beans and relationships are always on the brew. Visit us online at lafincacoffeebakerycom. That's lafincacoBakerycom. That's LaFincaCoffeeBakerycom, or drop by our Frisco or Prosper locations for a nurturing cup of goodness.