10 Minutes With Keith Hawkins of the Color of Coffee Collective

10 Minutes With Keith Hawkins of the Color of Coffee Collective

Coffee News Recap, 2 Feb: Applications open for Australia’s Richest Barista 2024, De’Longhi reports 4.6% revenue increase after La Marzocco move & other stories

Every Friday, Perfect Daily Grind rounds up the top coffee industry news from the previous week. Here are this week’s coffee news stories. The word of the week is: expansion. Mon, 29 Jan AeroPress launches limited-edition Clear Pink brewer. The coffee brewer is made from the same Tritan material used in the standard Clear model. […]


Toronto’s Pilot Coffee Roasters Acquiring Bridgehead Coffee for $3.6 Million

Toronto, Ontario-based specialty coffee roaster and retailer Pilot Coffee Roasters is acquiring Ottawa-based Bridgehead Coffee in a deal worth approximately US$3.6 million.  Bridgehead, which has 21 coffee shop locations throughout…


Philadelphia’s Café Don Pedro Seeks to Build Up Small Businesses

A Dominican-owned coffee roasting company called Café Don Pedro recently launched in Philadelphia with ambitions for direct trading and boosting more Latino-owned small businesses throughout its supply and distribution networks….


A Recap of The Barista League’s Mystery Coffee Vacation in Colombia

The Barista League’s Mystery Coffee Vacation in Colombia is over, and we’ve got the scoop on all the fun! BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Vasileia Fanarioti and Juan Henao During the last week of February, the 2022 Barista League champions gathered in Colombia for this year’s Mystery Coffee Vacation. It was an […]

10 Minutes With Keith Hawkins of the Color of Coffee Collective

Competition, Cold, and More from the 2024 U.S. Coffee Competition Qualifiers in Houston

The first round of qualifiers for the 2024 season of the United States Coffee Competitions featured the U.S. Barista, Cup Tasters, and Roasters qualifying competitions. BY KATE VAN PETTENSPECIAL TO BARISTA MAGAZINE Photos courtesy of U.S. CoffeeChamps The first round of qualifiers for the 2024 season of the United States Coffee Competitions took place January […]


Joven and Atucún Join Forces to Empower Young Farmers

The two brands have collaborated to create a unique coffee bar and support young farmers in the coffee and cacao industries. BY VASILEIA FANARIOTISENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT Photos courtesy of Joven Coffee  For their first-of-its-kind bar, Joven Coffee and Atucún Chocolateria combined coffee beans, extracted cocoa butter, and organic cane sugar. Committed to supporting young farmers […]


Three Questions with IWCA Executive Director Blanca Castro

When International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) Executive Director began her job years ago at the Guatemalan coffee association Anacafé, she knew next to nothing about coffee.  “I just pretended that…


Cup of Excellence to Offer El Salvador Immersion Program

The immersion experience will allow participants to grow their knowledge on Salvadoran culture and coffee varieties. BY J. MARIE CARLANBARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE Photos courtesy of Cup of Excellence Cup of Excellence is launching a new learning opportunity in 2024: the Origin Immersion Program, to be held in El Salvador from February 26 to March 5. […]

10 Minutes With Keith Hawkins of the Color of Coffee Collective

10 Minutes With Keith Hawkins of the Color of Coffee Collective

minimum dose size?

I use the Hario switch to brew my coffee and am trying to reduce my caffeine consumption. Hence I would like to brew smaller cups of coffee. I am currently using 10g of coffee with 160g of water. (1:16 Ratio) I am wondering if there is a minimum amount of coffee...

10 Minutes With Keith Hawkins of the Color of Coffee Collective

We dive into everything you need to know about the Color of Coffee Collective’s mission, initiatives, and the upcoming second edition of the Symposium Experience. 

BY VASILEIA FANARIOTI
SENIOR ONLINE CORRESPONDENT

Photos courtesy of Keith Hawkins 

Today at Barista Magazine Online, we sit down for a chat with Keith Hawkins, a passionate entrepreneur and advocate for diversity in the specialty-coffee industry.  

He is the founder and organizer of the Color of Coffee Symposium Experience, a unique event dedicated to promoting equity and education for BIPOC members of the community. Keith is also the founder of the Color of Coffee Collective. This nonprofit organization’s mission is to educate people about specialty coffee from diverse perspectives through symposiums, workshops, conferences, and open conversations. 

The Color of Coffee Symposium Experience debuted in 2022 and will have its second event on March 10-12 in Houston, Texas. Keith gives us a sneak peek at what attendees can expect. 

Keith sits with two teens on a wooden platform. He holds a microphone, giving a talk. He wears a brown COCC hoodie and white pants and sneakers.
Keith believes that change is achieved through listening, educating, and implementing a plan of action based on community needs. 

You’ve spent 24 years in the coffee industry. How have you seen the specialty-coffee industry evolve in terms of inclusivity? Or not evolve? 

I would say the latter. For my first 15 years in the coffee industry, I thought it was normal to be one of the only Black male coffee professionals in a room. Then it dawned on me. It was almost as though the specialty-coffee industry was somehow created to be this way and that people started to normalize this, including myself. The white male figure was the norm in all levels, from women’s representation to Black to Hispanic representation. It was at that moment that I had an awakening moment that this isn’t and shouldn’t be normal. And something needed to be done about it. 

Is this what ultimately inspired you to found the Color of Coffee Collective? 

The catapult for me to start this vision was during the pandemic, around the time of George Floyd’s murder. I went to a coffee shop to sit down and have some coffee, and as I was looking through their social media, I found this post inviting people to talk about diversity in a live format. This coffee shop was predominantly white so I thought that was very intriguing.  

I chimed in and said I’d love to be a part of this conversation. And while they said they will get back to me I still haven’t heard from them three years later. Their heart might have been in the right place, but I also feel that sometimes people practice performative social justice. In a way, this sparked the idea of creating a platform where I can create meaningful conversations about social justice—not for good optics, but for actual real learning and growth. 

Keith sips from a gray ceramic coffee cup at a marble table. He wears a black Koffee with Keith beanie and a black Color of Coffee Collective hoodie. One the marble table is a small clay pot with a handle and a glass cloche with lights inside. A small COCC flyer leans against the globe.
The Color of Coffee Collective is currently planning to adopt farms in Guatemala and Uganda. 

What’s different about the second edition of the Color of Coffee Symposium Experience? 

I’m super excited for this second edition, as this year our focus is on the consumer. We really want to welcome as many consumers as we can, people who love coffee and who want to learn about specialty coffee, but also learn from a diverse team of people that represent different identities and backgrounds. This year we also have some phenomenal panelists and people who will give leadership to classes about various topics such as origin, coffee businesses, brewing coffee at home, and many more. Plus, everyone gets free coffee all day long! 

What was the feedback from the first edition? 

The feedback we got was that this event was an amazing concept and more importantly that people felt heard, seen, and recognized. They were in a space where they could just be present and network with people who feel the same way about coffee. We want people to understand that we may not have all the answers, nor do we aspire to have all the answers. But one thing we do is try and be there, be attentive, and create for people an opportunity to just hear their stories. That way we can all work together to transform the industry in a way that we all feel comfortable to be in. 

What does a typical day at the Color of Coffee Collective look like? 

I once heard a statement that said once you find something you are passionate about, it’s no longer work, it becomes life’s work. I really feel that that’s what we do every day at the Color of Coffee Collective. What a typical day looks like is thinking about ideas, concepts, and ways in which we can help others, but then also think about ways we can continue to have conversations about diversity, equity, and inclusivity that are both informative and welcoming. We welcome everybody to the table; we just want people to be part of the transformation.  

Keith is in a large room with folding chairs and large windows. He poses with two young girls holding new toys. An older girl beind them flashes a smile and a peace sign.
Keith runs “Koffee With Keith,“ a podcast that eventually became a way for him to connect local students in Houston to part-time jobs at cafés in the area. 

Can you tell us about any upcoming initiatives that the collective will be involved in?  

Actually, this week, we are holding a meeting to discuss how we can support our four upcoming Color of Coffee Collective Adopt-a-Farm initiatives. We will use the revenue generated and fundraising efforts to provide assistance in any way that they require. 

We have also started to engage with the youth here in Houston and educate them about the coffee industry.  

We aim to connect minority students to local coffee experts, such as roasters and shop owners, in order to foster a deeper appreciation for their craft. We have further partnered with a company that will allow some of these students to get a paid internship at their location to learn whatever it is they want to learn, even if it isn’t directly within the coffee industry.  

Do you have any advice for other aspiring entrepreneurs who share similar goals as the Color of Coffee Collective? 

I think you start with where your heart is. When you have a passion that becomes your entrepreneurial spirit, it just kind of leads itself to success. And for me, success (is) when I can see people staying connected to coffee and making waves day by day. So to the up-and-coming entrepreneur, who wants to get out there? Do whatever you want to do, with an understanding that it’s your passion and you believe in it. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Vasileia Fanarioti (she/her) is a senior online correspondent for Barista Magazine, and a freelance copywriter and editor with a primary focus on the coffee niche. She has also been a volunteer copywriter for the I’M NOT A BARISTA NPO, providing content to help educate people about baristas and their work. You can follow her adventures at thewanderingbean.net.

The post 10 Minutes With Keith Hawkins of the Color of Coffee Collective appeared first on Barista Magazine Online.

Shopping cart0
There are no products in the cart!
Continue shopping
0