Jeremy Edmunds
Google
In a quiet corner of San Diego's Old Town, Yan Yanez and Leo Nunez are staging a caffeine-fueled revolution against misconceptions about Mexican coffee. Their mission: to prove that Mexico produces some of the world's finest specialty coffee, not just the commodity beans that have earned the country an unfairly "boring connotation" in American markets.
Flor & Seed Coffee Roasters, which opened in 2022, claims to be California's only roaster sourcing coffee directly from Mexican farmers—a distinction born from childhood friendship and pandemic-era desperation.
"COVID came, I got laid off," said Yanez, who was born in Mexico City. "And it was either we do something, or we make lemonade out of what is thrown to us."
The "lemonade" became a 640-square-foot café showcasing microlot coffees from overlooked Mexican states like Nayarit, Puebla, and Guerrero, alongside beans from renowned regions like Oaxaca and Chiapas. But their approach goes deeper than sourcing—it's about justice.
"The unfair price farmers received for their crops had always been a concern," Yanez explained. The duo travels directly to farming communities, paying above-market prices and providing technical support to help farmers transition to specialty coffee production.
Their startup journey included its own obstacles. When traditional banks rejected their loan application, they turned to a nonprofit lender, borrowing $63,000 at nearly 15% interest—a rate that reflected both their determination and the risks inherent in their unconventional business model.
Inside the café, large murals depicting their farmer partners in Chiapas add splashes of color to minimalist white walls. Seven pendant lights illuminate baristas preparing drinks with house-made syrups of chocolate, vanilla, and piloncillo (Mexican pure cane sugar) for traditional beverages like café de olla and café tres leches.
The slow bar features three Mexican coffees at all times, each assigned a specific brewing method—AeroPress, V60, or espresso—to highlight unique flavor profiles. Their philosophy is radically fresh: coffee never sits in warehouses or ports, arriving directly from farms within the same harvest year.
But perhaps the most intriguing element isn't the coffee—it's the food partnership in back. Casa Ocho, a Mexican street food operation that won "Best Vendor 2022" from San Diego Magazine, operates from the café's rear patio. Their motto: "We slap teleras for a living."
Casa Ocho's signature dish, La Torta del Ocho—a telera roll stuffed with chilaquiles, beans, cheese, and soyrizo—earned recognition from James Beard semifinalist Chef Claudette Zepeda. The collaboration creates an unusual but authentic Mexican experience that extends beyond coffee.
"We were friends for a long time, and we used to go to Mexico City and other places in Mexico and have Mexican coffee from specialty bars," said Yanez. "We were just blown away by how good Mexican coffee could be, and how was it that in the U.S. it has kind of a boring connotation?"
The answer involves complex supply chains, commodity trading, and cultural stereotypes that reduce Mexico's diverse coffee regions to a single, unremarkable category. Yanez and Nunez, who together bring over 20 years of specialty coffee experience, are working to change that narrative one cup at a time.
Their clientele includes both curious coffee enthusiasts and Mexican-Americans seeking authentic flavors from home. The café offers Café de Olla kits complete with traditional clay mugs and molinillo whisks, alongside Mexican Mocha kits featuring spiced chocolate bars.
"Our intention is serve our communities, bring good coffee to Old Town, especially from Mexico," said Yanez. "We're just trying to bring something different to the community, not too far away from our roots."
In an industry often dominated by Ethiopian and Colombian single-origins, Flor & Seed represents something rarer: a successful challenge to coffee orthodoxy, proving that Mexico's terroir deserves recognition alongside the world's most celebrated coffee regions.
