Hello, Four Seasons residents! My name is Tyler Thoms and I am a Bakersfield native, lifelong drummer, and the owner and roaster at Percussive Coffee (est. 2023). I am beyond excited to be personally opening up a small, boutique coffee shop in the Four Seasons clubhouse soon! Now, this isn’t just any old coffee shop…And I am not just any “normal” coffee shop owner. I appreciate this opportunity to introduce you to myself and to also tell you about how I approach making a cup of coffee.
For 8 years now, I have been over-the-top obsessed with the most minute details of the industry and beverage. This has led to me becoming not only highly skilled at brewing coffee but also highly skilled at the art and science of roasting coffee. In the last 8 years, I have spent nearly every moment of my free time (not joking) tasting thousands of coffees from across the globe, studying, roasting, practicing, and tweaking my recipes/methods.
My friends call me a coffee “expert”...but this might suggest I have achieved all there is to achieve and that I am done learning. Anyone who has made the effort to learn all of the intricacies of a subject knows that the more you learn, the more you find out how much you don’t know. Rather, I would say that I feel well-equipped to craft an amazing beverage. I feel confident I can create an experience in a cup of coffee. The trick is not just doing it once, but over and over again. Rather than refer to myself as an “expert”, I prefer to say “coffee professional” because the word “professional” accurately lends itself to how I operate my business and my approach to crafting a cup of coffee.
From the seed to your cup, there are hundreds of people who are involved in making this product what it is. As a roaster and barista, I am charged with honoring the steps of the process that came before me. I have ultimate control over the final two steps in the process: roasting, and brewing. If I go about those steps carelessly, which, unfortunately, happens in many shops, then I believe that I will have done a disservice to all of the people who came before me. So, this is something I take very, very seriously. And I am finally at a place where I can do the last, last important step in the process; sharing my passion with others.
To give you my word on a few things:
1) Both the bagged coffee and the brewed coffee in my shop will always come from beans that are days to a few weeks off roast (not umpteen weeks; and this time span is dependent on roast level)
2) The coffee brewed in my shop will always be freshly ground, and completed just before brewing.
3) There will always be a roast date on the bag. Many roasters, both near and far, are afraid to share the date that the coffee was roasted and... that boggles my mind. Much like my milk, I prefer to know when things expire, so I think customers should know how fresh their coffee is, not simply when it "expires" (if that's even a thing). Pro tip: Head to percussivecoffee.com and check out the blog sections on brewing tips, where I share my top tips and tricks for brewing consistently great cups of coffee)
Side note: For fun, I wanted to see what an AI-software had to say when I asked it "Why don't all coffee roasters put roast dates on their bags?" (Click here for the answer)
So, what is on the menu? Aside from regular and decaf drip coffee*, the menu will have a select number of hot and iced lattes, teas, baked goods, and even bagged roasted coffee for you to take home if you’d like. My flagship medium-dark drip blend is called “The Barella Blend” and to this day, those who try it take a sip and exclaim, “Okay, THAT is a good cup of coffee!”. This blend of Brazilian and Honduran beans is named after my parents. Without their support and encouragement, I would not be able to do this at all. They happily drink their Barella blend every day over on Francois Lane (yep, they’re residents!).
*Decaf will typically not be brewed unless requested to cut down on waste; but it only takes 4-5 minutes! :)
So, If and when you come in to grab a cup, you will likely hop in line, order, pay, and wait patiently for your cup to be served. To you, this will likely be just another exchange of your money for a crafted beverage. Many coffee shops offer this general experience every day. The difference is that I do it with obsessive, unwavering attention to detail, continuous pursuit of knowledge and application, the best grinders, machines, and equipment, and a deep desire to share my love of coffee with anyone who will entertain it. You can quote me on this; I am looking to serve the freshest coffee in the city of Bakersfield. Of course, the title of "best tasting" is left up for you to decide. I am not just saying this to get you in the door. Please swing by and let me try and prove it to you. I cannot express how excited I am to serve you a delicious cup however you like it in the community you call home. I hope my shop can be an extension of that.
Lastly, I want to say a HUGE thank you to Leanna Cutler and the Four Seasons board/committee members for this opportunity and for helping make my dreams a reality. Sincerely, thank you for having me and I hope this holiday season is as special for you as it is for me.
To the beat of your soul,
Tyler Thoms