Matador Coffee Roasting Co. opens
Provides students discounts, unique roasts
By Nathan J. King, May 2009
Staff Writer
In the month of March, Maroio Martusciello o pened Matador Coffee Roasting Co. at 3230 E. Union Hills Dr.
Martusciello, who has been purveying roasts in state for the past three years, has established contracts with Whole Foods Markets, Pita Jungle and is negotiating with restaurants like the Devil’s Martini and the Carefree Station.
“Music is what got me into the business,” says Martusciello, who formerly ran a coffee shop in Seattle. Later in Arizona, he worked as a barista in the morning and play drums in a band at night.
Martusciello has been working in the roasting business for the past 15 years.
“Freshness and creating a totally different atmosphere” are the two primary focuses of Matador’s business model.
According to Martusciello, “Most coffee found in broad-line markets and stores can be six to eight months old before it ever gets to the shelves, and coffee life peaks out after a couple of months.”
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Photo by Nathan J. King
At the new Matador Coffee Roasting Co. at 3230 E. Union Hills the coffee beans are roasted fresh daily. |
Unique to Matador, “It’s your brand, however you want it blended,” and roasted fresh daily, says Martusciello.
Matador offers a variety of beans, such as the Tanzanian pea berry, Peruvian, several varieties of Mexican, two different Sumatran, Columbian, Brazilian, Ethiopian, Guatemalan, Costa Rican. Bolivian and Nicaraguan are being shipped in.
The coffee shop also offers promotions, like a 10 percent discount to PVCC students and faculty, with propoer school identification. A customer can also receive a free 12 ounce cup of coffee by purchasing a bag of coffee.
“We are at the rock bottom,” Martusciello said. “We bring our coffee beans in at commodity market cost, the cheapest you can get in the U.S.
“I like the fact that we’re right across from the college,” Martusciello says. “I want to support the local mystique by putting music in here that suits everybody. We could do life jazz, but we could also do live rock bands.”
According to Martusciello, Saturday, April 11, 65 patrons packed in around six o’clock for an electric rock band, followed by an acoustic triplet act.
“When I had my shop (in Seattle), every Sunday we had 4 o’clock rock, and we would pack the place out.”
After touring Europe with his band, Martusciello says that he wanted to be closer to his family and moved back to Arizona several years ago. He began to focus on his coffee roasting business once again, as opposed to rocking out.
Beyond that, Matador sells paintings created by local artists and will rotate the art on a monthly basis.
“With the state of our economy and everything being outscourced, local is the future,” he says. “Look in your own backyard. Wee what you find. Support your local business. Look for quality, not quantity.”
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