We love sharing great coffee with every one of you at home, and that's only possible by partnering with equally great coffee roasters. Trade brings together top, independent roasters from small towns across the USA—places you’d love if you lived nearby—and curates the best of the best for folks everywhere.
Today we're pleased to introduce you to our first new roaster in two years: Oakland's own Timeless Coffee Roasters. Thank you to Emma & RJ from Timeless for taking the time to chat with us!
If you're ready to jump straight to their amazing coffee (don't blame you), you can do that here!
At Trade, we’re all about origin stories. How did Timeless begin?
"I fell in love with the coffee shop vibe when I worked for Peets back in 1998. In the early 2000’s I worked for musicians and travelled the world for years. In those travels I was able able to have coffees all over the world during the beginning of the third wave. This had me fall in love with coffee as a whole. My goal was to open a roastery/bakery that was vegan and had a deep community feel just like the music background I came from." - Founder, RJ Leimpeter
To add to RJ’s answer, he wanted to provide a space for traveling bands, friends and our community to make their own. A destination showcasing RJ’s background and appreciation for coffee that also aligns with his personal ethos i.e. recognizing how we all impact the planet.
What’s your philosophy when it comes to sourcing and roasting coffee?
We work with three main importers, all of which promote all-inclusive agricultural practices, ensuring farmers, workers and their communities are treated respectfully, paid fair wages, and work to build a more resilient ecosystem and supply chain. As a vegan business, it is important to us to be as thoughtful as we can be regarding our day to day operations including who we partner with. Regarding our preferences, we like a light-medium roast with a lot of body and a lot of character! We've had a handful of roasters, everyone adding in their own flair, building the Timeless "profile".
Timeless’ branding has a bold, distinctive look—reminiscent of American Traditional tattoos. What inspired this aesthetic?
RJ is roughly 99% covered with tattoos. He’s got some experience working in that world, as well as many many friends that do. A long time friend of RJ’s, as well as many of ours from the cafe, Scott Sylvia, owns a tattoo shop in San Francisco. A lot of the traditional / flash tattoo designs you see are thanks to him! So to put it simply, we just think it looks cool haha. RJ’s mom is also a scorpio, which is an unofficial answer, but a happy coincidence!
You’re not just about coffee—you’re also a fully plant-based bakery. Tell us a bit more about that.
I can’t speak for RJ, but he’s been vegan for nearly 30 years. I’ve been vegan for 10 years now and I can imagine he was over having only a couple of options here and there haha. He had an opportunity to change that and ran with it! Timeless is the Bay Area’s only 100% vegan bakery, cafe and roastery. Our goal has always been to provide good food, good coffee and expose folks to the positive benefits of being and eating vegan without being aggressive or pushy about it. We’ve got an incredibly talented team working in the bakery day and night. Donuts, cakes, croissants, savory rolls, brunches, you name it!
Stewardship is a key pillar of your brand. How does that commitment show up in daily operations and on a broader scale?
As far as our day to day operations, a lot of us have been working with Timeless for many years because we genuinely enjoy coming in. I’ve built real friendships with the people I work with as well as customers who’ve been coming in since day one. We strive to provide more than just a transaction for people. Timeless has always worked to promote from within, providing employees with the opportunity to learn something new whether they stay with the company or take that knowledge with them on other escapades. Timeless was my first coffee job ever, I started as a barista, worked in management and now in wholesale. I think providing this ladder for people also gives us a better understanding of what employees want and need to feel valued and secure in their place of work because we have worked so many different positions and have that perspective. We can speak and listen to one another to create and nurture a positive work environment. As a person, RJ has always been very transparent. It naturally translates to the business, we are always thinking ahead and having open conversations on all operations whether we’re talking next week or the next year.
What excites you most in this upcoming year.
we're pretty sociable over here, which might come from working some sort of service job most of our lives, but we are always excited to meet new people, whether we’re working together or you're just coming into the shop. We’ve been partnering with some local businesses and offering our space to creative friends of ours and I’m looking forward to seeing more of these types of collaborations. We’re also excited to grow our wholesale program. We’re thrilled to be working with Trade and looking forward to seeing how your customers take to Timeless!
Founder Q&A
What are your three favorite things about running a coffee roasting business?
1) Owning a business in the community I live in is by far the biggest joy. Timeless is only 2 blocks from my house.
2) Having control of purchasing coffee and changing profiles as our palates change is a major plus.
3) Watching our staff grow and see people fall in love with coffee from working at Timeless has been amazing. I remember falling in love with coffee working for a roastery and to see that happen at Timeless is fantastic.
We have to ask… how do you make coffee at home?
Currently I am making my drip with the Aiden from Fellow. For years I would make a v60 every morning but I am enjoying the simplicity of the Aiden.
For someone trying Timeless on Trade for the first time, which coffee would you recommend?
I would say someone should start with our Merchant Blend. That is our house blend and if someone likes Merchant they will love everything.
