10 Minutes With Sean Kohmescher

Sean Kohmescher
CEO
Temple Coffee Roasters
Sacramento, California

What other coffee jobs have you had?

I had a lawn-mowing business growing up while growing up in Edmond, Oklahoma; Coffee making for a café in San Diego (not quite a barista, since I wasn’t trained), and I waited tables at a couple of casual fine-dining restaurants in San Francisco.

What’s your favorite part about working in coffee?

Seeing the customers get excited about what we do, the vibe, the seasonal coffees, traveling for green beans, and working with a team that works hard doing what they LOVE even though they could probably make more money doing something else, and working a lot of hours but never hating to go to work.

Sean with his wife, Carrie, and their daughter, Kendall.

Where do you ideally see yourself in 10 years?

Traveling more for coffee, growing organically, working less, and spending more time car racing and with the family. I also hope to go full circle and go back to making coffee. Probably just a pipe dream, but it would be cool to just clock in and work a seven-hour shift and go home.

Who and what inspires you?

I have never really looked up to or been inspired by a particular person. I am inspired by people’s accomplishments or how they have changed someone’s life. That being said, I am constantly inspired by accomplishments within. It is challenging for me to not be working on something [having to do] with work, or [having to do with my] personal my goals. I would rather climb the tallest mountain than sit on the beach, or go to work than sit on the couch.

Sean with Lori Weins. When he opened Temple Coffee in Sacramento in 1995, the capital city of California was essentially a coffee wasteland. Due in no small part to Sean's contributions to the community, Sacramento is now known as one of the fastest-growing coffee cities in the country. — Sean with Lori Weins. When he opened Temple Coffee in Sacramento in 1995, the capital city of California was essentially a coffee wasteland. Due in no small part to Sean’s contributions to the community, Sacramento is now known as one of the fastest-growing coffee cities in the country.

What are you drinking right now?

Our Kenya Gichuka, but I am eyeing the bottle of Maker’s Mark on my desk.

Family portrait: Sequoia, Carrie, Kendall, Sean, and Kyla, enjoying some of Northern California's famously beautiful wilderness. — Family portrait: Sequoia, Carrie, Kendall, Sean, and Kyla, enjoying some of Northern California’s famously beautiful wilderness.

Crazy coffee experience you’d like to share?

It’s crazy to think of all the people that you knew when you were a barista and they were baristas, and now they have their own companies and are successful. We were all kids then, and are now big kids with kids.