Leonardo De La Rocha, friend of our Academic family, is an accomplished design executive. He has been kind enough to help with the designs you see at Academic - our retail coffee bags, can labels, stickers, and more. More notably, Leonardo curated the gallery wall you see at the shop. We chatted with Leonardo about the impact that cafe design has on it’s patrons, and discussed why cafe’s draw creative people in.

Click here to view the gallery wall artists

Academic Coffee’s Molly Crofoot discusses how an intentional care for each individual customer leads to a quality product. She describes how Academic’s standard for quality has grown her as a barista and informs how she trains other baristas.

Frank Nguyen, owner of Academic Coffee shares his experiences with owning a business in Downtown San Jose. As a small business advocate, he touches on his experiences when first starting his business and his wish to give opportunities to other small businesses.

Academic barista, Shaun Kim, shares stories of developing taste, growing from mistakes and moving away from the fear of making them.

Find Shaun's music: SHVUN (Instagram, Spotify, Apple Music)

Frank Nguyen, owner of Academic Coffee gives a glimpse into the fruition of the shop. In the first episode of this three part series, Frank dives into the importance of integrating sustainable practices into the business. We discuss the importance of creating a sustainable business and the challenges of incorporating compostable products.

Frank explains his heart behind working towards sustainability and his desire to build a better future for the next generation.

Frank Nguyen, owner of Academic Coffee discusses the wins among the challenges of committing to sustainability. He details the ways that Academic Coffee opts for compostable products and finds sustainable alternatives to common business practices.

An exploration of what goes on at Academic - our product process and presence. Thank you for dialing in!

Christian Cital, graphic designer and creator of the brand Kiss Your Fears, shares his story on how he began to pursuing his passions and honing his creative skills through his position at Academic Coffee.