Lift Up Roast: A Taste of Nadya’s Story

Nadya, can you tell us a little about your background and how you first got into coffee?

I am originally from Russia and moved to the USA back in 2006. I have changed jobs in the States and two years ago I discovered the World of Coffee when I visited Espresso Academy in Florence. I am still working as a software engineer at LinkedIn and pursuing my dream of coffee roastery.
My father was roasting coffee at home when I was a little girl. He died when I was 4.5. I have always been in love with good coffee and searching for good taste. With some time I built a desire to create my own coffee and share it with other coffee lovers. It also has a connection to my father that means a lot and helps me keep going.
I have always dreamed of having my own business, but was struggling to identify the idea that will drive me to do so.

What led you to study at Espresso Academy in Florence?

There were some challenges I was experiencing back in the beginning of 2023. I remember I was driving with my family to the mountains for the weekend, and I was looking for some trip in Europe to recharge. I wanted the trip to be meaningful and to occupy my mind. Somehow I came across the Espresso Academy classes and sent an email asking about certain dates. The response came within a couple hours and the date aligned perfectly, it just meant to be. I bought the tickets ring the way.

How did your experience at Espresso Academy influence your journey into roasting and creating Lift Up Roast?

Espresso Academy palid a significant role in my coffee journey. It was a beautiful mix of comprehensive education and caring people who are truly passionate about coffee. I felt I belonged to that place right away. Every class was so informative and fun at the same time. Gabriele, Simone and Robert are the instructors I had back then and consider them my coffee family. Even after I completed the 1st week, they were available for all follow up questions and I was so happy to learn that I can continue to learn and grow with their help.
After that 1st week of coffee, from all courses I studied, I immediately knew – the roasting is exactly what I want to do. And exactly there and then it became so clear to me – THIS IS MY DREAM BUSINESS.
I also met one very successful man who inspired me. During one of the classes’ lunches I started sharing my thoughts with him and the business idea was finally formed as spoken. I am very grateful to that person as without really knowing it, he pushed me finally to start what I had been dreaming about for a long time.

What is the story behind Lift Up Roast? Where did the name come from?

I was so inspired and charged by the idea, I had no idea how I could start, as there are so many things required to start such a business. But that energy was driving me, I started only noticing the things around me that would help me to solve that puzzle.

I went to my favorite coffee shop at the Pacific ocean in San Francisco and came straight to the owner asking for help to learn more about his roasting. And apparently, sometimes doors will open if you just ask! He became my mentor and let me roast with him for some time, even letting me roast by myself at some point. Then he told me about this shared space, where I can rent the production roasting machines. And that solved my main obstacle at that time.
Name came alive exactly that time, when I felt lifted up. And I wanted to create a great product that will lift people up every time they drink it. And there I had it – LiftUp Roast :)

How do you select the farms and producers you work with?

I decided to go with very high quality and uniqueness. I was inspired by one of the origins I tried during my Intermediate Sensory courses with Espresso Academy. It was Yunnan from China. The taste and aroma was very unique and so pleasant. I asked Robert to connect me with the broker. Through that connection I was able to reach out to my current broker in the USA. We have built a very strong relationship already and I am very grateful for that. He is a perfect match for my business idea as he is personally finding rare origins and bringing them to the USA. I do use other sources as well to keep my clients happy with the spectrum of varieties. I perform quality control and do frequent tasting sessions as Espresso Academy taught me to. Honestly, it is nio just a necessity, I am truly enjoying it. Often still come back to Florence to do those tasting sessions at my favorite Coffee Lab 🙂
Also, when I visit any green importers events, I look for people with stories aligned with my vision. For example, during the recent SCA conference in Houston I met an amazing woman from Guatemala. She told me her story that inspired me so much. She bought land when she was pregnant with a hope that she will make some profit from that in the future. Shortly after she learned that some coffee trees used to be planted on that land, and she decided to do the same. She fell in love with the process and was carefully choosing the trees to grow unique and quality coffee. When I was talking to her, her eyes were lighting up the whole room, how passionate she was about what she was doing. These kinds of people are moving mountains, in my opinion. I am very happy when I find such partners to work with!

What are some of the most inspiring stories you’ve come across from female coffee producers?

I recently had the pleasure to meet Pacita Juan. She is from the Philippines and pursuing an amazing purpose. Her goal is to plant millions of coffee trees in her home country to get them closer to the self-serving state in terms of coffee production and consumption. She also shared her story that goes back to her childhood, where she obtained the passion for coffee from her father, and this is very close to me as I have the same inspiration in my family. Pacita is a very lovely and friendly person, she helps a lot of people, loves to travel and inspires women to do big things.

How do you approach coffee roasting? What’s your style or philosophy when developing roast profiles?

Roasting process is one of the main components of my business. I spend a lot of time learning new coffee and experimenting with it to get the most tasting potential. Originally I learned my roasting at Espresso Academy with Robert. I still apply all that knowledge and often come back to Florence to experiment and improve my skills. I normally roast light to medium to let my customers fully enjoy the tasting notes. I pay a lot of attention to RoR and navigate through the roasting profile by analyzing this parameter. Eventhough development stage is the one where all the notes are coming out and defines the final tasting and sensory notes, I treat Drying and Millard stages with same level of importance. Charging temperature plays very important role for my profiles, so as how I control the RoR during the Maillard. I truly enjoy the manual controls when I roast on Probat. Currently I am exploring the air roasting machine and facing challenges which I am going to be taking to resolve to my favorite coffee lab in Florence in upcoming months ))).

How do you balance quality, sustainability, and storytelling in each product?

My main goal is to deliver high quality products to my customers. I want them to feel very special, not just quickly charge up by caffeine, but take a pause in a busy daily life, share the moment with friends or family, recharge and be in a good mood, just like Italians do. My mission is to bring this amazing tradition to my local clients.
I don’t sacrifice quality for quantity, I take my time if needed. I get great feedback already, people really feel the difference and truly appreciate it. And that is all I need to keep doing what I am doing. It is such an amazing feeling to know that I make a difference for others.

Your website includes an education section. What role does coffee education play in your mission?

A huge one! along with bringing Italian Traditions to my clients I want them to learn from me and WITH me as I grow in this business. I have big plans ahead of me. I want to explore all aspects of the coffee industry, not just roasting, but also different farms, green beans processing, recent trends and even climate effects on coffee.

I believe if people would have a broader understanding about coffee and how it gets through various stages before it gets to their cups, they would look at the coffee drinking experience differently. Also, the coffee industry is such an interesting topic, and often overlooked. I want to have some cool, interesting and important facts available for my users to keep them informed and entertained.

How do you collaborate with other professionals — baristas, designers, illustrators — in your work?

This is also one of my main areas where I invest a lot, and not talking only about money. I choose my partners very very carefully. My approach is: I first define for myself WHAT I want by listening to my heart, and then I try to find it. And THAT is not easy, BUT doable. I always search for uniqueness, something that almost no-one has. I visit different places, talk to many people and the right solutions always come at the right time.
For example, the cups I have in my Accessories section on my website, are only sold by me in the USA. The cups are designed in Italy and the distribution is not established with the USA yet. I fell in love with these cups at one of the conferences, established a relationship with the company, took me a full year to get the inventory in hand, but it is totally worth it.
I always look for people who share my vision, and this is the ingredient, without which the partnership will not work. And when it does – it is shown in my work as a great success.

What are your dreams and goals for Lift Up Roast in the coming years?

My dream is to grow and become a Coffee Roastery that helps many businesses to impress and satisfy their clients. I am enjoying partnerships and therefore following the B2B model, and that includes high end restaurants, resorts, business establishments and such. I dream to grow and to be known for my quality product, as well as grow with my team, build a great empire, introduce the culture that is helping people to grow and feel like a family not just an employee. Your team is everything, I am in the very beginning of building one, and it is scary and exciting at the same time. But I believe in myself 🙂

What would you say to someone considering a course at Espresso Academy?

I would say: BOOK IT with no hesitation! Be it a specific learning request, exploring the coffee world or getting into the coffee business. Espresso Academy is not just a school as a one time experience. Once you visit them, you become a family. People are so nice and caring, I cannot be more grateful for such a relationship that I built with them.
Some people may have more returns to the Academy than others, BUT it doesn’t change the fact that once you have been there, once the coffee becomes part of you forever.
I do want to Thank you guys for what you are doing! I see the impact in social media, in the daily chats we have, and of-course in person when I visit 🙂

Discover Nadya’s project at https://liftuproast.com