Meet your street barista...Greg Smylie!

Admin
Apr 18, 2017
3 min read

A man who will surely put a smile on your face is our local barista/chef Greg Smylie. A man on a mission to bring the Orange County community back to its latin coffee roots.

I met our Mr. Smylie at San Clemente's Marketplace, at a small popup market. A little venture into the corners of Del Mar's off-streets led me to this little jewel of an event featuring locals who are trying to keep everything local. As you might have started to notice LOCAL is the new word. Local is to Orange County what gentrification is to Washington, D.C. The popup featured local essential oil potions, handcrafted druzy jewelry, California produced clothing, and of course our Mr. Smylie.

Greg Smylie's company Keda Cortoa is part coffee stand and part catering company, leaning on the catering to fund the newest facet of his company, latin coffees. Greg and I started chatting as the minute I saw coffee my eyes opened wide and my heart said give me, give me.

Greg told me he has always appreciated coffee and good food, but felt like Orange County had only one or the other.

He explained:

"I spent some time with family in Guatemala and went to some coffee plantations and saw that farmers grow underneath the coffee bushes vegetables, like beets and carrots, to supplement their income. They all just sorta go together flavor-wise because it's the soil you're really tasting, through the produce. So I try to do that with all our events and products; food that accents the coffee and vice-versa."

His coffee, food, and pastries have what Greg calls an "indigenous flair." Using lots of local ingredients, including coffee roasters Greg is on a mission to...yes.. keep it local, minimizing his carbon footprint. "Everything we try to do is as natural as possible, budget allowing- both food and coffee."

As a partial Yaqui (Indian) descent Greg takes a lot of pride in his roots. Using lots of traditional flavors, such as fennel, pumpkin, and clover in attempts to highlight the flavor palate of his food with the natural berry, cocoa and spice notes in coffee.

As a start-up, one-man operation, who is supported by the efforts of volunteers; Greg is doing the best he can to provide the best quality latin food (vegan options available) and coffee.

Now for coffee talk...

Keda Cortao's big selling item right now is his bottled cold brew. A black coffee combined with agave and other natural flavors that gives his coffee a smooth caramel flavor, that is easy to consume sixteen ounces without noticing. Greg is using Gaviña a South American blend for his cold brew (the same that Disneyland uses at some of its speciality stands). His drip is roasted in Panama (yes, not so local), but he is hoping to switch to a single origin Sololà Guatemala from Klatch Coffee Roasters once he starts to expand.

The coffee from Klatch is a particularly special batch of beans. The purchase of the Guatemalan coffee gives back a percentage to help build business schools and help local infrastructure in Guatemala.

http://www.klatchroasting.com/mobile/Product.aspx?ProductCode=FTO_GUA_IXI

I was not kidding, Greg Symlie is on a mission to spread smiles beyond the boundaries of his goods.

Goodies:

I was lucky enough to take home a coffee infused plum tart for my family (as they are not vegan), they enjoyed this unique pastry, which has a doughy crust with a perfectly natural sweetness and a bit of zing from the coffee.

Don't take my word for it. Take a bite, or maybe a sip for yourself, support our local barista Greg Smylie. Let's put a smile on his face.

If you would like Keda Cortao to cater your next event or want to find out where Greg will pop up next, you can find Greg on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/formfoodfunction/

or support his venture @ https://www.gofundme.com/Cafe4KedaCortao