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 Cat &amp; Cloud Coffee

Cat &amp; Cloud Coffee
======================

Santa Cruz, California roaster founded by coffee competition champions. Known for their accessible approach to specialty coffee and positive community impact.

 Tasted by [ ![Raymond Brigleb](https://www.gravatar.com/avatar/225614451dc9aee33be11e0f6876c18b?s=120&d=identicon)

 ](https://unpacking.coffee/users/rbrigleb)

    Watch Episode       Read Transcript

- [ Full Interview with Chris &amp; Jared ](https://unpacking.coffee/cat-cloud-full-interview/)
- [ Unpacking Cat &amp; Cloud Take 01 ](https://unpacking.coffee/002-cat-and-cloud/)
- [ Cat &amp; Cloud Coffee Co. ](http://catandcloud.com/)
- [ Cat &amp; Cloud Twitter ](https://twitter.com/catcloudcoffee)
- [ Cat &amp; Cloud Instagram ](https://www.instagram.com/catcloudcoffee/)
- [ Cat &amp; Cloud Podcast ](http://catandcloud.com/pages/podcast)
- [ La Marzocco Café Roasters in Residence ](https://unpacking.coffee/tag/la-marzocco-cafe-roaster-in-residence/)

 ![Cat & Cloud Coffee](/storage/roaster-profiles/44/featured.jpg)

  HELLO

Ray: I'm Ray.

Kandace: I'm Kandace.

Ray: Welcome to Unpacking Coffee. This week ...

Kandace: Once again, Cat and Cloud ...

Ray: Revisited.

Kandace: Revisited.

Ray: We're revisiting them because they are residents at the La Marzocco Café.

Kandace: Yeah! We wanna' do this legit.

Ray: Legit, that's my middle name.

Kandace: So, who is Cat and Cloud?

Meet Jared &amp;amp; Chris

Jared: My name is Jared Truby and I'm a co-owner along with my friend Chris Baca and Charles Jack (who is not with us) at Cat and Cloud Coffee.

Chris: Oh man, I drank coffee forever. My first coffee job was a local coffee shop down the street from the house where I grew up in. I had hurt my back really bad I had back surgery when I was 21.

I was working at a skate shop at the time and I didn't want to go back to work at the skate shop when I could work again because it was super depressing for me. My friend Matt was like: hey, why don't you come down to the coffee shop? You hang out there all the time anyway, you drink a lot of coffee, let's get you a job. So I did and then it was over. Done.

Jared: Boom. Got right into coffee.

Chris: Got right into that espresso porto filter and I extracted it.

Jared: Full of filters.

Chris: 58% extraction. Is that even possible?

Jared: My dad loved coffee and my grandparents used to drink it and I liked the smell and then I got back from college and I decided to stop going to private college on scholarship and move back to Chico, California.

Chris: Scholarship, baby! Make that money.

Jared: I never finished. So, I came home and I had nothing to do so I worked at a coffee shop that my dad opened. He was trained by Dillanos, I believe, back in the day.

Chris: The big D.

Jared: Yeah! I didn't know is that was a coffee at the time. He told me far later and I was "Oh yeah, I heard of them." So, I started making coffee with my dad and then, the rest is history. Just really love the beans. Kenya-Double-A.

Chris: End game. A A. Someone asked us that yesterday" What grade is the Kenyan?

Jared: "The right grade" is always the answer.

Chris: Fucking A+, dude.

Kandace: I think they started working together by blogging about their ideas of coffee and it kind of grew from there. They got started in about 2010.

Chris: 2010 is when Jared and I started writing a blog together, we started working together around that time and we always had really interesting ideas about how things should be done. We really like coffee, and nobody else fucking makes good coffee, so we're like we're gonna be the only good coffee company out there.

The Happy Café

Kandace: Do you want to hear some of the things they're doing at their café?

Ray: Kandace, I'd love to!

Kandace: So, their café is all about being a happy place. They have toast, they'll make you whatever drink you want.

Chris: Dude, the café has got like 6 doors, lots of windows ...

Jared: ...roaster, 13 employees...

Chris: 13 employees. No, our café is sick. It's ...

Jared: Come on down.

Chris: A tiny little space, we're about a block from the beach, couple blocks from the beach.

Jared: Very light

Chris: It's a very open place, there's a lot of sunlight. It's a very friendly place. It's a place where anybody can go and feel welcome.

Our goal in the café, we say, you know, if someone leaves happier than when they came in, we've done our job. So, that extends to people who are getting coffee, maybe are getting tea, maybe you just come in off the street and want a glass of water.

Maybe, if you're lost in Santa Cruz and you're like: "Dude how do I find the water?"

We're like, "dude just go that way, over there."

"Man, you guys are real nice! That's cool!"

Kandace: They've got a lot of interesting ideas about how to run a café and how to motivate their team.

Jared: Well, one thing we just did at our most recent staff meeting is we showed them our entire financials, literally; as far as where we started, how much money we had, how much money we made, exactly where it went, including every single department, and broke it down.

Sweet Flavor Dude

Kandace: They don't have a lot of coffees but they do have a very distinct flavor that they're looking for. And it might be a little bit different than what you're expecting. But, they do talk about what they're looking for in coffee flavors.

Jared: Our taste, for us, see here's the thing about coffee" everybody's got their palates and they never line up unless you work together for a number of years.

So, what Chris and I would probably say is we love coffee that's very sweet, which is true, we love coffee that has a great finish, which is also true. And, we like complexity. And, our coffees tend to be a little bit fruity and juicy. However, you go and taste these alongside somebody else from another company and who knows if they'd 100% agree with us, so.

Kandace: They've got a milkshake, because you know, Seattle.

Ray: They've got a milkshake?

Kandace: In Seattle they do.

Ray: Huh!

The Bag

Kandace: Would you like to talk about this bag design?

Ray: One thing that I do like about the bag is the playful typography and the contrasting colors. It is very distinctive yet very simple.

Kandace: Well, I mean, this is a pretty simple bag, right? It is a bag with a label.

But, the fact that they've been able to use color and some illustration and typography to give it a really unique look and feel, tells you that you can have some pretty cool packaging without necessarily needing to ... Have everything be super expensive or super fancy.

Ray: I like that they wrote on the box, I think that's the cat and that's the cloud.

Kandace: Also they've got a great podcast ...

Ray: Okay we're going to break this out and cut into the regular pod cast.

Ray: Cat and Cloud.

Kandace: Santa Cruz, California.

Watch the Show

https://vimeo.com/201767880

   HELLO

Ray: I'm Ray.

Kandace: I'm Kandace.

Ray: Welcome to Unpacking Coffee. This week ...

Kandace: Once again, Cat and Cloud ...

Ray: Revisited.

Kandace: Revisited.

Ray: We're revisiting them because they are residents at the La Marzocco Café.

Kandace: Yeah! We wanna' do this legit.

Ray: Legit, that's my middle name.

Kandace: So, who is Cat and Cloud?

Meet Jared &amp;amp; Chris

Jared: My name is Jared Truby and I'm a co-owner along with my friend Chris Baca and Charles Jack (who is not with us) at Cat and Cloud Coffee.

Chris: Oh man, I drank coffee forever. My first coffee job was a local coffee shop down the street from the house where I grew up in. I had hurt my back really bad I had back surgery when I was 21.

I was working at a skate shop at the time and I didn't want to go back to work at the skate shop when I could work again because it was super depressing for me. My friend Matt was like: hey, why don't you come down to the coffee shop? You hang out there all the time anyway, you drink a lot of coffee, let's get you a job. So I did and then it was over. Done.

Jared: Boom. Got right into coffee.

Chris: Got right into that espresso porto filter and I extracted it.

Jared: Full of filters.

Chris: 58% extraction. Is that even possible?

Jared: My dad loved coffee and my grandparents used to drink it and I liked the smell and then I got back from college and I decided to stop going to private college on scholarship and move back to Chico, California.

Chris: Scholarship, baby! Make that money.

Jared: I never finished. So, I came home and I had nothing to do so I worked at a coffee shop that my dad opened. He was trained by Dillanos, I believe, back in the day.

Chris: The big D.

Jared: Yeah! I didn't know is that was a coffee at the time. He told me far later and I was "Oh yeah, I heard of them." So, I started making coffee with my dad and then, the rest is history. Just really love the beans. Kenya-Double-A.

Chris: End game. A A. Someone asked us that yesterday" What grade is the Kenyan?

Jared: "The right grade" is always the answer.

Chris: Fucking A+, dude.

Kandace: I think they started working together by blogging about their ideas of coffee and it kind of grew from there. They got started in about 2010.

Chris: 2010 is when Jared and I started writing a blog together, we started working together around that time and we always had really interesting ideas about how things should be done. We really like coffee, and nobody else fucking makes good coffee, so we're like we're gonna be the only good coffee company out there.

The Happy Café

Kandace: Do you want to hear some of the things they're doing at their café?

Ray: Kandace, I'd love to!

Kandace: So, their café is all about being a happy place. They have toast, they'll make you whatever drink you want.

Chris: Dude, the café has got like 6 doors, lots of windows ...

Jared: ...roaster, 13 employees...

Chris: 13 employees. No, our café is sick. It's ...

Jared: Come on down.

Chris: A tiny little space, we're about a block from the beach, couple blocks from the beach.

Jared: Very light

Chris: It's a very open place, there's a lot of sunlight. It's a very friendly place. It's a place where anybody can go and feel welcome.

Our goal in the café, we say, you know, if someone leaves happier than when they came in, we've done our job. So, that extends to people who are getting coffee, maybe are getting tea, maybe you just come in off the street and want a glass of water.

Maybe, if you're lost in Santa Cruz and you're like: "Dude how do I find the water?"

We're like, "dude just go that way, over there."

"Man, you guys are real nice! That's cool!"

Kandace: They've got a lot of interesting ideas about how to run a café and how to motivate their team.

Jared: Well, one thing we just did at our most recent staff meeting is we showed them our entire financials, literally; as far as where we started, how much money we had, how much money we made, exactly where it went, including every single department, and broke it down.

Sweet Flavor Dude

Kandace: They don't have a lot of coffees but they do have a very distinct flavor that they're looking for. And it might be a little bit different than what you're expecting. But, they do talk about what they're looking for in coffee flavors.

Jared: Our taste, for us, see here's the thing about coffee" everybody's got their palates and they never line up unless you work together for a number of years.

So, what Chris and I would probably say is we love coffee that's very sweet, which is true, we love coffee that has a great finish, which is also true. And, we like complexity. And, our coffees tend to be a little bit fruity and juicy. However, you go and taste these alongside somebody else from another company and who knows if they'd 100% agree with us, so.

Kandace: They've got a milkshake, because you know, Seattle.

Ray: They've got a milkshake?

Kandace: In Seattle they do.

Ray: Huh!

The Bag

Kandace: Would you like to talk about this bag design?

Ray: One thing that I do like about the bag is the playful typography and the contrasting colors. It is very distinctive yet very simple.

Kandace: Well, I mean, this is a pretty simple bag, right? It is a bag with a label.

But, the fact that they've been able to use color and some illustration and typography to give it a really unique look and feel, tells you that you can have some pretty cool packaging without necessarily needing to ... Have everything be super expensive or super fancy.

Ray: I like that they wrote on the box, I think that's the cat and that's the cloud.

Kandace: Also they've got a great podcast ...

Ray: Okay we're going to break this out and cut into the regular pod cast.

Ray: Cat and Cloud.

Kandace: Santa Cruz, California.

Watch the Show

https://vimeo.com/201767880

  Coffee Offerings
------------------

###   [ Nelin Guzman Honduras ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/121-nelin-guzman-honduras)

      Process Anaerobic Natural        Country Honduras     Region Santa Barbara       Source Nelin Guzman

First noted

Mar 10, 2026

 Last tasted

Mar 10, 2026

  1 cupping

   [ dark chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/34 "dark chocolate") [ berry wine ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/185 "berry wine") [ skittles ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/186 "skittles")

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 1

Coffee Offerings

 1

Total Cuppings

 Added 11 months ago

Roaster Details

  Website  [ catandcloud.com ](https://catandcloud.com)

 Established 2016

Location

  City Santa Cruz

 State/Province California

 Country United States

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###   [ Elite Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/152-elite-coffee)

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   [ milk chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/33 "milk chocolate") [ stone fruit ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/125 "stone fruit") [ roasted nuts ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/215 "roasted nuts")

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###   [ Florida Weather ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/151-florida-weather)

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###   [ Tanzania Peaberry ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/150-tanzania-peaberry)

   by [ Knowledge Perk Coffee Company ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/273-knowledge-perk-coffee-company)

     Certifications Rainforest Alliance     Process Washed        Country Tanzania     Region Northern Tanzania

First noted

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 Last tasted

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  1 cupping

   [ apple ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/1 "apple") [ lime ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/19 "lime") [ allspice ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/213 "allspice")

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###   [ Colombia Nariño ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/149-colombia-narino)

   by [ DOMA Coffee Roasting Company ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/268-doma-coffee-roasting-company)

     Certifications Organic     Process Washed      Varieties Colombia, Castillo, Caturra      Country Colombia     Region Nariño      Harvest 2025     Source La Jacoba (smallholder Farmer Association)

First noted

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 Last tasted

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  1 cupping

   [ chamomile ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/127 "chamomile") [ golden pear ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/211 "golden pear") [ maple syrup ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/26 "maple syrup")

  ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/149-colombia-narino)

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###   [ Limited Ethiopia Natural ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/148-limited-ethiopia-natural)

   by [ Council Oak Coffee Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/266-council-oak-coffee-roasters)

      Process Natural      Varieties Wild Heirloom Ethiopia Arabica Cultivars      Country Ethiopia

First noted

May 12, 2026

 Last tasted

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  1 cupping

   [ nectarine ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/126 "nectarine") [ berry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/109 "berry") [ floral ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/105 "floral")

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###   [ Santa Elena Geisha (IYKYK) ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/147-santa-elena-geisha-iykyk)

   by [ Three Oaks Roasting Co ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/263-three-oaks-roasting-co)

First noted

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  1 cupping

   [ mandarin orange ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/142 "mandarin orange") [ lavender ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/57 "lavender") [ strawberry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/7 "strawberry") [ lemongrass ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/106 "lemongrass") [ cane sugar ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/29 "cane sugar")

  ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/147-santa-elena-geisha-iykyk)

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###   [ Colombia Huila, Santa Maria ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/146-colombia-huila-santa-maria)

   by [ Boonton Coffee Company ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/261-boonton-coffee-company)

      Process Washed      Varieties Castillo, Caturra      Country Colombia     Region Huila     Elevation 1500-1600m     Harvest 2025

First noted

May 12, 2026

 Last tasted

May 12, 2026

  1 cupping

   [ honey ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/22 "honey") [ apricot ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/4 "apricot") [ pear ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/2 "pear")

  ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/146-colombia-huila-santa-maria)

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###   [ Costa Rica Hellen Mora ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/145-costa-rica-hellen-mora)

   by [ HAYB ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/262-hayb)

      Process Natural      Varieties Geisha      Country Costa Rica     Region Tarrazú     Elevation 1800-1900m

First noted

May 12, 2026

 Last tasted

May 12, 2026

  1 cupping

   [ cherry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/5 "cherry") [ strawberry ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/7 "strawberry")

  ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/145-costa-rica-hellen-mora)

 [

###   [ Centenario - Edwin Martinez, Guatemala ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/144-centenario-edwin-martinez-guatemala)

   by [ Torque Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/259-torque-coffee)

      Process Washed      Varieties Red Bourbon      Country Guatemala     Region Huehuetenango     Elevation 1600 - 1900m     Harvest 2025     Source Edwin Martinez, Finca Vista Hermoa

First noted

May 11, 2026

 Last tasted

May 11, 2026

  2 cuppings

   [ lemon ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/18 "lemon") [ floral ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/105 "floral") [ milk chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/33 "milk chocolate") [ sweet ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/171 "sweet") [ lingering finish ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/209 "lingering finish")

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 [

###   [ Finca El Mirador Washed Sidra ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/143-finca-el-mirador-washed-sidra)

   by [ Chuck's Roast Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/258-chucks-roast-coffee)

      Process Washed      Varieties Bourbon Sidra      Country Colombia     Region Huila       Source Finca El Mirador

First noted

May 11, 2026

 Last tasted

May 11, 2026

  1 cupping

  ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/143-finca-el-mirador-washed-sidra)

 [

###   [ Bolivia, Caranavi ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/142-bolivia-caranavi)

   by [ Mother Tongue Coffee ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/257-mother-tongue-coffee)

              Source Illimani Mountain

First noted

May 11, 2026

 Last tasted

May 11, 2026

  1 cupping

   [ caramel ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/23 "caramel") [ nougat ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/31 "nougat") [ milk chocolate ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/33 "milk chocolate") [ honey ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/22 "honey")

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###   [ Kenya Nyawira AA ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/141-kenya-nyawira-aa)

   by [ Heart Coffee Roasters ](https://unpacking.coffee/roasters/47-heart-coffee-roasters)

      Process Washed      Varieties SL28, SL34      Country Kenya     Region Embu     Elevation 1400m

First noted

May 11, 2026

 Last tasted

May 11, 2026

  1 cupping

   [ black currant ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/207 "black currant") [ rose hips ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/208 "rose hips") [ molasses ](https://unpacking.coffee/flavors/25 "molasses")

  ](https://unpacking.coffee/coffees/141-kenya-nyawira-aa)
