You’ve got to respect any successful family business. Sharing responsibilities, decision making and management duties with close relatives is no joke. So it speaks volumes when a small family business is not only making it, but thriving, especially in the midst of a global pandemic.
For Joel and Brayden Estby—the brothers behind 11th Hour Coffee—a shared vision of creating a sustainable, creative, immersive coffee brand is palpable when entering their flagship coffee shop on Center Street in Santa Cruz and now a second location on the westside. From humble beginnings slinging coffee at the Willow Glen farmers’ market, to owning and operating two very popular coffee shops and a roastery in a town somewhat saturated with similar businesses, is impressive to say the least.
But sometimes the stars align just right, says Joel. “We got really lucky and talked to Nesh the day that Lulu’s dropped out.” This chance encounter with Nesh Dillon, the longstanding Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Market executive director, paved the way for them to expand to two patron-heavy Santa Cruz markets: downtown and westside.
The brothers built up a local following at those markets, which they continued to serve even after they made the leap into opening their first brick and mortar location on Center Street about three years ago. In the beginning, it was small and bare bones, but they have slowly been expanding it over time, especially during the shut down. They took advantage of the forced closure to focus on systems, infrastructure and improvements.
“It was rough for a couple of months, I’m not gonna lie,” says Joel. “We added curbside and online ordering in the first week, and used the shut down time to spruce up our outside environment. We added a full plant store, started some baking in house…there were a lot of changes in a short amount of time.
There were definitely a lot of challenges in the past year, but also a lot of room for growth if people took advantage of it.”
One huge space for growth, came in the form of a second location at the former Kelly’s French Bakery site at the Swift Street Courtyard. Kelly’s was serving 11th Hour coffee, but owner Kelly Porter Sanchez decided to scale back from her 40-plus year operation and reached out to the brothers to offer the plum locale.
“Without the pandemic, we probably wouldn’t have been in the position to expand…so I guess it’s something good that came out of it,” says Brayden. During a time when so many business owners are throwing in the towel, it is encouraging to see young entrepreneurs ready and hungry to take over the reins.
After a year of renovation and redesign, 11th Hour’s second location on the westside of Santa Cruz opened on Halloween. Here you’ll find classic 11th Hour offerings, like spot on espresso drinks and avocado toast, but also some new surprises. Nitro drinks, panini sandwiches, beer and wine, and a bakery case full of Kelly’s pastries are on offer here. But those pastries are pretty much the only residual evidence of the former business onsite, after the major overhaul of the space that now speaks to the 11th Hour signature aesthetic. Reclaimed wood, polished stone, live plants and a bright pink “west side” neon sign breath freshness to the space, while the built-in wooden benches out in the courtyard space call for folks to linger awhile.
About a year ago, right around the time they signed the lease for the westside location, the brothers stopped doing farmers’ markets. At this point, it was clear that they were ready to focus all attention on their coffee shop evolution. Three years after taking over the Center Street spot in the Food Lounge, their business is booming, and they are beginning to add more and more events.
“We are packed open to close. Some things might be in the works to extend that energy all the way into the evening,” hints Joel. Also, the unique shared space at the Food Lounge is a huge benefit. “We are lucky to work with a lot of really cool other businesses down there, it’s a really cool space to learn from them, and all the things they are doing differently,” Joel says.
Recently they were able to get some zoning changes at the flagship location and had a larger coffee roaster installed, something that had been on their list for a long time. Coffee roasting was actually the primary and original goal for 11th Hour, despite being pulled into so much time and energy on the cafe side of things. But roasting is really a main focus, and they employ a full staff just for the roastery and run a large wholesale business, reaching all the way to the midwest. Places like Esalen Institute in Big Sur, a new shop in Watsonville called Honey Lux and Counterpoint Coffee in Seaside are all devoted customers.
Coffee roasting is also Brayden’s primary interest, which is what got him into coffee in the first place. He heads that part of the business, while Joel runs the cafe side. Their full time head roaster is Brandon Divine, who was also one of their first employees and has been with them over three years. Divine was in the retail side of things at Peets, but came to them and showed a ton of interest. “He’s super dedicated to learning, and kind of promoted himself in a way,” says Joel.
Another key team member is Joel’s wife, Laura Casasayas. As a nutritionist from Spain, she helped set up the menu and still has some input. Their kitchen lead is Victoria Garcia, who oversaw the downtown kitchen but is now launching the menu at the new westside location.
But those amazing biscuits? “Those are me,” admits Joel, explaining that he got inspiration from a friend and decided to get them going at the shop. A goal in the future is to expand the in-house baking program, since a lot of staff are getting really into baking and they want to showcase it more.
In fact, it could be said that supportive staff and team morale is a secret ingredient to the great vibes anyone feels while at 11th Hour. Joel immediately gives props to their downtown manager Jacob, who holds everything down. He started six months before the pandemic hit as barista, and “we kind of could tell he would move up quickly,” recalls Joel. “We like to see who’s interested in what and give them the opportunity to explore that and give them that responsibility to follow their passion.”
About the author
Amber Turpin is a freelance food and travel writer based in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
