LOCAL HEROES
Humble Coffee Company AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK BAKER, PROPRIETOR BEST BEVERAGE ARTISAN, NON-ALCOHOLIC Photos by Stacey M. Adams
Mark Baker, proprietor at Humble Coffee in downtown Albuquerque.
Humble Coffee owner Mark Baker was born and raised in Dallas and moved to Albuquerque after college in the nineties because he was drawn to the Southwest's weather and attitude. As a practicing architect, Baker eventually roamed to Oakland and Venice Beach, where he lived for many years and where he first became aware of third wave coffee. But he and his wife Nancy missed their lives in Albuquerque and moved back to put roots down for good in 2002. Today, Baker is owner of Humble Coffee Company, principal of Baker A+D, partner in High and Dry Brewing, a real estate investor, landlord, and a real estate developer. Baker says, “I wear all of these hats simultaneously, 24/7, and therefore need a great team to execute the mission of Humble, which is to provide world-class coffee in a friendly atmosphere. I have a team of twelve talented baristas led by 10
edible New Mexico | SPRING 2019
general manager Tony Solis. He originally came aboard as a barista and, through years of hard work, has worked his way to the top of the organization.” How did you get to where you are now? What’s the backstory, and what was the moment that brought you to your current work? Humble was born almost by accident. Originally, it was a desire to bring third wave coffee to Albuquerque, and more importantly, right next door to my architecture studio! At the very beginning, we thought of it as our glorified break room, but then suddenly it took off and people we didn't know began descending on the place. I quickly realized I had a tiger by the tail and we needed to double down on Humble. We bought the best grinders, brewers, and espresso machine we could afford. We worked with a local roaster (Prosum) to select
