Humble Coffee Company

An interview with Mark Baker, proprietor

Photos by Stacey M. Adams

Best Beverage Artisan, Non-Alcoholic

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 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 our favorite single-origin beans and dial in our custom roasts. And the little coffee spot named Humble just kept on growing. We share the state motto of New Mexico, Crescit Eundo, or It grows as it goes. Over the years, we have continued to improve and grow, adding two interior expansions, tripling the size, and adding a back patio to the original location. We’ve even opened a second location downtown.

Latte in the making.

Hand-crafted latte art.

Humble specializes in single-origin espresso and brews. Why should consumers care about this distinction?

We love this beautiful bean. (It’s actually not a bean at all, but a seed from the center of the coffee fruit, but I digress.) We love how it is grown in so many places across the globe and how the soil and weather of each place gives the coffee a unique, distinct flavor. At Humble, you’ll find single-origin (read: not a blend) coffees from Ethiopia, Peru, Rwanda, and Brazil at the moment. We celebrate the variety in coffee and enjoy sharing this with our customers. Our local roaster, Prosum, sources the beans directly from the farmers and they have personal relationships with them; they visit the farms and verify that the coffee is being harvested naturally and that the laborers are treated fairly. It’s important to Humble that the entire process, from farm to cup, meets our core values.

Do you consider yourself an “artisan” and how do you define it?

All of our baristas are true artisans who are trained by Tony Solis and our quality control manager, Taylor Vittitow. Here’s how Tony sees it: “Every drink at Humble is crafted by hand. Just the espresso alone requires so much attention to detail. For example, grind, dose, tamp, temperature, and time are all important factors that affect the nose, flavor, and mouth feel of a pull. And now consider a latte or cappuccino, for instance, the variation abounds. When all of these fine-tuned details come together, you’re not just getting a latte, you’re getting something that was hand curated specifically for you.”

Why did you select the downtown Albuquerque location and how can Humble’s presence lend itself to the revitalization of the downtown business district?

We believe in Albuquerque and we want to do everything within our power to grow and improve our town. We have become champions of the downtown revitalization because we realize how important it is to have a vibrant, safe, and eclectic downtown to retain and attract young people to our city.

What is a local food issue that is important to you? Why?

Two issues important to Humble are that coffee farmworkers are paid well and treated in an ethical manner. This is why we are proud that our roaster practices direct trade and personally verifies the working conditions on the farms.

And secondly, local local local! We know the stats about local business and how so much more of the gross receipts go right back into the local economy. When you spend your money at a local business, more money stays in New Mexico and helps our economy grow so that we can fund important things like improving public schools, fighting homelessness, attracting new business, and providing social services.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with edible readers?

Thank you very much for selecting us as the Beverage Artisan, Non- Alcoholic Local Hero. It means a lot to us.

4200 Lomas NE and 505 Central NW, Albuquerque, humblecoffeeco.com