Aaron Olsen & Kim Anderson

handlebar coffee

Handlebar Coffee Roasters

Santa Barbara, CA

Best thing we could have ever done for the business was to attend their week long workshop to have a better understanding of all that goes into great coffee, how to prepare it, serve it and for that and everything else Bellissimo has done for us, we are truly grateful.

Handlebar coffee roasters has hit the ground running since opening Nov. 1st, 2011 and we owe a lot of our success so far to everyone whom has helped us out at Bellissimo Coffee Advisors. We attended the October 2010 barista training class and coincidentally opened handlebar Nov 1st, 2011 (more or less 1 year later).

We were both professional cyclists, Kim having won the Women’s Tour de Feminine (Tour de France for women) in 2009 and myself riding 2 times in the Tour of Italy. We have passion for great coffee and had spent the past couple years taking ideas from Europe, the SF Bay area and Portland for the interior design.

We spent 3 1/2 months doing most of the work ourselves, using reclaimed wood, of which our countertops came from the 2×6 studs that we saved from tearing down the wall which now has all the windows to the exterior patio seating. We are in a great little locals corner, a well-established spot in Santa Barbara, with businesses of 25 and 30 years respectfully surrounding us. Our location is in a densely-populated business district and has residential apartments above the store front below.

We roast on a Probat L12, use a La Marzocco FB-80 3 group machine, have Robur E grinders, and the Mahlkonig Guatemala grinder.

Best put, Bellissimo Coffee Advisors helped us gain a better understand of specialty coffee, we already had the passion and drive to do our best, Bellissimo helped give us the basic tools, knowledge and understanding of how to put it all together. Without Bellissimo, we wouldn’t have had the skill-set to be ready for all that happens when the doors are open. Every day is learning for us, and that is a good thing.

Scroll to Top