“I know the corporate world and I know how important a good cup of coffee is during the day,” Fields said. Providing coffee for large companies remains Nostalgia’s main business-she is competing with brands like Starbucks to come into corporate environments and overhaul the coffee program in office spaces. “We think it’s going to change the industry forever,” said Fields, who has goals of getting the convenience of brew bags into the hospitality space. With added boiling water, Nostalgia’s brew bags make a cup of coffee in four minutes. She spent a year in research in development to create the right type of product that wouldn’t sacrifice the taste or quality. While expanding on her roasting and production, Fields became “obsessed” with the idea of coffee in tea bags. The Memory Lane, comprising a blend of three coffees from Guatemala, Brazil and Sumatra, has become Nostalgia’s most popular offering: “A coffee for everyone, a coffee that sparks joy in coffee connoisseurs and new coffee drinkers alike”, with notes of Swiss chocolate and fig-like sweetness. Nostalgia’s first blend launched at the end of 2020- the Memory Lane earned 92 points from Coffee Review, the highest rated in California: “That put us on the map.” She took the opportunity to pivot to coffee roasting, taking six months learning everything she could and starting with a small, one pound roaster in a space in the Miralani Makers District. Right before the pandemic, Fields had taken out a “pretty big darn” loan with the intention to expand when all of the sudden she was faced with the shutdown. Intuit became her first coffee client when she opened Nostalgia in 2018 as a mobile cafe on the campus off SR-56, a trailer she built by herself over a year and a half. Around 2015, she finally decided to pursue what she really loved: “I wasn’t passionate about accounting but coffee…that was it for me.”įields went to work for Intuit, where she had the flexibility to continue to work in corporate accounting while starting her own small businesses. She eventually moved to San Diego with the audit firm BDO (across the street from her cafe), where she used to treat her coworkers to fresh brew in the conference room, bringing in her own grinder and kettle to do pour overs. “That just totally opened up my eyes to coffee as a craft, as an art, as a science and a place that can bring a lot of people together,” she said. A favorite spot was Intelligentsia, where she would log long hours cramming for her CPA exam. When she moved to Chicago to attend to DePaul University, she arrived just in time for the freezing “Snowmageddon” of 2010- the cold drove her into coffee shops seeking warmth and she fell in love with the coffee culture. Her few early coffee memories are of her parents drinking cups of French press on Christmas morning. As a gay female founder, fighting for equity is deeply personal, so this recognition truly means a lot.”Ī native of New Mexico, Fields didn’t grow up with coffee at all. They have spent countless hours pursuing our goal of bringing systemic change to the coffee space and fighting for more equity, sustainability, diversity and inclusion. “I certainly would not be here without the incredible work and dedication of our entire team. “What an insane list to be on, I’m still shocked about it,” said Fields, 30. magazine named Fields to its sixth annual Female Founders list, honoring a group of 200 dynamic women innovators and entrepreneurs. Last year was Nostalgia’s breakthrough year coffee-wise with a #15 ranking in Coffee Review and winning gold at Golden Bean, the largest roasting competition in North America. The cafe is the premiere spot to find Nostalgia coffee, by the cup or cold brew, in a specialty drink like the organic caramel latte, by the pound in their trademark bright blue and gold foil packaging or in their innovative brew bags.
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