Fresh Cup Magazine, providing specialty coffee and tea professionals with unique insight into the trends, ideas, products and people that shape their world.
Issue link: http://freshcup.epubxp.com/i/66983
T o most people, the name Dr. John con- jures up the New Orleans-based pianist, an integral part of America's rock 'n' roll scene since the 1960s. But to those in spe- cialty coffee, there's another Dr. John: an unmistak- able figure and trade show mainstay who for 20 years has been happy to preach the gospel of espresso to any interested party. Joseph John—born in 1938 in Southern India's Tamil Nadu—did not always have a coffee career. Trained in nuclear phys- ics at universities in India, Sri Lanka and the United States, John worked in that field for several decades before unexpectedly find- ing himself with an oppor- tunity to enter the cof- fee world. It was a family friend from India who lured him into the industry two decades ago, and the Menlo Park, Calif.-based John has continued to deal exclu- sively in Indian coffees. He says two-thirds of the busi- ness done by his company, Josuma Coffee, comes from importing green coffee, while the other third is cov- ered by the roasting side of the operation. Over the course of his coffee career, Dr. John also has served as an unofficial advisor to the Coffee Board of India in its pursuit of growing Indian coffee's market share in the United States. Dr. John sat down with Fresh Cup for a lengthy telephone An unmistakable figure who for 20 years has been happy to preach the gospel of espresso to any interested party. College in Madurai. We lived there until I was about seven years old, and then we moved to Sri Lanka because my father got a job as head of the physics department at a university there. I was always a good student, and I jumped from third grade to fifth grade and then from fifth grade to seventh grade. I fin- ished high school at age 14. I did my high school plus two years of college in Sri Lanka, and then I moved to India—to Madras, which is now called Chennai. I went to an institution called the Madras Christian College, where I got my bachelor of science and masters in physics at age 20. Q: How did your profes- sional career begin? A: I went to work for the atomic RARE QUALIFICATIONS: Dr. Joseph John earned his masters in physics in 1958 at age 20 and began working for India's atomic energy program. energy program in Bombay in 1958. India was just beginning to launch its nuclear energy program, and we were early entrants into that program. I was there until 1964, and then I came to the U.S. to do my Ph.D. at Florida State University. There were really only a few places you could do research in nucle- ar physics at that time, and I wanted to go some- interview in which he talked about his scientific background, why robusta gets a bad rap, the challenges of balancing importing and roasting, and much more. Q: A: First things first: What's your background? My parents came from Kerala, and I was born in a city called Madurai in Tamil Nadu. I was born in American Mission Hospital because my father taught at American where I knew the people and they knew me because of the work I was doing in India. I met my wife at Florida State; she's also from India and came there the year after I did to do her MBA. We had a campus wedding—we were married by the chaplain of the university. I was going to return to India after getting my Ph.D., but that changed because of one incident. The chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of India met with an airplane accident in Switzerland and died there. That was an indication to me that there was no reason for me to go back because the program wouldn't be the same without him. continued on page 30 Fresh Cup Magazine 29