Love Letter to the Community: How Mozart’s Coffee Roasters Unites Coffee and Culture With Their World Coffee Festival

By Ella Denena

Reporting Texas

Mozart’s Coffee Roasters hosted their second annual World Coffee Festival on Oct. 4-5. Ella Denena/Reporting Texas

It’s more than just your morning cup.

Mozart’s Coffee Roasters is turning coffee into a cultural celebration with their second annual World Coffee Festival.

“We’ve got an amazingly diverse community in Austin, which is really emblematic of really all the countries and the regions of the world that we do business with to bring this community great coffee,” said Ken Leonard, co-owner and partner at Mozart’s.

For more than three decades, Leonard has sourced coffee from more than 30 countries, including  Peru, Kenya, Ethiopia and Sumatra.

“We work with our growers, our suppliers, our master roaster, and we really put coffee on a showcase for everyone to learn how we buy coffee, how we roast coffee, how we pair it with specific foods,” Leonard said.

The first to RSVP to the event received the option to view a coffee roasting demo from Jack Ranstrom, Mozart’s “Director of Coffee,” who has roasted beans at this location for 27 years.

“All of those demos out there created really unique ethnic-style beverages that weren’t really what you get at your average American coffee shop. So it gave everyone the chance to try and experience coffee in a different way,” said Ranstrom.

Austinites move from booth to booth, finding their favorite blend of java free of charge.

To make the experience more interactive, Mozart’s provides attendees with a coffee passport, allowing them to collect stickers from each country as they move from table to table, tasting different blends.

“This morning, I had their iced mocha especial with vanilla and caramel and an almond croissant,” said Chris Escalante, a festival attendee. “It was delicious. It was a wonderful combo.”

Leonard says coffee deserves a place in the cultural spotlight of  Austin.

More than 2,000 attendees came to the festival each day over the weekend.

“What we do here is really kind of a love letter to the community with coffee,” Leonard said.