SAN ANTONIO — About eight years ago, Fidel Moreno took an unexpected deep dive into the world of coffee. It all started with a student, Mohammed "Mo" Alawalla, who noticed his daily coffee habit – and led Moreno to creating a small business called Quantum Coffee Roasters on the northwest side.
"(He) noticed that I would drink coffee every morning. And little did I know that he was already roasting his own coffee," Moreno said. "And he gave me about a pound of the coffee that he had roasted. And I will admit that I tasted it at first. And I really didn't care for it because it wasn't my typical commercial brand."
But the Clark High School physics teacher didn't want to waste it, so he powered through – finishing the bag. He couldn't believe what would happen next.
"I went back to my original choice and really noticed the difference between coffees. There's an entire world of flavors and notes that you can pick up with really good quality coffee," he said.
Moreno started experimenting – roasting out of his kitchen and then sharing his concoctions with friends. The idea of starting up a small family business kept percolating and finally evolved into a brick-and-mortar location at "Just the Drip" (located at the Point Park and Eats on Boerne Stage Road west of I-10). Moreno's daughter and son, both college students, keep the business going along with along wife, who is also a teacher.
A few months ago, Moreno's coffee caught the attention of Food Network star and chef Alton Brown, who posted a picture of him trying out Moreno's coffee when he visited San Antonio.
The name of Moreno's family business connects his passion for physics and love for quality coffee.
"The name Quantum (represents) that next level, kind of like what quantum physics is, is that next level of physics that is, you know, just being discovered – that next level of coffee that we provide to people that you really can't get anywhere else," Moreno said. "We have some single-origin coffees that nobody else in the country has. So that's pretty much what we have in hopes for quantum coffee."
Quantum Coffee Roasters recently started experimenting with a popular option for coffee drinkers on the go. It was a decision Moreno weighed heavily.
Moreno was worried about the environmental impact of selling K-cup pods since the foil lids are not recyclable. So being a science teacher, he hypothesized – he knew there had to be a more eco-friendly solution.
After lots of research, he found ones that can be 100% recycled by rinsing the grounds out and tossing the entire pod into the recycle bin.
"We've got coffees from everywhere – anywhere from South America, Central America to African coffees... We get things from Kenya. We get things from Ethiopia, Colombia, Nicaragua, but pretty much anywhere that produces coffee," Moreno added.
The business is doing so well, that Moreno just ordered his third roaster machine, which is much larger than his current one, and is about to move to a location next door.
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