ABOUT

When I was 17, I worked the graveyard shift at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Greenpoint, from 10PM - 6AM before jumping on the bus to go to school downtown (sometimes). I don’t miss it (we got robbed at gunpoint, twice), but there was something beautiful about serving the people who make the city run–construction workers, firefighters, paramedics, bartenders, servers, line cooks, taxi drivers, assorted early/late risers.

Throughout college, I worked at bakeries and cafés around the city, and eventually stumbled into this thing called “specialty coffee”. For a while, being in the coffee industry was just a paycheck. But about a year in, a mentor showed me what great coffee can be - sweet, clean, and complex. I became obsessed ever since, and searched for the best roasters in the world, and learned to brew their coffees both at home and at about a dozen shops I worked at over the years. 

At times, the coffee world has felt daunting, and even I felt a little bit left out. I’ve worked for psychotic shop owners, and like any industry, our’s is filled with try-hards out to prove they know the most about coffee varietals, brewing equipment, and the rest of the rabbit hole. But inside an industry that can be so unapproachable, there’s a complex, almost spiritual world (or dunya), where people from all walks of life, from farmers to roasters to baristas, from Kenya to Queens, religiously labor for this one thing, a bean that offers the power of energy.

After a bit of time out of the game (just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in), I’ve started Dunya Coffee, this time as a roaster based out of Queens, New York.  With Dunya, I’m on a mission to serve everyone in my community some of the best coffees in the world.

- Shah