The Brick welcomes new owner, fresh roasts
Oct. 20—This month, The Brick Coffee House Cafe in Marysville is celebrating both new ownership and a change in coffee branding.
Kymberly Matta, who lives in Yuba County, had heard through the grapevine that former Brick owner Heather Thompson was ready to sell and Matta quickly threw her hat into the mix.
"I've kind of always wanted to do something mental health related and in a way that's kind of what a coffee shop is," said Matta. "I would love to improve service and have some place where people can go and feel welcomed, safe, and comfortable."
The change in ownership became official as of Oct. 1 under the business corporation "What's a Matta?" established by Matta and her partner Ruben Garcia. Previously, Matta owned two Mr. Pickle's Sandwich Shops, one in Sacramento and another in Yuba City. She sold her last shop in 2012 to focus more on family but now that her kids are older, Matta said she hopes to get them more involved.
"A huge part of this was also to introduce them to what's involved in running a business," explained Matta. "I thought it would be beneficial for them to be a part of it. I honestly think it's easy to make money, you just need to find out what you love and then work at it."
Seeing that The Brick was already well established within the community, Matta's goal was to keep things relatively quiet so as not to stir up any unneeded stress among loyal customers. The staff and menu have remained the same with the potential to expand hours and dining options in the future as needed.
"Customer service is my main focus," said Matta. "I really want to support locals wherever we can and make things as fresh as possible. Menu wise I'd like to add more catering service and put a focus on items made from scratch or in-house."
The only major change Matta is implementing at this time is switching the shop's coffee to a local roaster based in Marysville. Remnant Coffee Roasters utilizes the same facilities as Bridge Coffee Co. in downtown Marysville. Owner Trent Fochs is a local educator who has slowly developed his roasting hobby into a full fledged business.
"I've been roasting for over 10 years now," said Fochs. "I started with a popcorn popper from Goodwill just to mess around and kind of progressed from there. Our official business was founded in 2021 though."
Remnant Coffee sources its beans from Royal Coffee Importers out of Oakland. The coffee comes green — dried seeds plucked from coffee cherries and packaged in burlap sacks. During the roasting process, heat is applied and through that process water is evaporated and sugars begin to carmelize.
"The length of roasting does affect the taste," said Fochs. "We roast everything to medium, or medium-light roasts, to preserve the inherent flavors of the region we're getting it from."
Remnant's primary regions include Guatemala, Colombia, Brazil, Kenya, and Ethiopia. Fochs' personal favorites hail from Africa, which he describes as being brighter and more floral in nature. However, his cold brew mix from Central and South America seemed to be the most popular at the farmers markets this summer.
"Buying local ensures the freshness of your coffee," explained Fochs. "In the last 20-30 years, a rise in small batch roasting has become more prevalent in the coffee community. The goal is really just to preserve the integrity of the coffee. These farmers in different nations, the coffee cherries all ripen at different rates and so often they're hand picking these cherries off of plants one at a time. They put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this product and my ultimate goal is to honor that process and get the flavors that they intend for that coffee to be present in the cup that you drink."
Fochs primarily offers his coffee online, but also sells locally at farmers markets, Stephens Farmhouse, and in a couple local church cafes. His brand was recently incorporated into 2Tall's Sweet Treat Bus in Plumas Lake but The Brick will be the biggest move to date.
"I have memories from when I was 12 years old going into The Brick because I had friends that would do open mic nights there," said Fochs. "So really, The Brick has been a part of my life for the majority of my life. Getting to work with them now is really cool and feels like things have come full circle."
Remnant Coffee was officially introduced at The Brick on Monday. The cafe is currently carrying Fochs' espresso decaf as well as drip coffees from Guatemala and Columbia. For more information about Remnant Coffee, visit remnantcoffeeroasters.com.
The Brick is located at 316 D St. in Marysville and is open daily from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
