Cat & Cloud Coffee

Alex’s last day!!!

I met Alex while he was scooping ice cream across the street from my apartment and was blown away by his intuitive service.

I went back several times find him and give him my number. It was kinda awkward: “Hi, I’m Chris, we’re creating this thing called Cat & Cloud and you should probably come interview.”

Alex showed up to with a notebook full of questions and ended up being one of our original team members.

He’s worn so many hats and made so many contributions to our culture it would be ridiculous to list them all. I’ll just say it’s been such an amazing ride and we’re gonna miss you man.

Follow to see what Alex is getting up to in NOLA - he’s got some tasty gifts to share! 🍩☕️

The support for has been amazing! The shared stories of how Nicely has inspired so many people on their coffee journey is connecting on a visceral level. Thank you all!

We still have coffee if you want to contribute to this unreal energy vortex. Link in bio.

Have a good weekend y’all!

📸:

is an inspiration to the coffee community worldwide. His energy and passion are infectious—he’ll give you a smile you’ll wear all day.

He’s been having some ongoing health challenges lately. The bills and time away from work keep stacking up, and this is our way of pitching in to help.

A special bag of V.S.E.B. with the legend himself on the label! Half the profits will go straight to Nicely to help cover his medical bills.

The Specialty Coffee industry is a better place when people like Nicely are in the game. Hopefully this makes the recovery process a little less stressful. We ❤️ U Nicely!

Link in bio to grab a bag!

Every week we unpack the ins and outs of building an organization and closing the gap between the vision in our heads and reality. Never perfect but always better, even in our failures.

For a different perspective on creating workplace culture, check out our podcast. If you’re feeling brave and want to get lost in the unfiltered realness of business owner life, we have a Patreon just for you.

Follow the links in our bio and choose your own adventure. We’ll see you there. ✌️

Work gives us a place to practice the skills that will stay with us long after we’ve clocked out.

Patience, communication, empathy, giving and receiving feedback, and how to contribute to a cause that’s bigger than any one person.

This is what’s possible when we see beyond the transactional relationship of simply trading our time for money.

😺⚡️⛈

I don’t know how many thousands of lattes we’ve made but I do know that each of them represents a chance to connect with another human and an opportunity for us to pursue better.

An professional who doesn’t see how their craft connects to others isn’t a professional at all.

A expert who thinks they’re too good to improve won’t be seen as an expert for long.

Here’s to pursuing better for ourselves and others.

😺⚡️⛈

Come visit on his last day! This Sunday, July 11, at our 3600 Portola cafe, 8am-close.

Foy is pursuing his career as a freelance visual artist and illustrator. He’s made some amazing designs for us and has contributed not only as an artist, but as a ball of energy who charges up anyone lucky enough to be in his sphere.

This is what it’s all about - people doing what they were meant to do. We’re proud of you man! ✌️

Swipe for summer magic✨ our new merch collection is live!

It was a lot of fun to figure out how to bottle up the feeling of getting back out there in the world again. We’ve all learned a ton about human connection this past year—now it’s time to take that feeling and go spread more magic into the world with it. Get geared up for it at the link in bio⚡️

It hasn’t been an easy year to work in the service industry, and even in the best times, happiness at a job will fade quick if you do everything you’re supposed to do without finding any actual meaning behind it. Choosing to take ownership over your work, finding your reason to come in with a smile on your face, and showing care for others around you is mad underrated and shows that you’re leading the way, whether you have a title or not. If that’s you, whether it’s just begun or years down the road, you should feel happy and proud—you’re making the service industry a better place & we’re grateful for you. Let’s keep going together.🤝

Milk party🎉 our crew has grown a ton since the pandemic began, and so many have had their first experiences learning latte art in to-go cups! Now it’s time to transfer those skills back into ceramics. Growing that excellence & pursuing better always.🤝

All four cafés have indoor seating open again—the ceramics will be back soon but the good vibes are already here to stay. Come kick it!

Today’s the day😸 in line with the state guidelines, you are no longer required to wear a mask in our cafes! We’ll still have them on behind the counter, but we’re stoked to see all your faces again. Come kick it.🙌🏼

Coffee in personal cups is back.

That’s the post! We’re so stoked.

So hold on to that lid, hand us your clean personal cup, and we’re back in business getting single-use numbers back down again. Thank you for rolling with us through this crazy time—we love y’all!

Roaster, concierge, owner, everything in between…we all crave growth and forward motion. If you only take it at the surface level, a technically repetitive job like we see in coffee could be a challenge to find this growth. But it’s all about going deeper.🤿

We chatted on the podcast this week about intentionally moving a job from having conditional value, that is fully dependent on who or what is around you, to it becoming a more intrinsic opportunity to grow as people through it. Check it out at the link in our bio (now including the visuals on YouTube!) Happy week, everybody.🤝

FIRST FRIDAY📣 All 10oz retail bags are 20% off both in the cafés and online…today’s our best day to stock up! Which has been your favorite coffee to drink lately? Leave recommendations in the comments👀

This weekend’s brought the crowds through Santa Cruz and after last year, we’re loving the return to summer stoke. Shoutout to this crew for rolling with a crazy weekend and taking care of each other through it. Empathy and intentionality are not only for times with our guests but to keep each other at our best too.🤝♥️ enjoy the last of the long weekend, y’all! We’re here our normal hours if you’re here to enjoy this beautiful weather with us.

Ever wished you could take our to-go cup with you forever without it getting soggy and gross? Same here, so we brought this back.😻

We took our classic art from and twisted it in a fresh colorway, so y’all can take that sweet café comfort home with you once again. This one’s courtesy of our friends at , and we’re so stoked on how it turned out! Click the link in our bio to shop, or drop in a cafe—we’re stocked up this afternoon. Cheers.

Everybody wants a cup of the good stuff🥲 We just switched to Carmen Solarte for single origin drip in the cafés and it’s everything we dream of for springtime. If you’ve ever bitten into a sweet honeycrisp apple on a sunny day and had that pure existential moment of appreciating the universe around you, you’ll definitely love this one. Click the link to pick up a bag, or come in and try it for yourself.😻⚡️🍎

Show up every day.⚡️

What we do behind the bar doesn’t only serve its purpose while we serve drinks, and the human connection isn’t just about having “good service” as a cafe.

The energy we put in on a shift, whether it’s coffee or anything else, is a reflection of who we are as people, and it follows the people we touch out into the world around us.

What are you focusing on this week to build connection and show the people around you that you’re showing up? We want to know!

She’s back! You may remember Bell from our downtown cafe—she left to start her own business, .red.door.pre.loved boutique, and now we get to meet again and help support LRD in Santa Cruz.

The LRD pop-up is now open at our Portola cafe, every Thursday-Sunday, all summer long—cruise through to check out their collection of vintage clothing, home goods, and work from local artists. Supporting each other & making it happen together. Nothing better🤝

It’s a Monday to celebrate: as of right now, indoor dining is back in business at the APTOS cafe.😻 Tell your friends, tell your mom, tell your dog—it’s been a long year and we’re so stoked to have y’all back in here with us.💙 Happy Monday!!

NEW COFFEES ON THE MENU💥

We just launched 4 new coffees that showcase some very special new and old relationships. One of them is Wilson Morales’ 👆🏽—we purchase and serve his farm’s entire production every year as part of our Best Friends Club partnerships, and this year’s harvest is now back on the menu.😻

Check the stories for more information, & everything’s live in the web store right now! Can’t wait to hear what y’all think of these.🙌🏼

Actively pursuing better⭐️ in this moment, that means getting ready for full service again (soon!) and an in-house throwdown this weekend for our crew. The more we improve ourselves the better we can serve the people around us! What have y’all been working on to improve lately? Let us know😺

If getting to Australia is feeling a little difficult right now, we got you—a whole fleet of Big Steps are here and ready for new homes. Fresh color combos, old classics...feels good, y’all. Get them while they’re hot!😺 (Link in bio)