I don’t like McDonald's, greedy people, techno parties, and long Nordic winters without sun.

As a freelancer, I could arrange each day differently, but I find that having fixed working hours and free weekends works best for my mental health.

In the end, most of the time is just finding time for creating, not divine inspiration.

Also, traveling and sketching are important to get fresh ideas.

I also like to go to nature and take bike trips.

I try to have slow mornings when I do yoga, then have my sourdough toast with coffee and read a book.

So, yes, coffee is important in this morning ritual.

But I feel that life constantly brings some unexpected opportunities all the time, and I get to know wonderful people.

"Be kind to yourself and others!"

Also, I grew up on a small bee farm, so it was natural for me to name it Minifundi as it comes from the Spanish word “Minifundia”, a term used to designate a small farm.

I was not drinking coffee back then, but the coffee culture from this city got me! I was working in a small café/roastery after my Uni hours, doing all sorts of jobs from waitressing, selling beans, and slowly learning how to use a coffee machine.

I went back to Paris and a poor working experience later, I decided to move back to Oz to become a barista and learn how to make coffee.

I quickly realised that I had tons to learn and that quality was made before the beans hit the burrs of a grinder.

I was hanging around the sensory lab & code black roastery, shadowing roasters, trying to learn as much as I could.

After two years, I moved back to Paris, convinced that I wanted to roast.

A position was open at Lomi, and Paul Arnephy kindly gave me the chance to assist him before letting me roast the bulk of the production.

I keep very good memories of it.

Finding gems, exploring origins, and trying to find the quirky bean that sets it apart from the others.

I cup a lot and rely on a few different importers.

I also travel to the origin to source directly with farmers such as Carlos Pola, Andres Acosta, Douglas Benitez, the Bayter family, and build special ties with bigger structures such as Greenco in Burundi and Cocarive in Brazil.

I am always looking for a variety of profiles and processes as long as it makes sense in the cup.

With the mountains nearby, I enjoy a good bike ride, exploring the many mountain passes that the area has to offer!

The city center has a real cachet thanks to this material.

People are now aware that a good coffee is expected anytime, anywhere.

"Stay curious."

I wanted to get closer to the raw material and closer to producers to maybe understand more of the complex industry.

But seriously, I learned to be more patient and not always jump on the next thing.

Sometimes I look around and I want the roastery to be somewhere else already, but I have to understand that the people behind it put years of effort in.

I feel like coffee is actually a slow industry, which I like, it's really about the connections you make and not just about the next Panama Gesha.

(still one of the best times I had).

After I finished my studies, I started working full-time at a coffee roastery and from there, in two other coffee shops.

Overall, I've been in the industry since 2018.

I thought it was perfect and shows what I‘m trying to do here.

Not the be perfect from the beginning, having to courage to start somewhere and keep improving.

We started learning through trial and error, and that shouldn’t be a problem.

Whether friends share them with you or through a subscription.

To me, it makes sense to let someone who‘s part of the industry choose the upcoming roastery for me, and I get to sit back and enjoy great coffees without the hassle of ordering everywhere.

Especially the city park, which actually transitions into the woods, is great.

There are some mountain bike tracks which are great for me since I love riding my downhill bike there.

"Sandbox Coffee started to be a platform where I‘m trying to showcase other people’s coffee projects.

I don‘t want to buy from the „famous“ producers only; many already do.

I‘m trying to buy project-oriented, which means there‘s usually some purpose to why I choose that coffee."

We love to collaborate with subscription boxes, we think it’s a great way to experience many different coffees and roast styles.

We hope Jerry will keep on growing.

Yes, the pandemic life.

It was nice actually, it gave us some time to develop some new projects.

This spring we managed to fulfill one of those dreams we kept postponing: we opened a flagship store in the heart of Bucharest where you can come and drink any of the coffees in our offer and learn more about each of them.

People's habits changed: the office areas are semi-deserted, and people don’t grab their coffee on their way to work as they used to, so the areas for coffee shops to strive are different now and the approach is more of a leisure experience.

This is great because we always said that coffee and specialty coffee in particular is all about the experience: the sensory experience and the human experience.

So the coffee scene changed, some coffee shops closed but so many learned their lesson from what failed, and with newfound energy a wave of coffee shops opened in spring.

“It is close to miraculous and you should cherish it.”