Meet Tolga Senel of El Turco Coffee
“Being raised in a culture where any conversation with family or friends is accompanied by a cup of delicious coffee, Turkish coffee that is, coffee culture is engraved in my nature.”
~ Tolga Senel
Cool story about how Tolga and I connected. In August, I was visiting family in Tampa and he sent me a DM on Instagram asking if I would be open to trying El Turco Coffee and do a review. Located in Tampa, Tolga had no idea I was actually in town at the time.
Due to scheduling conflicts, we weren’t able to meet in person while I was in Tampa, but when I returned to Colorado a couple of weeks later, he had shipped a large bag of his amazing Columbian medium roast beans to me.
I’m happy to share my review of El Turco Coffee, but first…. his story. Tolga, tell our readers, are you a shop, roastery or both?
El Turco Coffee is single location coffee shop and roastery that opened just this year.
How exciting! I know our readers want to hear about your coffee origin story and why you have a passion for this industry. How and why did you get started in coffee?
Being raised in a culture where any conversation with family or friends is accompanied by a cup of delicious coffee, Turkish coffee that is, coffee culture is engraved in my nature. I came to the US when I was 16, 31 years ago, and I always had my own cezve and a pouch of fine grind Turkish coffee...until recently. I had always thought it was difficult for me to find good tasting coffee around Florida...I had to order my coffee from New York or from Turkey.
In a business meeting in Cali, Colombia late last year, I came to know a few coffee growers there, and one was ready to get out of the coffee growing business. I saw the opportunity there, and thats how my story began.
Now, from enjoying to drink coffee to growing it - is a big jump right? Well, another side of me is the entrepreneur side. I am a technology executive working for a large national radiology company, but I have always had investments or interest in side businesses. I had a fitness center in Tampa Bay area for 5 years for example, so the actual business side of coffee is intriguing and fun to manage.
Since April of this year, i have been producing and selling online what I believe is the finest, best tasting Colombian coffee beans, best coffee that I personally ever had to enjoy in my cup. My customers also provide me the same feedback.
I am not shooting for the stars, even though who wouldn’t want to expand their business and generate much revenue. I am actually shooting to be a boutique, online coffee shop for those who understand what fine quality coffee is, who buy coffee beans and grind themselves at home and who appreciate the smooth and tasty experience it brings to their lives.
All those Starbucks lovers are also welcome to try my coffee but El Turco Coffee is never going to be some burnt yucky coffee buried in sugary creamy layers in a cup people will take to go from a coffee shop.
What are your core roasts, where are they from and why did you chose them?
I do offer unroasted coffee beans, as well as light roast, medium roast and dark roast options so far. I also produce in Colombia medium roast medium grind coffee infused with CBD.
Interesting! How did you come up with the name for your business? We'd love to know that story, too!
I am Turkish, hence the name El Turco Coffee. The name might be cheesy, but this is how I am being referred to among friends and associates in Colombia. And the logo for my coffee, the picture is the head shot of Sultan Mehmet II who conquered Constantinople at the age of 20 and switched its name to Istanbul. I am a history geek and I am very proud to have his picture with my nickname in Spanish in one logo!
Do you have specific cause or charitable organization you support that you'd like our readers to know about? If so, list it below and why this is important to you.
Yes, the Coffee Federation in Columbia.
I love that! Tolga, thank you so much for sharing your story! Next time I’m going to be in Tampa, I’ll let you know ahead of time.
So, what did I think of El Turco Coffee?
A couple of things to describe my experience. I use a French press at home. I feel that I get a much more natural flavor from the beans when I grind them for use at the time and without any filters.
I let the grind bloom for about 2 minutes before pouring the rest of the water in the press. Then, I press down about halfway to allow the beans to get fully saturated for another 2 minutes. Then, I bring the press back up to the top and press all the way down. I let it brew for about another 4 minutes before pouring.
To that, the roast that Tolga sent me is a Columbian bean, medium roast. Now, I will say I am not a coffee grader. My expertise is contingency planning and emergency readiness, although I am learning a lot about how to detect the various notes from the roast.
I really enjoyed this coffee! It brewed very well and was very smooth. I typically do not use any sweetener in my coffee and for an iced latte, I use unsweetened almond milk. This roast did not need any sweetener and I will definitely be making this again. Here’s a short video of how that went.
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