Speaker

James Freeman

Founder of Blue Bottle Coffee

“I was good enough to get the jobs that I really didn't want, and not quite good enough to get the job I did want.”

There are only two things James Freeman has ever really wanted to do: play the clarinet and make coffee.

Today, Freeman is best known as the founder of Blue Bottle Coffee, the premium coffee chain with more than 75 upscale cafes around the world, famed for the long lines of customers who wait for its individually brewed cups of coffee.

In 2017, Swiss food giant Nestle bought a majority stake in Freeman’s company in a deal that reportedly values Blue Bottle at more than $700 million.

Talks

29:09

Slow Is Beautiful

James Freeman•Food

The whimsy and brilliance of a maverick coffee artisan. Can coffee be an art? Can it share in the fabric of growing a local community? Based on the massive lines for Blue Bottle Coffee, the answer just might be yes.

DO USA

2012

Side projects