By C. Jayden Smith
The family-owned-and-operated company High Tide Coffee celebrated its third year of operations on Jan. 5, hitting a milestone that small businesses dream of accomplishing.
Owners Annie and Scott Kendall and their staff commemorated the occasion with champagne, a Birthday Cake latte, and a “Young, Wild, and Three” message emblazoned across gold balloons.
Scott said on Monday, Jan. 10, that his team managed a feat he never could have imagined 10 years ago, when he was working in marketing and events, not focusing on coffee at all.
“So many businesses, especially small ones in small communities, don’t really get to their third year, let alone be at the level we are, so we’re pretty happy and pretty proud,” Scott said.
The company originated as a way to bring coffee to the beaches during surfing events. It evolved into a small cart inside EPIC Yoga’s North Beach location before the Kendalls set up shop at 1624 N. El Camino Real in 2019.
Throughout the pandemic, Scott said, High Tide has been grateful for its customers’ support that allowed the doors to remain open and for a second location to open at 27271 La Paz Rd., Unit A, in Laguna Niguel.
“We’ve kind of made ourselves part of the routine of so much of the community,” Scott said. “We’ve got great relationships with our customers, (and) we see the same faces day in and day out.”
He added that everyone involved is having fun with the current situation, but that he and Annie are not opposed to expanding. In the short term, Scott said they want to grow their roasting business and bring more of it in-house.
High Tide Coffee Co. offers direct trade, 100% Arabica bean coffee, a range of in-house roasts, other fare, and merchandise.
C. Jayden Smith graduated from Dana Hills High in 2018 before pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in digital and broadcast journalism from the University of North Texas. After graduating in December 2020, he reported for the Salina Journal in Salina, Kansas. Jayden loves college football and bothering his black lab named Shadow.
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