By Nick Sestanovich
At 16, Reid Burford is about the age where one might expect to find him working as a coffee shop barista, but that is not the case. Instead, the Benicia High School junior roasts and distributes his own coffee as part of his business Howling Hounds Coffee Roasters. What’s more: he has been doing it since he was 14.
Burford has been a coffee enthusiast since he had his first cup of joe at the age of 12. This interest was magnified as a result of going to coffee shops over the years.
“I was very interested in the process of roasting coffee and brewing it,” he said. “I saw these big, fancy, shiny espresso machines at the coffee shops, and I always found it interesting to watch the baristas prepare the coffee.”