Kean Coffee

Martin's concept for Diedrich Coffee was to create a Community Meeting Place where people could enjoy a great cup of coffee with their friends and neighbors in an atmosphere that promoted coffee lore and a local feel. These original coffeehouses were exciting, innovative, creative and comfortable places. This concept proved to be phenomenally successful and prompted Martin to grow and expand. By 1991, Martin had built the company's fourth coffeehouse in Orange County. His success allowed him to attract a more sophisticated management team to raise capital, and by 1996 the company had expanded to more than twelve Diedrich Coffee coffeehouses in Orange County and San Diego. After the company went public, expansion continued, and Diedrich Coffee bought several other coffee chains, bringing the company to international, status with locations numbering in the hundreds. The Diedrich Family legacy also includes recognition as one of the world's top five manufacturers of coffee roasters. Carl Diedrich invented and hand-built the first roaster on the Guatemala farm in the 1960's. His purpose was to build a roaster specifically designed to custom roast the very fine grade of coffee he was growing. His philosophy of roasting was considered near heresy at the time, but is now widely regarded as the best way to roast high quality coffees. Carl's original coffee roaster was the inspiration for Martin's brother Stephan Diedrich. Stephan vastly improved Carl's original concept utilizing state-of-the-art technology and engineering. He created the manufacturing business Diedrich Coffee Roasters - a completely separate business from Diedrich Coffee owned and operated by Stephan Diedrich, which builds the coffee roasting machines. There are well over 2,500 Diedrich roasters operating in more than 50 countries worldwide. In 2004, Martin parted ways with his company, Diedrich Coffee, to return to his roots as an independent coffeehouse operator. With the launch of Kean Coffee, the Diedrich family coffee legacy continues. Stop by Kean Coffee on a weekday afternoon, and you may very well find 8-year old Kean Diedrich, the next generation, steaming up his hot chocolate behind the espresso bar.