Inspiring Conversations with Ana Herrera of Casita Coffee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Saul & Ana.

Hi Ana, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
We are Ana and Saul, owners of Casita Coffee, a tiny coffee house on wheels. Our story started with our love for traveling/exploring and visiting local coffee shops. We often commented, “It would be nice to own a coffee business” but we didn’t really mean it, it was just a comment. We then purchased our first $100 espresso machine and Saul constantly practiced latte art at home, just for fun. We continued supporting local coffee shops and later upgraded our home espresso machine, again, just for fun. The more we learned about the science of coffee, the more intrigued we became. We started making coffee at home for friends and family, and the more coffee we made the more we realized the connection it creates with people.

Then one day in the middle of the pandemic, scrolling through the Facebook marketplace, this tiny home on wheels popped up. The pandemic made us realize how short and fragile life is and how much we wanted to continue spending every second together building this business and pursuing our dreams.  So we then decided to randomly “just go for it”. Once Casita finally made it to our home, reality hit as we not only realized all the renovations that were needed but most importantly realized everything we needed to acquire to run a successful coffee business. After months of renovations, barista YouTube tutorials, and countless trials and errors to perfect each recipe, all while working our full-time career jobs and raising a toddler and a newborn, the grand opening finally approached, in July 2021. The fear and doubts of whether this was the right decision as neither of us had ever worked in a coffee shop filled our heads.

Now a year and a half later, here we stand feeling so much gratitude and appreciation for the amazing support we have received from the regulars we have acquired and the community we have built along this journey. As a small tiny house on wheels, Casita has stolen the hearts of many customers that will follow us to our different spots. We are constantly complimented by our unique drinks, amazing coffee, “cute casita (home)” and welcoming customer service. We have truly enjoyed the community, conversing with our customers, and being part of people’s morning routine while they visit us for their cup of coffee. Welcome to Casita! We believe that kindness, good vibes, and good coffee are essential.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
It certainly has not been an easy road. Hard work always comes with challenges and nothing worthwhile comes easy.

We jumped into a business we had absolutely no knowledge about, and doing a mobile business requires a lot of hard work, perseverance, resilience, and discipline. We started a business during the busiest time of our lives while raising a newborn and toddler. Many sacrifices have been made, such as one of us taking a leap of faith and letting go of a career corporate job of over 8 years to fully run the business.

It has been a tough road since we refuse to sacrifice time with our now 2 and 4-year-old boys but somehow we manage and make time for it all. In addition, we had to learn and become the primary employee, manager, accountant, and marketer to a whole business without any proper training or guidance.

Has it been smooth? No. Easy? No. Perfect? Definitely not, but it certainly has been fun and a great learning journey and our growth and customers keep us motivated. We keep reminding ourselves that there is no way that all this hard work won’t come with a reward in the end.

As you know, we’re big fans of Casita Coffee. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
We are a specialty coffee house on wheels, a local small-town shop providing curated coffee to amazing people. We are a mobile coffee house, usually at the Gilbert Farmers Market, seasonal markets, and private events. We specialize in creating uniquely crafted drinks for which many are inspired by our Latin culture with a more modern trendy style of making coffee. We are mainly known for our delicious Horchata latte, a taste you won’t find anywhere else because our Horchata is crafted with a recipe that comes from the heart, and not a powder or a concentrate.

We take pride in being known for our unique, creative/trendy, and high-quality beverages. We are also known for our Cookie Butter Latte using the delicious cookie butter Biscoff spread, Blue Churro Latte, sweetened with organic blue agave syrup and topped with butterfly pea flower tea, making your latte delicious, blue and beautiful and our Spanish Latte, sweetened with condensed milk. If we can make a drink using fresh quality ingredients (or ingredients that offer health benefits) in lieu of store-bought syrup we will, and that’s a detail our customers love and appreciate. One of our goals at Casita is for every person to feel welcomed and treated with kindness like we say “Mi casa, su casa”. Or better yet, mi casita, tu casita.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
We both grew up being taught the importance of working hard, being kind, and never giving up. Growing up, both of us were known for being sociable, resilient and determined. We both have always had a passion for helping others and bringing joy to a community. We believe that not only did our personality get us to where we are today but also gave us the discipline needed to run a business despite the struggles faced.

We both are first-generation college graduates and attended Arizona State University for Undergraduate and Graduate School. We have always learned that hard work pays off and that one who perseveres can accomplish anything they set their mind to. As my parents always said, “Si Se Puede (Yes you can!).” & that is exactly the motto we live by.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: instagram.com/casita_coffee
• Facebook: Facebook.com/CasitacoffeeAZ
• Other: https://g.page/r/CbaucAm7smWKEB0/review