Carl Diedrich was born in Magdeburg, Germany. He received a degree in mechanical engineering from the Technische Hochschule in Berlin. After graduating, Mr. Diedrich worked as an engineer for the Ford Motor Company in England and other locations in Europe.
In the early months of World War II, Mr. Diedrich enlisted in the German army, where he served as a spotter in an artillery unit.
Shortly after the end of the war, he worked for a year as an apprentice at a coffee roaster in Naples, Italy. In 1947, Mr. Diedrich rejoined Ford as an engineer and worked there until 1951, based in the Middle East, where he continued to study the art of making coffee. He then held a series of jobs including college professor, marine biologist and construction foreman.
In the mid-1960's, Mr. Diedrich and his grandmother went to Costa Rica to try to reclaim a coffee plantation from the government that the family had lost during World War II. They were unable to accomplish that, but Mr. Diedrich was able to meet with coffee growers and became a joint owner of a coffee plantation in Guatemala.
A few years later, he moved with his family to a 40-acre coffee plantation in Guatemala. While growing coffee beans, he developed a new coffee roaster.
Mr. Diedrich moved with his family to Costa Mesa, California in 1962. He rented a one-car garage, where he used his hand-crafted machine to roast coffee. In the beginning, Mr. Diedrich gave away bags of beans, but when more people started to show up he decided to charge for the product.
As the business blossomed, Mr. Diedrich moved his headquarters to a strip mall (this is where we met Carl and Inga). From 1972 to 1982, he drove a van seven to eight times a year to Guatemala to take care of the coffee plantation.
Mr. Diedrich retired in 1985, the year his son Martin bought the business and expanded the focus from roasting to brewing coffee.
Carl passed away 2001, at age 86.
An amazing family. Oh, what a difference one person can make. We are forever grateful.
You never can know what one encounter can do to change your life - and business. 