Steve Lee
Steven Lee began his coffee career in 1996 as a barista at Peet’s Coffee in the San Francisco Bay Area. After spending a number of years in the Training & Education Department of Peet’s, he moved on to help open the Roasting and QC Department at Intelligentsia Coffee’s Los Angeles Roasting Works, where he developed his love for the craft of roasting. Since then he has worked on a number of consultancy projects, and has served as a judge for international coffee competitions. Steve’s most recent role brought him to South Korea where he was the Director of Coffee for the SPC Group. In this position, he oversaw all coffee movement for each of the companies in the group and focused on strategic purchase planning, and creating Direct Relationships with the coffee supply chain. In addition to this focus he spent his days cupping coffee, building relationships with importers and growers, writing educational programs, and figuring out better ways to make coffee brown, building off of the work that he was doing when he held the position of Director of Coffee Quality and Education at Groundwork Coffee in Los Angeles . Steve spent two terms the Roasters Guild Executive Council where he had served as the Vice Chair to the Education Committee and Vice Chair to the Events Committee, focusing on creating content for the RG Origin Trips. Steven is a Certificate Holding Lead Instructor for the SCA, which allows him the opportunity to teach, help others, and have meaningful conversations about coffee; something he actually enjoys.