{"id":90047,"date":"2026-09-29T06:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T13:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/?p=90047"},"modified":"2026-09-29T07:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T14:36:00","slug":"sheldrake-coffee-pioneer-roasting-50-year-belmont-shore-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/eat-see-do-2\/eat\/sheldrake-coffee-pioneer-roasting-50-year-belmont-shore-2","title":{"rendered":"Sheldrake Coffee, a pioneer of in-house roasting, celebrates 50 years in Belmont Shore"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A soft ch- ch- ch- ch-<\/em> sound comes from a 100-year-old coffee roasting machine as it turns raw coffee beans in a heated drum. The sound is just barely heard over the quiet jazz playing through nearby speakers, but it helps create a certain ambience that fills Sheldrake Coffee Roasting, a small coffee shop on the corner of Second Street and Livingston Drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outside on the patio, owner Mike Sheldrake can be found talking to customers like they\u2019re old buddies. Sheldrake has become friends with many of his regulars, some of whom have been coming since the shop opened in 1976.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Sheldrake Coffee Roasting<\/a> is celebrating its 50th anniversary<\/a> on Wednesday, Sept. 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. with catering from Primal Alchemy<\/a> and presentations about the shop\u2019s history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheldrake\u2019s Coffee Roasting began as Polly\u2019s Gourmet Coffee and was the only in-house coffee roasting business between Beverly Hills and San Diego.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mike Sheldrake at his coffee shop, Sheldrake Coffee Roasting in Long Beach on Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Mike Sheldrake, owner, grabs a handful of roasted coffee beans in Long Beach, Monday, Sept. 28, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sheldrake\u2019s father, Eddie, had opened a diner in 1968 called Polly\u2019s Pies<\/a> \u2014 now with locations across Southern California. Eddie wanted to control the coffee they were serving and tasked Sheldrake, the resident coffee lover, to open a shop specifically to make quality coffee for the family\u2019s restaurant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was the coffee fanatic in the company. I just lived for a good cup of coffee,\u201d he said. Sheldrake ran the shop as a subsidiary of Polly\u2019s Pies for 13 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThen I had what is called an \u2018entrepreneurial seizure,\u2019\u201d Sheldrake said. \u201cThat’s a situation where you’re working for somebody else, and one day you say, \u2018Wait a minute! If I know so much about what I’m doing, why are they getting all the money?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He bought the coffee shop from his parents in 1989 and has been running it independently ever since. Polly\u2019s Pies continues to be one of their biggest customers, buying 1,000 pounds of coffee each week. Sheldrake also supplies the coffee sold at the Long Beach Airport and 15 other businesses throughout the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mike Sheldrake, owner, checks the coffee beans after roasting. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Mike Sheldrake talks with customers at his coffee shop, Sheldrake Coffee Roasting. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sheldrake Coffee Roasting has built a name for itself as a coffee expert. The shop even appeared in an episode of the History Channel\u2019s \u201cModern Marvels\u201d<\/a> about the history of coffee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shop\u2019s identity was solidified when Starbucks opened down the street in 1993.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBack in the day, [Starbucks was] the 800-pound gorilla. We just hung on everything they did and tried to do it,\u201d Sheldrake said. \u201cFortunately for us, we failed in everything that they were doing, and we eventually learned that what we sell is coffee beans, coffee drinks and pastries.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheldrake said they always knew how to make good coffee, but they struggled with marketing. A consultant set up a David (Sheldrake) and Goliath (Starbucks) marketing campaign that garnered the attention of the New York Times<\/a> in 1999. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Sheldrake\u2019s strength lies in his in-house coffee roasting program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur mechanical advantage in the business is that coffee will lose 25% of its flavor in the first 14 days after it’s roasted,\u201d Sheldrake said. \u201cThat’s why we import the beans and bring them in green, and we roast them on our 100-year-old German machine.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the large machine, Sheldrake and his team roast 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of coffee every month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Only four people, including Sheldrake, know how to operate the machine. It\u2019s a very delicate process that requires a lot of fine-tuning, Sheldrake explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Cameron Johnson, roaster, releases coffee beans from a 100-year-old coffee roaster at Sheldrake Coffee Roasting. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/
Roasted coffee beans in a 100-year-old coffee roaster at Sheldrake Coffee Roasting. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s like when you’re riding a bicycle, you make a million adjustments every second. That’s what these roasters do on this machine, without even thinking about it. They just react to what’s being shown to them by the roasting process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The roasters can check on the beans as they roast by pulling out a rod that holds a small sample of the beans. When the beans are ready \u2013 usually once they\u2019re at a medium-dark roast \u2013 they\u2019re dumped onto a cooling tray then packaged by hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheldrake is proud of the product he puts out and the customers-turned-friends he\u2019s made along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople ask what my favorite coffee is, might as well ask me who my favorite grandchild is. I love them all. If I don’t love it, it’s not going to be good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sheldrake Coffee Roasting, 4606 Second St., is open every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The shop is known for roasting coffee daily in its 100-year-old machine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":90050,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32365],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32346],"class_list":["post-90047","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-eat","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90047","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90047"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90047\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90061,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90047\/revisions\/90061"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90050"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90047"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90047"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90047"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=90047"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=90047"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}