Daniel and David Sanchez run Miro Coffee in Zurich, a coffee roastery , two cafés, and offer coffee from their coffee truck. Philipp spoke with them about their roasting philosophy. Openness is key if you want to be successful in the specialty coffee industry.
"Today, we roast differently than we did six years ago," Daniel Sanchez tells me. Back then, in 2014, Daniel started roasting coffee in a gas station. An unusual location for a coffee roastery, but one that sticks in your memory. In the beginning, Miro Coffee roasted much lighter and a bit "edgy," Daniel says during the conversation. Shortly afterward, the Sanchez brothers launched a coffee truck, which they used to make coffee daily in front of ETH Zurich. There, they were able to gather a lot of feedback and encounter a broad audience.
“From construction workers to physics professors, we make coffee for everyone.”
Daniel Sanchez
The wealth of feedback has helped refine the roasting language. Developing your own roasting approach is an exciting process for every roastery.
There's your own idea of what specialty coffee should taste like. Then there are your personal preferences for certain coffees. And then there are the customers who need to be found to match your preferences so that the strategy works. The more open a roaster is in this regard, the more it allows you to strike a balance between narrower and broader boundaries.
"We have simple specialty coffees, but also ones that don't taste like coffee at all—so there's something for everyone." Daniel brewed me a washed coffee from Ethiopia that was floral and tea-like, but still tasted like coffee. The espresso from Colombia that followed was definitely no longer a mass-market coffee—it was a fruity coffee bomb that tastes like a dessert, especially as a cappuccino.
Daniel Sanchez from miro coffee, Zurich
Growing organically and staying open at Miro Coffee
Today, Alfonso roasts with the 5kg Probatone roaster. Alfonso comes from southern Italy and grew up with dark, Robusta-heavy espressos. "When I bring my family coffee from here, they dismiss it. It's not coffee, it's nothing," Alfonso jokes and laughs. Coffee is a cultural asset, and its origins shape how we all perceive coffee.
The roastery is separated from the café by a glass wall, offering insights into the craft. There are no secrets, which is why I visited Miro. They see themselves as craftsmen, not artists.
Next to the roastery is the office, which is constantly filling up. Here, David, Daniel, and their growing team manage the café, green coffee purchasing, marketing, and the company's ongoing development.
"We're not stressed," Daniel tells me, "and we don't have to grow at all costs. We do want to grow, but organic is the key."
Daniel Sanchez
And Miro Coffee wants to remain open – and continue to focus on the people they see every day. They're now located at Zurich Central Station, where they'll meet commuters – and there are incredibly diverse coffee preferences there, too. Just as we, as Kaffeemacher, offer specialty coffee at Basel Central Station, or Adrianos at Bern Central Station, offer specialty coffee, Miro is now joining them in Zurich.
David Sanchez in conversation with Philipp Schallberger
Not loud, but present and thoughtful
I've known Daniel since 2014, when we met at the Barista World Championships in Rimini. Then, in 2015, he served me a coffee at the Swiss Filter Coffee Championships. He was a participant, and I was on the jury. I was able to give him feedback and inform him that he was disqualified because he had exceeded the time limit.
Championships are an emotional affair, and not everyone manages to remain calm—especially in a moment when you were supposed to have served a good coffee and were disqualified. Dani did. He accepted it, kept his cool, and said that it was about the coffee anyway, not him.
Those words stuck with me. After my last visit in September, I realized that he didn't just mean it, but that's how Miro Coffee works. Miro Coffee puts good coffee and craftsmanship first. Without attitude, yet trendy – it's great that you're helping to shape the Swiss coffee scene.
