About Us

About Cafe Emporos

After teaching and working at a specialty coffee shop in Cheonan, South Korea for a few years, I decided to start my own coffee business in the U.S. My dream was to open a coffee shop and brighten people's days with the latte art I had learned overseas. However, opening a café proved more difficult than I had anticipated. So, I began selling prefilled hand drip coffee filters at local farmers' markets, doing 3-5 markets a week while teaching online full-time.

Despite my efforts, my business wasn't scaling as I had hoped. In 2020, I became a full-time caregiver for my grandma due to COVID-19. I had to stop doing markets because my grandma became my priority. During this time, I was overwhelmed with the responsibilities of caregiving, teaching online, and trying to keep my business afloat. Eventually, I exceeded the limit on missed classes by just two and received an email stating that my contract had been terminated after four years of dedicated service, over 15,000 classes, and 7,000 excellent reviews. Losing this job was a significant blow. I remember staring at the sentence in disbelief: "Your contract has been terminated."

For a month, I didn't tell anyone about losing my job. I knew depression was looming, so I decided to focus on my mental health. I stopped watching TV and listening to music to avoid negativity. One morning, I turned on KLOVE and heard the song "Overcomer" by Mandisa. I prayed, "God, you take it," referring to my entire situation.

On November 5, a month after losing my job, I posted a 59-second video on TikTok pitching the "coffeegram"—a personalized coffee packet that could be sent as a greeting card. I hoped to make enough sales to cover my rent. When I woke up the next morning, my video had 300 likes but no sales. Despite the disappointment, I was encouraged by the likes.

That morning, as I was getting ready to leave, I checked my phone again and saw more comments and likes pouring in. One comment read, "Change your personal account to a business account. You're going to go viral." I quickly made the change and added my website link so customers could easily find me. Just before getting into my car, I said a little prayer, as I always do.

As soon as I got into my car and started driving, my phone connected to the car's speakers via Bluetooth. Suddenly, I heard the "cha-ching" alert sound repeatedly—indicating multiple sales. It was an emotional moment; I felt like my car had turned into a slot machine hitting the jackpot. By the time I reached my destination, I had received around 200-300 orders. The entire drive was filled with the sound of sales notifications, and tears of relief and joy streamed down my face.

Sales slowed down during the week, so I posted the video again. I woke up to another surge of orders, totaling 500 within a few hours. In two weeks, I had over 1,200 orders to fulfill. Although I was grateful, I was also unprepared for such a large volume of orders. Inventory was low, the post office was chaotic due to COVID-19, and I wasn't sure if customers would like the product. Fortunately, five-star reviews started coming in, and customers loved the coffeegrams and the printed photos.

Fast forward to 2024, TikTok invited me to attend the National Association of Latino Elected Officials (NALEO) conference to share my story. Despite the challenges, I created a unique greeting card experience that combines the warmth of coffee with special memories. Although I never opened a coffee shop, my mission remains the same: to put a smile on people's faces through the joy of coffee.

Thoughtful and Delicious

After ordering the Christmas Tea set, (Advent Tea), I was delighted to order TWO sets this time, one for my daughter and one for myself. The packaging and attention to detail on each packet is pleasing and beneficial. The quality and variety of the teas is well worth the price and I hope for future opportunities to participate.

Best Advent gift for adults

I ordered the Advent Calendar tea set. What a wonderful way to celebrate Advent. Your teas are amazing! The devotions and the music were awesome and I was absolutely super surprised by the amazing quality of the delicious teas and the packaging. Every bit of it was intentional and beautiful! Thank you!

Tea Lover Rookie

A dear friend introduced me to the Christmas Advent tea. Primarily a green tea drinker, I fell in love with all the different flavors, the scriptures, reflection questions and of course the Christmas songs. When it was finished, I felt there was something very special missing in my daily devotional routine, the tea.
I went online and searched your website to see what you had to offer. I love the tea sampler, 3 of my favorite flavors x 10 each. I’m enjoying it everyday. Thank you!

Advent Tea

I love the concept. In fact, I think you should have something like this all year around. If you do just think again next year, I will definitely buy.

Cafegram

Easy to create and arrived promptly

Nice Tea Selection, But QR Didn’t Work

I really enjoyed the teas I’ve tried so far. The Bible verses and reflection were great, as well. The only disappointment was that the QR codes for the Christmas songs did not work. A reason a bought the advent was for the songs.

Love this advant ideas, so beautiful and teas are delicious, flavor. I will be buying more then one next year!

Perfect!

Ordered two Advent Calendars as gifts. They were well designed with Scripture and a QR code with a seasonal song on each packet. I feel great giving these as gifts because i know, from experience, the coffee is delicious and ieach packet is filled with the utmost care.

Perfect Christmas Gift

I presented this gift to a dear friend who loves God and tea. She was blown away and has reported back that she thoroughly enjoyed the tea, and the pause to devote time to God, this gift gave her.

So peaceful

I just finished Day 1. What a lovely experience from the QR code to listen to the Christmas song, the devotional on the pouch, to the tea itself.
I love it and I’m looking forward to each day’s new experience.

What a Blessing!

I opened the Advent Calendar today and drank my first cuppa while reading the scripture. I also watched the song. I am so excited to enjoy this time remembering Jesus while drinking some tea.

Excellent Product and experience.

Very moving and beautiful morning routine, to prepare for Christmas .
The music is a wonderful touch.

Absolutly amazing!!!!! I love this item. Will gift to friends and family next year.

Advent Calendar 2025 Preorders for Dec. 7th

Wedding Favors

I received the coffee drip custom packets for my wedding. They came out perfect! I’m so excited for my wedding guests to use them! They shipped very quickly and I even got the shipping fee refunded because he was running a special on TikTok shop (even though I ordered directly from his website) which was very sweet! 10/10 recommend these as favors!

Excellent product!!

So handy for traveling. Or when I can't be bothered to use my French press. So convenient!

Company was great to work with. Tea bags were a perfect addition to guest bags at my son's 50th birthday. Great idea
I've already ordered a second set for another family member. thanks for a fun idea.

Fantastic product!

The hand drip coffee filters are just what my wife and I were looking for. What a great invention! Dripping coffee is a much healthier alternative to the French press approach. There is much less residue, if any, at the bottom of our cups.

Love the concept, love the smooth results

Genius deliciousness all wrapped up in a portable, perfect little pour. I got the sampler plus a pack of filters only. Experimenting with my own coffees AND even loose teas. Bottom line: I’m completely smitten. Highly recommend!!

Christmas Tea Bags 5 ct.

Everyone I gave the Earl Grey Teas loved them. Thank you for creating a special gift Happy New Year!!

Thank you so much, Christina! Happy New Year! :)

Best Baby Shower Souvenirs

I ordered the coffee packets for my sister’s baby shower. I loved that I got to customize and upload the images and messages to my liking. My relatives especially loved the coffee.
I will definitely order again.

Thank you so much, Valeria! Happy to hear your family enjoyed the coffee! Happy New Year! :)

Perfect gift for (any) holiday gifts !

Purchased a customized coffee gram last month for a little Halloween gift. Uploading a picture and adding a unique message was super easy! (I was even able to add an Emoji LOL!) Received my order very quickly and was ecstatic with the results! I definitely wanted to keep it instead of gifting it away but it only makes it more exciting to come back and purchase more custom gifts ! Phenomenal service and product!

We LOVED our shipment from Cafe Emporos! It shipped right away and the quality is outstanding. We can’t wait to give them as favors at our wedding

Yes!! They were a hit at our wedding! Happy how they turned out !