Meet The Team
Zarah - Head of Wholesale
Back in 2015, Zarah was looking for a job that would involve eating and drinking delicious things, but one that would also let her clock off early to go to band practice. With a background in sound engineering, music was her first love but coffee soon took its place! She started at Workshop Coffee, where the buzz of the cafe environment really captured her heart. Slowly but surely, it dawned on her that she could make a living talking to people and drinking coffee all day - what a dream!
Over the next few years, she would pour all her energy into learning as much as she could about the coffee business and in 2018, she sold all her synthesisers to fund the start of Calendar! Zarah now spends most of her time looking after wholesale customers and gets a good kick from seeing the brand pop up in random and unlikely locations. Her goal is to make high quality coffee more accessible and easy to drink.
Favourite coffees? Tropical and creamy flavour profiles, usually from Ecuador, but I do love boshing a good solid Colombian on batch brew too!
Dan - Head of Coffee
One of the founders of Calendar, Dan is responsible for sourcing, roasting and quality control of all our coffees. With a degree in Biology and a background in hospitality, Dan's career in coffee was a happy accident. He tasted his first speciality coffee at a wine and spirits trade show in London, and has been hooked ever since!
In 2014 he landed his dream job as a Roastery Assistant at Workshop Coffee in London. With no experience, he plunged head first into the world of coffee and was in his element working for a company with such high standards. After 6 incredible years, he left Workshop as Head Roaster, excited to pour his experience and passion into his own project - Calendar Coffee.
KIRSTY - ROASTER
Kirsty first discovered specialty coffee back in 2007 whilst working for a non-profit in San Francisco. The experience of tasting San Francisco’s roasters sparked a passion that would eventually lead her to work in the coffee industry, some 14 years later.
She has spent the last decade tasting coffee from roasters around the world, always seeking a memorable experience. She eventually found her path to Calendar at the end of 2021.
KEITH - SUSTAINABILITY MANAGER
Originally from New York, Keith has been living in Ireland for nearly 20 years - it’s definitely home at this point. He has been working throughout the coffee industry for over 15 years and has loved every moment of it (except for the occasional difficult customer - you know who you are…).
During his time in the industry, Keith learned the ropes in a few 2nd wave cafes, he learned the craft in a couple 3rd wave cafes and now looks forward to settling in at Calendar and learning whatever the next couple of waves have coming our way.
BRYAN - ROASTERY MANAGER
Bryan’s love of coffee came from a love of sitting down. He sat down over here, he sat down over there. He sat down everywhere! He sat down so much, there came a day, he sat down in a coffee shop, and he decided to put his plan of being a figment of people’s fever dreams to rest.
He’s since stopped sitting down and has started and stopped working as a barista, as which he actually in fact, stood, for the majority. He worked and sat in the position of manager at Coffeewerk + Press in Galway city before standing down from the role to head for Colombia, where he realised the human good that can be done in the world of coffee at origin and that he would stand up for that.
Seamus - Trainee Roaster
Séamus’ coffee journey started whilst working as a kitchen porter in a heaving cafe/restaurant in Dublin City. Amidst the chaos of flying crockery and shouting chefs he always envied the team of baristas who took things a little bit slower and created a comfortable, warm environment for the regulars. Every night when he would mop the premises alone in what seemed like the dark, his gaze would always shift towards the enchanting lights and glimmering steel of the Victoria Arduino Black Eagle.
He dreamt that one day he would throw down the waterproof kitchen porter’s apron and pick up the the not-so-waterproof, pocketed barista’s apron. He moved to Dingle, Kerry and did just that. Working alongside his brother in a quaint bakery, he had ample time and space to delve into the craft.
He fell in love with the whole process. From exploring the nitty-gritty science of espresso theory right down to delivering a couple of ounces of silky foam that made a stranger’s day.
As a generally creative individual, the bonus-aspect of latte art was another element of the coffee world that Séamus adored, following the flow of those tulips, one stack at a time. Séamus continued to work as a barista for the subsequent seven years, spending the last four of those holding tenure in the well renowned Coffeewerk + Press. During his time in Coffeewerk, his eyes were opened to a whole new world of coffee - speciality.
He loved every minute of working with an array of the world’s best coffees, roasted by the best in the game.There was no turning back for Séamus’ taste buds at this point, it was one those ‘when you know, you know’ situations.
After taking a brief hiatus from the coffee industry, Séamus was thrilled to join Calendar. A place where he could dive deeper and learn even more about the craft he’s been honing since the ripe age of 19.
Favourite coffees:
Definitely more of a fan of fruitier/fuzzier coffees. Kenyans, Ethiopians and Colombians are the standouts!
Lisa - Roaster
Lisa has been working in the hospitality industry since 2014. She loved customer service and the hustle and bustle of busy restaurants and cafes.
While living in Toronto, she worked with Pilot coffee roasters, a well established roasters in the city. Here is where she fell in love with everything that goes into making the perfect cup of coffee!
Lisa returned to Galway with her new found passion for everything coffee, and continued to manage cafes with a focus on training up excellent baristas serving delicious coffee. At the beginning of 2023, she decided to leave her job to follow her passion and eventually found herself working with Calendar! She is so excited to learn as much as she can and enhance her tasting skills.