Captain Matthew Mancini grew up on the shores of Portage Lakes in Ohio, where mornings often began by catching a few bluegill under a weeping willow tree, playing a round of skip-a-fish, and then sharing a simple cup of coffee with his father. Those quiet moments left a lasting imprint.

As a young man, Mancini made the abrupt choice to move to Southern California in pursuit of an unknown larger dream. The decision caused his father considerable stress and only poo-pooed on and deepened the already established empty-nest feeling he was already carrying — stress that, in true fashion, motivated him to stay busy restoring a cluster of antique Mercedes-Benz cars and sharing his harbored feelings with a flock of illegally migrating Canadian geese from his favorite chair, an upside-down 5-gallon bucket.

After his father’s passing, Mancini set out on a journey to ease his heartache that eventually led him to Colombia. There, an argumentative Colombian sorceress took it upon herself to help him mourn. Over a series of day expeditions, she led him to a remote town high in the Colombian Andes, where he discovered an antique Mercedes that had been converted into a barista cart. The sight, along with the evening fireflies, gave him a sense of peace and direction he had been searching for — a stillness that felt like home.

During his time there, he began having recurring dreams of his father. In them, his father appeared as a figure resembling Juan Valdez — wearing a wide-brimmed white straw hat, sporting a slightly disturbing moustache, and approaching on a mule named Tripod — silently trying to show him some coffee cherries in the palm of his hand. What started as personal reflection slowly grew into a deeper calling.

Santuario was born from that connection.

Years later, after carefully developing a collection of fine coffee varietals and sending the sorceress on a long Uber ride to the Amazon, it was time to bring the harvest home to California. Mancini hired a crew and set sail. Along the way, they were caught in a violent storm that threatened to undo years of work. As the ship struggled, the crew urged him to jettison the coffee to stabilize the vessel. Mancini considered the request… then politely declined.

Instead, he carefully placed life jackets on every sack of coffee, kindly helped his crew into the life raft, gave them his best Forest Gump wave, and prepared for the possibility that he might not make it through. He honorably stayed with the cargo.

The coffee survived. So did he.

Santuario — coffee worth the crew.