Mostra Coffee: San Diego’s Filipino-American Roaster

Mostra Coffee is a San Diego roaster founded in 2013 by four friends with a clear goal: build a coffee business that opens doors for coffee farmers in the Philippines. It started in a garage, won Roast Magazine’s 2020 Micro Roaster of the Year award, and, according to Kollective Hustle, became the coffee partner of the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. This profile sticks to what published sources say about the company.

Key takeaways

• Mostra was founded in 2013 by Beverly Magtanong, Sam Magtanong, Jelynn Malone and Mike Arquines, per Times of San Diego and the San Diego Business Journal.
• A 2009 volunteer trip to the Philippines inspired the business; sourcing Philippine coffee is part of its mission.
• Roast Magazine named Mostra its Micro Roaster of the Year for 2020.
• The name is Italian for show or exhibition, a nod to the founders’ performing-arts backgrounds.

In this article

1. Four friends and a trip to the Philippines
2. From a garage to a roastery
3. Bringing Philippine coffee to San Diego
4. What Mostra is known for
5. Roaster of the Year
6. Cafés, stadiums and growth
7. Mostra timeline
8. Brew similar styles at home
9. FAQ
10. Sources

Four friends and a trip to the Philippines

The story begins with two friends. According to a 2019 Roast Magazine profile republished by Daily Coffee News, in 2009 Beverly Magtanong and Jelynn Malone traveled to the Philippines to volunteer on a home-building project, and they came back wanting to help in a more lasting way, through living-wage jobs and economic opportunity. Kollective Hustle names the nonprofit behind that trip as Gawad Kalinga.

Their first idea was a pastry and coffee shop. It turned into a roastery once two more partners joined: Sam Magtanong, Beverly’s husband, who was born in the Philippines, and Mike Arquines, a chef with a culinary degree from the Art Institute in San Diego and a background in Michelin-rated kitchens. Roast describes Arquines as new to coffee roasting when Mostra started.

The backgrounds were not typical for a coffee company. Malone had worked as an actor, singer and dancer; Beverly Magtanong is a classically trained opera singer. That explains the name. Mostra means show or exhibition in Italian, and the company motto, as Roast reported it, is to perform to your highest level.

From a garage to a roastery

Like many small roasters, Mostra began at home. The San Franciscan Roaster Co., which builds the machines Mostra uses, wrote in 2025 that Arquines first roasted green beans with a cast-iron pan and a popcorn popper and blogged about his experiments. The company then roasted in Beverly and Sam’s garage on a small San Franciscan SF-1 roaster, according to Roast. Kollective Hustle adds two family details: Beverly’s mother bought that first roaster, and Malone’s grandparents helped pay for the first four bags of green coffee.

Times of San Diego dates the founding to 2013, and the San Diego Business Journal gives the same year. Times of San Diego described the company’s flagship store as being in Carmel Mountain. As of the 2025 San Franciscan article, Mostra runs two SF-25 roasters, nicknamed Feli and Franny, which get a full teardown once or twice a month. If you have ever wondered what that path from hobby to business looks like, our guide on how to become a coffee roaster covers the basics.

Bringing Philippine coffee to San Diego

Sourcing from the Philippines is the thread that runs through Mostra’s history. Roast’s 2019 profile lays out the early steps:

• In 2014, Sam’s father brought back samples from family neighbors in the Philippines; the best one scored 83 points.
• In 2015, Sam Magtanong sourced 1,500 pounds (about 680 kg) of specialty-grade coffee from farmer Ed Cagat and his son in Mindanao.
• Political unrest later made travel to Mindanao unsafe, so Mostra began buying through Kalsada Coffee, starting with six 132-pound (60 kg) bags.
• In 2019, after visiting farms in Sitio Belis and Sitio Naguey in Benguet, Mostra ordered 35 bags from Kalsada.

Roast described Philippine coffee as chocolate-forward, with good body and some citrus, and noted that it blends well with Central and Latin American coffees. It cracks very hard at first crack and releases a lot of moisture, so the team adjusts its roasts to avoid stalling and baked flavors. Mostra also buys coffee from other origins; an undated San Diego Business Journal profile lists Brazil, Ethiopia, Kenya, Costa Rica, Colombia, Indonesia and Guatemala alongside the Philippines.

Want the background on the islands’ coffee? Our article on Philippine coffee, Kapeng Barako and Liberica explains the country’s coffee species and history.

What Mostra is known for

Filipino-inspired drinks

The San Diego Business Journal profile, which carries no publication date, named three best-sellers: Chocoana, the Bibingka Crème Brulee Latte and the Ghost Bear Espresso Blend. Bibingka is a Filipino rice cake, and drinks built on familiar flavors from Filipino kitchens are part of the café menu. Times of San Diego also mentioned lattes and cold brews made with coconut, vanilla bean and cacao nibs. If you like purple-yam drinks, our ube latte recipe is a home take on another Filipino favorite.

Barrel aging and brewery collaborations

Mostra ages both green beans and cold brew in barrels that breweries have used before. By late 2019 the team had been experimenting with barrels for about five years, and Roast counted collaborations with more than 100 craft breweries and over 400 coffee beers. One example: Share This: Coffee, a coffee beer made with The Bruery, which donated $1 per bottle to Free Wheelchair Mission and raised $50,000, per Roast. For the general method, see our explainer on barrel-aged coffee.

People and training

Roast also noted, as of 2019, a mentor for every new hire and a for-credit internship with Palomar College that later expanded to San Diego State University.

Roaster of the Year

Roast Magazine named Mostra its Micro Roaster of the Year for 2020, in a profile by Emily Puro in the November/December 2019 issue. The San Franciscan Roaster Co. article recounts that Mostra’s first application, after about five years in business, reached the final three but lost by one point in the cupping round because of a defect. The team applied again the next year and won.

Competition results followed for staff, too. The same 2025 article says head roaster Nick Berardi won the U.S. Roaster Championship and represented the U.S. at the 2021 World Roasting Championships in Milan, finishing 11th of 22 countries. When the COVID-19 shutdowns hit in 2020, the article says, Mostra leaned on online sales, Zoom cuppings and virtual memberships. Curious how cupping works? Our guide to coffee cupping walks through it.

Cafés, stadiums and growth

In June 2020, Times of San Diego reported that Mostra planned a second café in 4S Ranch, followed by Mira Mesa and eventually locations outside the San Diego region.

The best-known expansion is at the ballpark. Kollective Hustle reports that the San Diego Padres approached Mostra after the coffee category at Petco Park opened up, and that Mostra espresso is served at stadium concessions, suites and lounges, with a dedicated retail space inside. The article does not give a year, so check current Petco Park vendors before you go. Before the Padres, Mostra partnered with the San Diego Wave FC women’s soccer team.

Locations change, so check Mostra’s own site for current cafés, hours and menus (as of October 2026).

Mostra timeline

Brew similar styles at home

Feel Espresso does not sell Philippine coffee, but two of Mostra’s signature ideas, barrel aging and cold brew, have counterparts in our range. Whiskey Barrel Aged starts as single-origin Guatemala, rests 30 days in a bourbon barrel and is then roasted to order, for oak, vanilla and caramel notes and no alcohol. Cold Brew Coffee is a dark French roast blend ground very coarse for cold brew, with dark chocolate notes and nothing added. Both are roasted 1–5 days before delivery. Our guide on how to make cold brew covers ratios and steeping times.

Mostra Coffee FAQ

Who owns Mostra Coffee?

Mostra was founded by Beverly Magtanong, Sam Magtanong, Jelynn Malone and Mike Arquines, according to Times of San Diego and the San Diego Business Journal.

When was Mostra Coffee founded?

In 2013, in San Diego. The founders began roasting in a garage before opening their flagship café in Carmel Mountain.

What does Mostra mean?

Mostra is Italian for show or exhibition, a reference to the founders’ backgrounds in acting, singing and opera.

Does Mostra sell coffee from the Philippines?

Yes. Sourcing Philippine coffee is part of its mission, with lots from Mindanao and from Benguet farms bought through Kalsada Coffee, per Roast Magazine. It also roasts coffees from other origins.

Did Mostra win Roaster of the Year?

Yes. Roast Magazine named Mostra its Micro Roaster of the Year for 2020.

Barrel-aged notes and smooth cold brew, roasted days before shipping. Shop our best sellers

Sources

1. Micro Roaster of the Year 2020: Mostra Coffee, Roast Magazine via Daily Coffee News, December 2019
2. Beloved San Diego coffee company to expand, Times of San Diego, June 2020
3. How Mostra Coffee went from garage roasts to Roaster of the Year, San Franciscan Roaster Co., September 2025
4. Mostra Coffee Inc. profile, San Diego Business Journal (accessed October 2026)
5. Filipina-owned Mostra Coffee becomes coffee partner of the San Diego Padres, Kollective Hustle (accessed October 2026)

Facts checked in October 2026.

Feel Espresso is not affiliated with Mostra Coffee or the other businesses mentioned; Mostra is a trademark of its owner.

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