Meet our world renowned team: Sam Choi, Director of Coffee, Marco Maestoso, Executive Chef, and Eric Dobbs, Seven Seas Roasting Co. Founder and Navy Veteran.
Sam Choi, Director of Coffee, Seven Seas Roasting Co.
Korean born, internationally raised, Sam Choi is an educator, avid coffee lover, and coffee industry leader. His passion for coffee took root while working with farmers in Northern Thailand. Sam’s zealous curiosity guided him through the coffee pipeline, working in every area from post‐harvest management to cafe barista/manager. He is well known in the green coffee trading business from his regular visits to coffee origins around the globe. Sam’s passionate enthusiasm as an instructor is cultivated by his background in education and coffee. He hopes to radically transform educational development in the coffee industry from seed to cup.
With over 10 years experience in the specialty coffee industry, Sam Choi is a certified Q Robusta and Q Arabica Grader Instructor. He is an Authorized SCA Trainer and CQI Instructor. Sam Choi is also a Competition Coach, World Certified Brewers Cup Judge and World Coffee Championship Judge.
Sam's vast coffee knowledge has been a part of Seven Seas from the very beginning, when he taught Eric Dobbs how to roast coffee in Chang Mai, Thailand in 2017.
Marco Maestoso, Executive Chef, Seven Seas Roasting Co.
Marco Maestoso, chef-owner for restaurants in San Diego and New York City, has appeared on the TV show “Chopped.” He is an alumni of Gambero Rosso, the prestigious culinary school in Rome, Italy. From Michelin starred restaurants to the biggest catering in Italy!! As a private chef he catered for 35 thousand people in the F1 weekend in Monza. In 2015, he opened his first fine dining restaurant, Casa Maestoso, which spent more than five months in the number one spot on Trip Advisor’s list of the more than ten-thousand restaurants in Rome, Italy!
In 2017 he brought his concept to California, with a special version of Pizza called "Pinsa Romana" that is finally trending today in the USA, he was voted Best Restaurant in San Diego 2019 by the San Diego Magazine.
Marco’s passions brought him to Seven Seas Roasting Co. where he develops and oversees menu development and works with charity and outreach projects.
Eric Dobbs, Sam Choi, and Marco Maestoso are headed to Kyiv, Ukraine this week to support the thousands of lives supported by One Love Coffee. The entire community in Kyiv has been directly impacted by the Russian Invasion. We are not taking sides. We merely want to support those directly impacted by the material ramifications of war.
While we are in Kyiv we will be streaming 2 LIVE INDUSTRY LEADING COURSES: Brewing 101 with Sam Choi and Chef Essentials, Knife Skills, Meal Efficiency from Preparation to Dinner Party Hosting With Marco Maestoso directly to your home, office, and/or kitchen!!! You will absolutely want to take part in at least one, if not both, of these global courses!
Live from One Love near St. Nicolas on Wednesday, September 6th, at 8pm-10pm (Kyiv) and 10am-12pm (for San Diego Streaming), Sam Choi, a certified World brewers Cup Judge, Brewers Cup Judge, Brewers Cup coach and Brewing SCA Authorized Trainer, will be walking you through the process of brewing coffee whole giving you a deeper understanding into the essentials of coffee brewing from understanding the brew control chart to best practices when making your yummy brew.
Live from WineLove on Thursday, September 7th, at 8pm-10pm (Kyiv) and 10am-12pm (for San Diego Streaming), Marco Maestoso will guide you through a journey to efficiently enjoy preparing a 3 course meal while having the energy to break bread with your (invited) dinner party.
Syllabi and instructions will be emailed in advance to course registrants. All proceeds from registration will go directly to One Love Coffee. They are at risk of permanently closing. Your participation allows them to continue serving 1000+ meals a day to first responders and service wo/men and serve community members directly impacted by the war in Kyiv.
Spaces are limited, to ensure individualized attention.
Register at SevenSeasFoundation.org