If you recognize the name Four Star Handcrafted Coffee from Brookfield’s farmers market last summer, head on over to Berwyn, where the brand has set up shop through the end of the year.
Owners and Brookfield residents Gricelda and Chris Camacho opened Four Star’s physical location May 3 as one of 12 businesses in the 2024 cohort for the Berwyn Shops, a small business incubator at 6931 Roosevelt Rd. in Berwyn. Through the program, each store or brand is given a 12-foot by 15-foot cottage through mid-December to call its own, opening Fridays 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“We’ve been roasting coffee for a while, but last year was the first year where someone was like, oh, maybe we should do the farmers market [to] have more interaction with different people,” Chris Camacho said in an interview. “There were folks buying coffee bags, and it was like, ‘Oh, great! Fantastic!’ But then what we found is, they wanted to try it. Then, once they tried it, they wanted to buy a cup of coffee.”
As the demand for different coffee drinks grew, the Camachos adapted their farmers market stand — which will return to the market this summer — from one just selling roasted coffee beans to one more closely resembling Four Stars’ current operation.
“Since it’s in the summer, we were like, ‘We want something cold,’” Gricelda Camacho said, so they started selling cold brew at the stand. “And then we evolved to nitro. And then, more people were like, ‘What about lattes?’ And then we brought the espresso machine.”
While Four Star only made its farmers market debut last year, the brand got its start in 2014, when Chris Camacho studied abroad in Australia and Gricelda Camacho joined him. They said the country’s coffee culture, which encouraged them to savor their drinks, inspired them to bring it back home after Chris Camacho met with alumni from his school in Australian coffee shops.
“I had no idea of the menu. It sounds very naive, too. I was used to going to Starbucks because I needed caffeine, and the only thing I knew that looked slightly familiar was a macchiato,” Chris Camacho said.
While he had been expecting a latte macchiato, a tall drink made with steamed milk and a shot of espresso, he received a caffe macchiato, a single espresso shot with only a dollop of milk on top. Both drinks’ names come from the Italian word “macchiato,” meaning “stained,” which refers to the small amount of espresso or milk “staining” the large quantity of the other when the drinks are prepared.
“So, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is interesting. That is not going to be good,’ and I tried it, like, ‘Oh, this is really good. Like, it’s smooth. Is that how coffee’s supposed to taste?’” he said. “It sparked an interest to see other coffee shops, so we spent some time going to Toby’s Estate, which is big in Australia, and then a few other regular coffee shops, and everything was good. It was like it was the way it was supposed to be. So, when we came back, it was like, ‘Well, who does that?’”
The two decided to apply for a spot at the Berwyn Shops this year after having visited the small business incubator in the past.
“This had came up, because we’ve seen it a few times. We’ve been here,” Chris Camacho said. “It was like, oh, this might be a neat idea to see what it would be like to have a physical, brick-and-mortar spot.”
As part of the Camachos’ application, Gricelda Camacho said she had to present before a panel of jurors in what Chris Camacho described as “a mini ‘Shark Tank’ kind of experience,” comparing it to the reality show where entrepreneurs pitch their businesses to potential investors.
“It was a panel of 13 jurors from the community, Chamber [of Commerce] members, people from Berwyn, and you get a five-minute pitch. You have to talk about your business, and at the end, I think an additional five minutes for Q&A,” Gricelda Camacho said. “I won’t lie, it was a little nerve-wracking … standing in front of 13 people, but it was exciting, though.”
The Camachos said Four Star was one of about 18 businesses of about 30 that progressed to the final stage before the jury selected 12 to make up the 2024 Berwyn Shops cohort. Once their time at Berwyn Shops is up in December, Chris Camacho said he and Gricelda hope to open a permanent Four Star location somewhere in the area, whether that’s in Berwyn, Brookfield or elsewhere.
“All things kind of have to align, but first for us is making sure that people are engaged, and they like it, right? And then if not, how do we adjust?” he said. “It’s just about making sure that there’s visibility and traffic and then awareness. Obviously, that’s part of us, too, but that would be the goal, post-this, is how do we then evolve into a larger, physical space where people can sit down and enjoy coffee?”
Now that Four Star does have a space to operate out of at Berwyn Shops, the Camachos said their favorite parts of running the business aren’t just the coffee.
“What I like is the interaction with people, right? It’s what I liked about the farmers market, is actually talking to people about what we do,” he said. “There are people that are interested; there are also people that are just wanting to get a good cup of coffee and go, and that’s also good, but I really enjoy the interactions.”
“It’s also nice to have your own little spot,” Gricelda Camacho said. “It’s like, ‘Come in,’ if it’s too sunny out, or if one of these days, it was rainy, people can come in and still have a conversation. But honestly, I think at the end of the day, it’s awesome to just have everything here instead of carrying everything back and forth to the farmers market. That is definitely, I think, one of the benefits.”
