Meet Caleb and Jeannie Sprenger of Sapor Coffee & Concepts in Jefferson Park

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb and Jeannie Sprenger.

Caleb, Jeannie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Caleb: I was introduced to the world of specialty coffee six years ago when my uncle, Andy Sprenger (two-time US Brewers Cup Champion, Runner-up in the World Brewers Cup Championship, 2013 US Aeropress Champion, and Runner-up in the 2014 US Cup Tasters Championship), started Sweet Bloom Coffee Roasters. Hired as Sweet Bloom’s first employee, I was a barista and retail manager for Sweet Bloom’s tasting room. I was trained to taste and prepare coffee at a professional level under Andy and gained an extensive exposure to coffee during my time at Sweet Bloom. Additionally, I also gained a deep love and loyalty for Sweet Bloom as a company and brand. At the end of 2015, I left Colorado to marry my wife, Jeannie. However, I couldn’t stay away from Colorado, and so within six months, I returned with my wife, Jeannie, to start working together to build Sapor Coffee & Concepts, serving Sweet Bloom Coffee.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are always significant challenges with starting a business, and there are also challenges with working with your spouse. However, all of our challenges have led to growth, both as a company and also as a couple. Although we opened Sapor in May of 2018, we actually spent about two years prior working on the start-up process. We had significant delays with starting our build-out, almost all of which were out of our control, which was obviously challenging for us, but it also gave us time to build a good foundation for our business. We essentially “built” Sapor twice, once on paper and then again in real life. It may surprise you, but building it in real life happened a lot faster than building it on paper!

Working with each other has been one of the greatest gifts to our marriage and relationship. Even though there have been challenges and conflict, we have grown closer together and we also have loved serving this neighborhood together. Our regulars have become some of our dear friends and we look forward to many more years of getting to know those around us!