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· collected 2026-09-05 · by TOI World Desk
Harvey Uyeyama, a 16-year-old high school senior from Davis, California, runs his own coffee business, Harvey's Coffee, which he started with the help of his late father, John. With over 90 monthly subscribers across the country, Uyeyama hand-roasts coffee and customizes orders for each customer. The business began as a way to honor his father's legacy after he passed away on Harvey's birthday in June, but it has since taken off under Harvey's leadership. Uyeyama operates the business with his girlfriend, Abby Merchant, who handles branding and marketing, while he focuses on roasting and technical aspects.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-05,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event.
At 16, Harvey Uyeyama already has a business, a loyal customer base and a highly specialized craft that most adults never attempt to master.
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adults → have → that
From his home in Davis, California, the soon-to-be high school senior hand-roasts coffee, customizes orders and runs a growing subscription service, all while preparing for college.
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senior → roast → college
But Harvey’s Coffee began with something much more personal, the time spent with his father.
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Coffee → begin → father
According to a report by The Sacramento Bee, Uyeyama learned to roast coffee from his father, John, who had previously owned a coffee shop in Lafayette and continued roasting at home.
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who → accord → home
In June 2024, his father invited him to join him for a late-night roasting session.
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father → invite → session
The two spent hours working together, beginning what would become the foundation of Harvey’s Coffee.
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what → spend → Coffee
As a child, he tried everything from running a lemonade stand to tutoring math in an effort to make money.
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he → try → money
His father had given him a skill he could turn into something of his own.
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he → give → own
He began selling freshly roasted beans door-to-door around his neighborhood.
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He → begin → neighborhood
The first customers did not come easily.
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customers → come → ?
After plenty of rejection, Uyeyama refined his sales pitch and presentation, eventually swapping a black backpack for a wagon and adding branded labels to make the business look more professional.
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business → refine → labels
Finding purpose through grief
Not long after teaching his son the craft, John Uyeyama died on his son's birthday.
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Uyeyama → find → birthday
The loss brought roasting to a temporary halt.
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loss → bring → halt
But just a few weeks later, coffee unexpectedly brought Harvey back to the craft.
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coffee → bring → craft
His father’s funeral service needed coffee, and Harvey took on the job despite having never completed an entire roasting process alone.
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Harvey → need → process
The experience was difficult, involving plenty of mistakes and ruined batches.
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experience → involve → mistakes
But the coffee was well received by mourners, giving Harvey a renewed sense that roasting could be more than a business.
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roasting → receive → business
It could also be a way of carrying forward something his father had passed down to him.
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father → carry → him
Building a business with patience
Today, Uyeyama operates Harvey’s Coffee with his girlfriend, Abby Merchant, an 18-year-old student at UC San Diego.
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Uyeyama → build → Diego
While Merchant is studying biology, she has taken on an important role in the company’s branding and marketing, redesigning its logo, packaging and overall customer experience.
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she → study → logo
Uyeyama focuses on roasting and the technical side of the operation.
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Uyeyama → focus → operation
He has even built an app to manage sales and recurring subscriptions.
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He → build → sales
The company is approaching 100 monthly subscribers, with customers spread across the country.
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customers → approach → country
Each month, Uyeyama chooses beans from a different region, examining factors such as acidity, body, flavor and the history behind each coffee.
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Uyeyama → choose → coffee
Although he particularly enjoys East African coffees, he deliberately changes the selections to keep the subscription experience interesting.
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experience → enjoy → selections
An old-school approach to modern coffee
Harvey’s Coffee is anything but mass-produced.
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Coffee → produce → coffee
Uyeyama roasts every batch by hand on a machine believed to date back to the early 1900s.
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Uyeyama → roast → 1900s
The antique-looking roaster uses rotating chambers positioned above propane burners.
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roaster → look → burners
Uyeyama manually adjusts the heat throughout the process, watching temperatures, listening for the beans to crack and inspecting their color as they develop.
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they → adjust → color
The machine can handle about four bags at a time, allowing him to produce roughly 12 bags an hour.
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him → handle → bags
Each order is then packaged by hand, with codes and customer names identifying where the coffee is headed.
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coffee → package → hand
Local customers can receive their coffee within 24 hours of roasting, while shipments travel to subscribers across the United States.
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shipments → receive → States
Looking ahead
Uyeyama plans to graduate early after one final semester, giving him roughly nine months to expand the company before heading to college.
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Uyeyama → look → college
Scaling up could mean a warehouse, larger equipment, a new grinder and a more sophisticated setup.
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Scaling → scale → warehouse
But one thing is unlikely to change: the human touch.
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thing → change → ?
It is about keeping every batch deliberate, personal and handcrafted — much like the first batch he made alongside his father on a late night in June 2024.
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he → keep → June
