There was once upon a time, like never before, for if there had not been one such, I wouldn’t be telling you this story…

It was a late October day and I was all alone walking on the streets of Milan. It must have been 20 years since that day. I was wet and freezing walking around, and I felt as if everything was cold and quite opposite to my home-town ambiance. But for me home means “love”, and I was away from that with only one thought in my mind. I was looking for a coffee. The passion was the only thing guiding me on the streets of Milan. I was all dressed up with my finest clothes, with a bag with a bunch of unimportant things and that was all I had with me when I started this adventure.

It was early in the morning, as it is now when I’m bringing back to life those memories when I was just looking for a cozy place to warm up and dry my clothes. I was going to plan the entire day, not knowing that what was about to happen that day was going to determine a story of my life journey.
I opened the door of a coffee shop and sat at a table. It was all noisy and bustling around me and some shop’s clients were talking very loud. I didn’t understand anything from what was happening around me, not even why the people sitting at the bar and tables were shouting.

Anyway, I ordered a coffee. ”One coffee, please!” It was easy even for a guy like me coming from a small and godforsaken town to make myself understood, even though I did not understand anything happening there. I set my jacket on the backrest of the chair beside me hoping it will dry a bit.
I sipped from my little cup of coffee and an amazing taste suddenly relaxed me. It was followed by the second and the third sip of coffee that started to clear my head and then a familiar feeling arose… I wasn’t feeling lonely anymore, it was me and my little cup of coffee.

Up till now, I am still yearning for that taste of freshly roasted coffee. Maybe I found it somehow, maybe not… I am still looking for it.
That is how STEM was born from that day’s story and became a lifetime story.
We are looking for that exquisite taste of coffee, for the harmony of senses and the perfect balance between them.

Nowadays, in our once “godforsaken” city we can enjoy the company of a top of the line “Petroncini”, green specialty coffee carefully selected by our partners from “TRABOCCA”.
Today is another beautiful morning when I’m writing these lines and I realize that STEM CAFFE, although a Romanian brand and 100% Romanian product, has its own origins in the country of good coffee: Italy.

On this very day, I comprehend that STEM came into existence in that one coffee shop, from the streets of Milan, maybe it’s my partner, that small cup of coffee that I encountered 20 years ago.
It’s early in the morning, and I delightedly sip the same wonderful taste and the aroma of freshly roasted coffee that indulges me. I live and start the day with the same beautiful story “about coffee” all over again, but I’m not alone anymore. I’m here with my wife while our two children are still asleep on a school day.

I’m still longing…