About Seema Akram - Founder & Head Roaster

Hi there! Thanks for taking the time to visit Mood’s online store and blog. It means a lot to me that you’re here. I'm Seema, the founder of Mood Artisan Coffee - a female-owned specialty coffee roastery in Canada! I’ve spent the last decade working in finance and analytics and made the switch to the coffee industry a couple years ago. I originally started roasting coffee as a hobby as a way to decompress from a stressful work environment. The more I learned about the craft and the industry, the more I realized it was the thing I wanted to do every day. From there the concept of Mood Artisan Coffee was born!

Since then I’ve been a student and (later on) an instructor at the Canadian Barista Institute and also spent some time apprenticing at Louie Coffee in Liberty Village. I’ve taken courses on coffee roasting and making coffee, I’ve worked in coffee shops, I’ve taught aspiring baristas how to make really good coffee and latte art, and I’ve advised business owners on best practices when opening coffee shops. All of these experiences have made me a better coffee cupper (taster) and roaster.

Coffee is an important part of my life. I wake up extra early every morning just so I can make my coffee (a velvety flat white) and enjoy it slowly before the rest of the city wakes up. It’s always something I look forward to and being able to roast my own coffee and share it with others is an immensely fulfilling experience.

About Mood Artisan Coffee

Mood Artisan Coffee is a nano-roastery located in the GTA. The coffees on offer rotate but I’m sure you’ll always be able to find something you love to drink! I roast coffees that are approachable (i.e. crowd pleasers) with a hint of adventure and quirk in them. Caramel, nutty and fruit-forward are common taste profiles with the coffees I offer.

Mood Artisan Coffee is a female-forward company. I focus on partnerships with other female-owned businesses and, where possible, I try and offer at least one coffee from a female-producer, co-op or farm at any given time. As the number of female-produced coffees increase across the world, I hope to be able to expand my offering and support more women. 

See Mood's current offerings here!

Mission

Brightening your mood, one sip at a time.

 

Values

Mood's Commitment to the Environment

My promise to Mother Nature and all my customers is to try and do my best for our precious planet. Coffee is one of the most highly traded commodities in the world... commodity coffee that is. Mood deals with specialty (artisan) coffee which is quite different from commodity coffee but the specialty coffee industry can still do a better job of protecting the environment. My commitment to you is to try and source coffees using the most efficient processes and partners and to continuously improve my own processes to cut down on waste.

How am I accomplishing this? I've partnered with a green (coffee) importer who is B-Corp certified. My importer helps me seek out coffees from some of the best managed farms/collectives on the planet. Unfortunately my packaging contains plastic. However I'm actively looking for another supplier and am also researching programs that Mood can donate to to divert plastic waste from ending up in our oceans and landfills. In addition, Mood roasts to order which greatly cuts down on coffee wastage. Any excess coffee that is in stock is donated to the local food bank and any test roasts not fit for consumption are composted.

It isn't a perfect scenario but I will always try and do the right thing. Any comments or suggestions? Send them directly to me at info@moodartisancofffee.com. I’d love to open up the conversation about this and I welcome any feedback you have.