Most visitors venture out with operators like Baja Paradise to see the whale sharks who live in the Sea of Cortez year round, or travel to the pink cliffs on the nearby island of Espiritu Santo, home to a colony of sea lions.

BBC: Driving from the top to the tip of Baja California

He's involved in every aspect of the business from discovering a new supplier of biodynamic Brazilian beans on a trip last fall to Espiritu Santo to the roasting to the choice of paint colors for the company's newest cafe (his current favorite is a grayish white called Benjamin Moore Dove Wing 960).

WSJ: Not the Same Old Grind: James Freeman of Blue Bottle | Creating