Washington Family and Au Pair Start Coffee Company

When Mathew and Valerie Quest of Bothell Washington matched with Brazilian au pair Julianna Maginelli, no one knew that a few years later they'd be working on a coffee business together.

The two years together as host family and au pair generated a relationship that spun off into one of business associates. Read their charming story below:

Matthew and Valerie Quest might be the last people you would expect to start a coffee company.

They were just casual coffee drinkers.

'We had no prior experience with coffee whatsoever; Valerie Quest said.

Now they run Quest Coffee Company out of their Bothell home. They opened for business officially last year, and sell their coffee at a few merchants in Bothell and on their website at questcoffeecompany.com. Their coffee is also the only brand served at SnoValley Coffee in Snoqualmie.

Quest Coffee Company was inspired by Juliana Magrinelli, who lived with the Quests for two years as their au pair. Juliana's father Higino Magrinelli, back in Brazil, grows coffee. He tends a coffee farm that is more than 100 years old. 'He sent us coffee as a thank you,' Quest said. 'We had just never had coffee that tastes this good.' On the old farm, they grow an heirloom variety of coffee. It is grown naturally, without irrigation, which, Quest said, leads to more concentrated flavor. On the farm, the coffee is handpicked and dried in the sun. It's not an easy job, and coffee farming is not an easy life.

'When she lived with us we learned how difficult it was for her family to get by, Quest said.

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