Mason Sager, co-founder and roaster at Old Topanga Coffee Co., is a trained Q-Grader, longtime coffee professional, and Woodland Hills native. He first learned the art of roasting in the early 2000s in Seattle, Washington, where he was mentored by one of the city’s most influential roasters, Mike McConnell. There, he learned to treat coffee not just as a product, but as a living connection between land, farmer, and cup.

Over nearly two decades, he has immersed himself in every side of the coffee world, from production roasting and green coffee buying to operations leadership and barista work. Along the way, he has sourced coffees directly from producers across Latin America and Indonesia, roasted on vintage Probat machines, and built teams for some of the most respected names in the industry.

Old Topanga Co. is where all of that experience comes home—a Los Angeles brand inspired by the sun-drenched creativity of a bygone canyon era, driven by raw energy, restless artistry, and the search for something real.

For Mason, roasting is an act of creation: part science, part intuition, and a way to honor the farmers and the fruit. Each batch is an expression of flavor, balance, and feeling—a tribute to what’s eccentric, what’s beautiful, and what endures.

Andrew Smith, co-founder of Old Topanga Coffee Co., is a Sherman Oaks native and restaurateur. A formative trip to Italy reshaped his expectations of espresso, and back in LA he began searching for coffee with that same depth and resonance. That search led him through countless roasters until a chance meeting with Mason Sager, and one revelatory tasting, showed him what was possible.

For Andrew, the experience was transformative. Mason’s coffee wasn’t just better; it revealed a clear gap in the market for coffee with soul—structured, food-friendly, and rich in character. It was coffee meant to sit beautifully alongside food, not compete with it.

Andrew has spent years inside the rhythm of service, building systems, leading teams, and creating environments that feel alive and intentional. That experience shapes how Old Topanga operates today: measured, dependable, and built for the realities of hospitality. He brings that same discipline and aesthetic instinct to every part of the experience, from the integrity of the service to the quiet intention behind every detail.

He describes Old Topanga’s coffee as more vinyl than digital, more Stones than auto-tune—precise and consistent, yet warm, soulful, and unmistakably human.