E85 Buunni Coffee | Joe Wagner

🎙️ Go With Your Palate: Sarina & Elias | Brewing Love, Culture & Community with Buunni Coffee

This week, we brew up something special with Sarina Prabasi and Elias Gurmu, the husband-and-wife duo behind Buunni Coffee—a brand rooted in Ethiopian coffee culture and built into one of Manhattan’s most beloved community-driven cafés.

Sarina and Elias share their inspiring journey of bringing their love story—and their love for coffee—from Ethiopia to New York City, navigating one of the most competitive coffee scenes in the world while staying deeply connected to origin, hospitality, and purpose. From sourcing small-holder Ethiopian farms to roasting in micro-batches and building cafés that double as cultural hubs, Buunni is about far more than what’s in the cup.

We draw some fun (and surprisingly accurate) parallels between coffee and wine, bust a few myths along the way, and dive into food pairings, flavor notes, and why terroir matters just as much in coffee as it does in wine. Sarina and Elias also open up about entrepreneurship, resilience, and what it takes to build a culture-first brand that truly connects people.

It’s warm, thoughtful, and full of heart—proof that whether it’s coffee or wine, the best experiences start with origin, intention, and community.

Grab your favorite mug (or glass) and join us for a conversation that’s equal parts delicious, inspiring, and deeply human. ☕🍷✨