Moonwake Coffee Gives Up the Cybertruck Gimmick (For Now) (2025)

Moonwake Coffee Roasters brings a serene coffee experience to West San Jose. Owners Ming Wood and Mabel Yeung started by selling coffee and roasted coffee beans at pop-ups and farmers markets (notably serving drinks out of the trunk of a Tesla Cybertruck). Now, as of Friday, September 27th, the couple opened a cafe highlighting coffee, grassy, silky matcha lattes, and zippy elderflower tonics with sweet, tropical flavors. Wood and Yeung built much of the space themselves, even planting coffee trees in the heart of the shop, all serving as a glimpse into their dedication to finely tuned drinks with an eye toward ingredient sourcing and presentation.

Wood’s love for coffee began when he started a coffee club to bond with his coworkers at Tesla. “We bought the cheapest espresso machine on Craigslist and a really old grinder,” Wood says. “We made coffee and connected as human beings instead of just yelling at each other in a corporate machine.” As Wood’s passion for coffee grew, he purchased an old coffee roaster and started roasting coffee beans in his home garage.

During the pandemic, the couple shared the beans with family and friends. “We were trying to find a way to connect with people despite being so far,” Yeung says. “Maybe we can’t drink the cup of coffee together, but I can at least share this bag of roasted coffee with you.” Yeung also has a background in tech where she found that she was more passionate about connecting with people than the work itself. “With coffee,” she says, “it’s an immediate connection. You give it to someone and see that face or get that feedback: ‘I really enjoyed this cup of coffee.’” Her favorite way to connect with others is by sharing her baked goods or a cup of coffee. The cafe serves classics such as cortados and Americanos, but it also offers specialty drinks such as espresso sarsaparilla floats and fall squash spiced lattes alongside pastries like pistachio berry twice-baked croissants and mushroom tarts.

Octavio Peña

Octavio Peña

Wood is a certified Q-Grader, essentially a sommelier in the coffee world, which means he’s extensively trained his senses to identify the flavors and aromas of coffee beans. The couple is building these sensory skills with staff to ensure they know how to taste coffee and communicate flavors with customers efficiently. Ming uses his skills to select high-quality coffee beans for the shop, purchased directly from coffee producers.

Moonwake’s selection of coffee beans falls under three categories: fruit-forward, cocoa-forward, and the Nova series, the shop’s experimental line. “Once you pick the [coffee] cherry, you need to ferment it to get the fruit off to get to the bean,” Wood says. “People in producing countries have started doing crazy fermentations like putting them in steel tanks, adding yeast strains to it, raising the temperature — all these do things to the coffee that are wow factors.” The coffee bean selection at Moonwake rotates frequently, but you’ll always find a tailored selection that highlights coffees that can taste like lager, candy bars, or even blueberries.

“We treat each line with the same level of care and make sure that whatever coffee we select is going to be a great candidate for a medium roast or a dark roast,” Yeung says. “We don’t think all coffee should be roasted the same way.” For example, the Nova series is lightly roasted to preserve the unique flavors. Wood’s Q-Grader experience comes in handy when roasting bean varieties to bring out specific qualities, whether it’s a floral scent like honeysuckle or caramel-like flavors.

The couple’s decision to use a Cybertruck to power an espresso machine at farmers market pop-ups proved divisive. “We got some haters out there when we did our mobile Cybertruck stuff,” Wood says. “People looked at things about us on a very surface level and didn’t try to understand what we’re about — bringing great coffee experiences to people.”

The couple has a good sense of humor about the backlash and crowned Wood’s favorite animal, the misunderstood possum, as their mascot (which customers will find in doodles around the shop and on upcoming merch). For context, possums are often seen as pests, but Wood points out they do a lot of good for society like eating ticks. “The possum is funny because they’re known as dumpster divers,” Yeung says, “and there’s a running joke that the Cybertruck looks like a dumpster.”

Wood and Yeung love connecting with others over coffee. They’re even members of Bae Area Coffee, an enthusiast group that meets to share techniques and bond over brews. The couple hopes their cafe will be a place to connect with more coffee drinkers from across the Bay Area regardless of their coffee preferences. “This is a place where we can all be friends and enjoy something different,” Yeung says. “That’s what’s amazing about coffee — building a community around this very complex and particular beverage.”

Moonwake Coffee Roasters (1412 Saratoga Avenue, San Jose) is open daily from 8 a.m to 3 p.m. Cupertino Farmers Market pop-ups are on hold for now.

Octavio Peña

Octavio Peña