It’s the Van Life for Pinhole Coffee

When JoEllen Depakakibo sets out on a new adventure—whether it’s her childhood goal of moving to San Francisco from her Chicago hometown or picking up and leaving her successful San Francisco café (Pinhole Coffee) to move to Ojai with her wife and child—she calls on the universe to manifest the dreams she envisions.

So far, the approach has worked. Four years after she moved to San Francisco, JoEllen met her future wife, Robin Quinn. She started a successful business four years after that, and they had a child, Elio Quinn, 3½. Even the name of her café represents her optimism: Pinhole Coffee is an homage to pinhole photography. When exposed to light, a pinhole can project and develop something beautiful.

And now she’s got her beautiful all-electric-powered, Glampervan-fabricated, traveling coffee van, Pinholita (Little Pinhole), bringing fresh coffee drinks to various places and events all over Ojai.

The couple decided to move to Robin’s hometown during the isolation of the pandemic. The idea was to have Robin work—she is a nurse practitioner—while JoEllen cared for Elio and got her business up and running.

“I believe in the power of manifestation,” JoEllen says, adding that, as someone “who’s a woman, queer and POC [person of color], and not from here” it took a little while to feel connected in Ojai.

“It took time to get out in the community and find people who enhance and sustain you. It was very hard before the van got permitted,” she says. “Now to have made an actual contribution to the community is pretty powerful.”

Getting the van up and running with enough power for a coffee grinder and espresso machine was the main concern in the beginning. To be able to come up with enough electricity to travel around town brewing coffee became the goal of JoEllen’s father-in-law, Neil Quinn, who JoEllen describes as “handy.”

(left)JoEllen Depakakido leans out of Pinholita (the Pinhole Coffee Van) to give smooches to Elio, her child shared and held by wife Robin Quinn. The van offers high-quality coffee at pop-ups and for catering. Photo courtesy of Pinhole Coffee. (right)Find them partnered with Fran Gealer, who sells her homebaked hand pies, most Saturdays at Summer Camp in Ojai. Photo by Tami Chu.

“We wanted the van to be able to charge the batteries in a variety of locations/events, so we used two 15-amp 110-volt chargers, which can be used separately so that charging can occur virtually anywhere with ordinary household wiring,” Neil says. “As it turns out, the batteries are powerful enough that charging during a typical morning event is not required.”

“It was fairly straightforward. [JoEllen] had located [Joule Case] who sold the battery and inverter,” says Neil. The system has been working seamlessly during the initial events for the van at the Ojai Playhouse and at other pop-ups.

JoEllen says she balked at having to sell any kind of food because the permitting process would have exponentially increased the time before opening. But serendipitously she ran into Fran Gealer, chocolatier for Beato Chocolates, who had just received her cottage “A” food permit and was starting to sell her local fruit-filled hand pies around town through her company called Bake.

“Summer Camp [home décor shop on Ojai Avenue near the corner of Maricopa Highway] was celebrating 10 years in business and invited me to sell my pies at their event,” says Fran. JoEllen had the Pinholita van set up at the same event and the two became quick friends. “We decided to do pop-ups together around Ojai. It was easy-peasy.”

The buttery, flaky hand pies pair beautifully with the unique coffee drinks from the van. Summer Camp’s co-owner Michael Graves says Jo- Ellen made him an off-menu Neapolitan latte, with a blend of hibiscus and chocolate that somehow mimicked a Neapolitan sundae. On-menu favorites include a turmeric or beetroot latte, the always-delightful mocha or cold brew, masala chai and a kiduccino, made with foamy milk and honey.

JoEllen is using the same coffee that she sells at the Pinhole Coffee café still operating in San Francisco, with custom organic coffee blends from Linea Caffe. “One of our blends is the masarap blend, which was our party favors for our wedding in Ojai,” she says. “It’s a blend of our favorites. Mine is a fruity Ethopia. Robin likes earthy America coffees. Together it’s a full-bodied, sweet and grounding blend of love.”

“We hope to partner with local coffee roasters in the future, especially for private events where whoever hires us can use their favorite roasters for their event,” JoEllen says.

• For information about the Pinholita van or to hire for private events, visit @pinholitacoffeevan on Instagram or PinholeCoffee.com.