Robert Gungor

– Can you please introduce yourself in a few words.
My name is Robert Gungor and I live in Marfa, TX. I own a coffee shop, make music under the moniker Wilderman, and also make websites for people. I am from Wisconsin, went to high school in Tulsa, OK and have lived most of my adult life in California.

– When did Do Your Thing open and what’s the story behind?
Simone (co-owner/girlfriend/sorceress/babe) and I came to Marfa in Dec. 2013 – Feb. 2014 to work on her record at the Marfa Recording Co. We fell in love with the people and the place and the magic and the light here and decided we wanted to move back. The one thing I was ultra-bummed on was no good espresso here – and also a lack of a proper 3rd space for the radical minds here to converge during creative processes. So we put together a little business proposal for a coffee pop-up and decided to go to the bank and see if Chip Love (bank manager, best name ever) would want to give us a loan to do it. He approved us immediately and we were kind of a bit surprised, to be honest… we were like, “Oh, I guess we’re doing this”. We then talked to this amazing dude named Cory Van Dyke (director) who owns this old hardware store/lumberyard and converted into art lofts and event space.  He let us just setup in the community kitchen with no paperwork, rent or hassle.  We opened our doors in the Lumberyard in July for the film festival. It’s been an amazingly easy experience, really.

– What’s your specialty and what makes you different?
Our specialty is that we are passionate, curious, and we have taken things one step at a time. Marfa has a lot of constraints and we love that about it. A lot of shops that are opening now feel like they start with a perfect ideal in mind and work back from that, spending so much time and money into something that feels almost like the “kit” of what a coffee shop should be. We take the reverse approach, we just do what we can, for now, and it’s kind of easy-going in that way.

– What was your first coffee experience?
When I was 15 I got a job at a coffee shop in Tulsa, OK. I had a macchiato and hated it. Then I learned to love them.

– What was your best coffee experience?
The first Gibraltar I made for myself in Marfa. We are in the high desert here, 3 hours from the nearest airport, 6 hours from the nearest decent espresso. It felt very much like I just found my own coffee oasis in the desert.

– Do you prepare coffee at home ? If yes, what method do you use?
Yes. Today we are closed so I made a filter coffee with Bee House Ceramic drippers, Baratza Virtuoso grinder (with scale attachment) and Hario electric kettle. Heath ceramics mugs. De La Paz “Big City » beans, organic half&half, a couple of La Perruche sugar cubes (feeling sweet today).

– How do you like your coffee? Black, sugar and milk, iced, vietnamese style,…?
All of the/see above.

– How would you qualify yourself as coffee drinker (occasional, heavy, addict…)?
Lover, but not an addict. I can go a couple days without it – but I love it so very much.

– Have you always been into the coffee industry? If not, what was your previous job?
nope. Musician, Designer, Web Developer, in that order.

– Do you have another passion or a hobby besides coffee?
Tennis. We love to play – but Marfa has no courts… and it kills us.

– What other place would you recommend, anywhere in the world?
Trouble Coffee, San Francisco, CA

– What would you say to people who don’t know much about coffee?
Don’t be afraid of all the hype. Drink macchiatos for awhile without sugar. Try a bunch of places. Ask your barista about the process. Just be curious and trust your own tastes.