Like many people, Jonathan Perlman can’t start his day without a good cup of coffee.
The engineering graduate took it upon himself to launch his own business, Chutzpah Coffee Company, which offers “specialty grade Jewish coffee.” He now serves as the company’s CEO in addition to holding a full-time job with Capital One.
Perlman donates 18% of Chutzpah Coffee Company’s total profits to imadi, an organization that supports families navigating complex pediatric health diagnoses. He is actively involved in Chabad Jewish Young Professionals DC and GatherDC.
In his free time, the Arlington resident enjoys playing basketball, softball and tennis.
Tell me about your Jewish upbringing and background.
I grew up on Long Island, and I’d say I went to a temple that would be like [a combination of] Reform and Conservative — somewhere in that range, probably more Conservative. My mom was born in Israel, moved to the U.S. in Brooklyn, went to Yeshivah [of] Flatbush. My dad has more of the American Jewish background in New Jersey. I was lucky to have all four grandparents. … [My mom’s] dad was a Holocaust survivor. Her mom was also affected by the Holocaust, and on my dad’s side, they were more of the American immigrant story. So you get a mix of all the Jewish backgrounds there. I’ve always been very proud of my Jewish identity. I grew up in a very Jewish town, so it was never something I had to fight for.
I went to [college] in Pittsburgh to study engineering and I was there during the Tree of Life shooting, and I think that was my first wake-up call to not being in a safe bubble anymore. A little before that, I was going to Chabad more — I loved my rabbi on campus; I loved the Hillel and was super involved in Jewish life.
What inspired you to launch Chutzpah Coffee Company?
With Oct. 7 and all the antisemitism on the rise, I really wanted to support the Jewish brands. That was my big thing I wanted to support and bring dollars back into the Jewish community because I felt they needed more support. Me having been an engineer, coffee is what fueled me. I was like, “I need to support a Jewish brand,” and there was nothing. I was sad about it for a few days, and I was like, “Why don’t I try to start a company?” I’ve always had engineering ideas — “Build this device; build this design” — but never a physical good.
We started researching and found a kosher roaster. We wanted specialty grade coffee, which is the top 2% of coffee in the world. That’s what I drink at home, and if I make a brand, it has to be up to my standards. Initially, we didn’t have the funds to do roast-to-order, but now if someone orders coffee, it’s going to be freshly roasted and shipped to [the customer].
What’s it like to own and run a business?
It’s definitely fun and hard. I thought this was going to be so easy, like we’re a Jewish coffee brand, everyone’s going to buy it. We’re proud to be Jewish. People love coffee. It is so much harder than that, and then you get tariffs thrown in. Every day there’s a new challenge. I come home from work and then I have to solve [another] challenge.
Why is it important for you to give back to the community?
It goes back to the whole supporting Jewish business, keeping within our community. No one’s going to help the Jewish people outside of ourselves, and you see that with statistics. Tzedakah is also a key value of Judaism in general, so to do this, I feel like it wouldn’t be right to not have a tzedakah element. When I started this, we actually didn’t launch until we had a [charitable] partner. I was very big on that.
What do you enjoy about being involved in the Jewish community?
The best part of being Jewish is the community is so strong, so I think if something happens in the news related to Jews, you don’t have to explain it to other people in the community. When the [Capital Jewish Museum] shooting happened in D.C., I didn’t have to explain my emotions. I just went and hung out with Jewish people and we all had the same mind. Same on the positives — it’s like 80% of the conversation is already there.
What are your goals?
Obviously, turn the Coffee Company profitable. That’d be awesome. We’re going to launch some new products. If I could double sales, that’d be awesome, and just keep it growing. We started about a year and a half ago. The plan is by year three to make profit, so I think that’s still doable.
On the personal side, I’m a big sports person, so I feel like playing more sports, even though I play probably four or five times a week. I’m actually [helping] start another company that’s pickleball related. Another goal, I’d say, would be [to] get that company launched in the next year.
