"I'm very happy with that," she says of the customer variety, recalling why she went into the coffeehouse business in the first place. "I transferred from UC-Berkeley in engineering to sociology at UC-Santa Cruz," she explains. "I realized I was a people person, even though I was good at math." A stint as a student employee in a Santa Cruz coffeehouse helped define even more the direction she wanted to take.

Great Bear Coffee on N. Santa Cruz Avenue is the happy result. It has the easy ambiance important to good conversation. "There's lots to discuss over a cup of coffee," Van Epps says with a smile. While news headlines stimulate debate, the aroma of freshly ground coffee wafts through the old building. "If you can smell it, it means you're losing some of the flavor," she notes, so the beans are roasted in a small, 20-pound roaster.

Brick walls sandblasted to bring out their rich color are a backdrop for art that changes once a month. "I have a huge backlog of people wanting to show," she says. "I'm overwhelmed by artists." At present, the pencil drawings of local artist John Peck line the wall, following employee Dave Imlay's recent show of oils. A trompe l'oeil by John Pugh transforms a rear wall into what appears to be woman serving at a counter. "We've fooled quite a few people into thinking we have more space," Van Epps says, chuckling.

Space is a problem. While up to 75 customers can loll in casual comfort, the 16 counter employees have a limited working area. That's why breakfast and lunches once made to order are no longer prepared on site. Instead, croissants, muffins, bear claws and bagels are brought in daily by Santa Cruz's Aunt Nettie's Bakery to await the early risers. Soups hot from the pot are a big item with the lunch crowd. The most popular are the lentil and Chilean chickpea soups and a tomato tahini tofu. A 14-ounce bowl runs $3.25.

Great Bear coffee is cosmopolitan. Beans from the three major growing regions of the world—South and Central America, Africa and Indonesia—are shipped in gunny sacks and wait in bulbous stacks along the back wall. They are roasted under the careful eye of assistant manager Rachael Shipman, who blends the beans to create the special Osos, or Italian espresso, and Great Bear blends. She varies the roasting time to suit dark to medium (French to Full City) tastes.

A 12-ounce cup of regular coffee runs $1.35. A 12-ounce latté is $2.55. "I find that since the economy got a little rougher, people have gone back to regular coffee," Van Epps says. But what customers get is "good and strong." Van Epps claims her coffee is a lot stronger than that of some of the chains. "Theirs tend to have a sweetness, almost appealing to a soda pop taste. Ours is less sugary," she says.

Roasted beans for carry-out are packaged in quarter-, half-, three quarter- and full-pound sizes with the 16-ounce size selling for $9­$10.50.

While her coffee may be less sugary, Van Epps serves a treat that appeals to the biggest of sweet tooths. It's the Chocolate Coffee Cream, made with vanilla ice cream blended with two scoops of Ghirardelli chocolate and some liquid Bear Cap (coffee extract) for $3.95. "It's sweet. We do make some concessions," she says with a laugh.

Great Bear Coffee, located at 19 N. Santa Cruz Ave. is Los Gatos, is open Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Friday, 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.; and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. For more information, call 408.395.8607.