Schomer thought that when he opened Vivace in 1988, he had "missed the peak" of the espresso explosion, when in fact his scientific exploration of extraction methods was not happening elsewhere.

Besides training hundreds of baristas who went on to influence coffee shops across the country, Schomer self published a book on espresso techniques in 1994, while also writing columns for Café Ole magazine in the 1990s.

[2] Mark Pendergrast said that Schomer inherited the title of "world's most passionate espresso engineer" upon the death of Italian food chemist Ernesto Illy in 2008.

[8] Schomer credits Espresso Vivace's survival in a competitive market to his own "absolute fidelity" to the goal of "making a better cup", together with the sound fiscal and operations management of his business partner and former spouse, Geneva Sullivan.

[3][9] Espresso Vivaces's first incarnation was a coffee cart, at 5th and Union, serving mainly financial industry workers, whom Schomer says did not consistently frequent the same cafes or pay close attention to quality.