

A new perspective on Coffee and Tea: “Building” Coffee Match - syerram2
http://coffeematchdotcom.wordpress.com/2013/08/14/building-a-coffee-and-tea-brand-from-ground-up/

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syerram2
Hey Xntrk, I'm Sumant, one of the founders of Coffee Match.

The $15 is just a baseline for our Indiegogo campaign. Unlike Tonx/Toby's
estate - with Coffee Match, your getting great Coffee or Tea from the a unique
destination along with a ton of interesting content about the region, the
people, the Coffee, & much more.

With more orders & relationships, we will continue to work on keeps cost down.

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3am
Sorry, maybe I missed it, but will you be doing the roasting or will the
supplier?

Why not work with small roasters instead of direct?

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syerram2
We will be importing the beans directly to the US & then working with small
roasters in certain geographic locations to roast the beans before we ship it
out.

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RogerL
Why? Before I roasted my own beans, I was pretty much interested in the output
of a specific local roaster. They source the beans, choose a specific roasting
profile, are there to answer questions and guide my choices, take feedback
(the Costa Rican was under/over roasted for my taste, and so on). _That_ is
the kind of relationship and connection I want, if I want one at all.

That is all being replaced with some content on a website, roasted by some
person you select, with beans that you select? Sorry, I doubt you are as good
at bean selection as the roaster you are bring the beans to. I could be wrong
about that, but I'm trying to give input as a huge coffee nerd, and a
potential customer. I just don't care about a blog and pictures about where my
beans came from. And then I think about the economics of it. You are acting as
a middle man, meaning you need to get paid. I surely don't want to pay you to
do selection that my own local roaster already does very well. I don't see any
value in what you are offering.

That probably seems very negative and "snipe"y, but I think you are going to
dump a ton of time and money into something that really isn't going to be
successful.

Edit: as I said, I now roast my own coffee. I buy from Sweet Marias. If, for
some reason, I hunger for knowledge about the source of my beans (and, I
stress that I don't), I can just go to their website and read about it for
free. For example: [http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee/full-
description/bolivia](http://www.sweetmarias.com/coffee/full-
description/bolivia)

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pnathan
I guess I'm a philistine, but I am happy with my $12/lb local roast & my
$8/can Folgers, and I really don't feel an emotional connection to the far-
flung places my food is grown... nor am I pursuing one. I am happy to have
both cheap and good coffee & tea and am content there.

So I don't think this business is going to get my dollars, and I feel that
most people are in my boat.

Best of luck finding the niche of people that will want what is being sold!

~~~
IvyMike
I liked Jerry Seinfeld's quotes from his recent NPR review:

 _" I don't give a damn. That's the beauty of it. It doesn't matter. That's
the nearest place. I'll meet you there. And you know what? Coffee's all good.
It's all good. As long as it's fresh, it's good. And it's always fresh in New
York. ... I think we're a more productive society as a result."_

and

 _" I have that at my mother's in Florida at her condo. When she says, 'Do you
want coffee?' And she had a — I think it was a Cuban packet — and I started
rolling my eyes. 'Oh my God that's the coffee you have?' And she boils the
water and opens the packet and puts it in there and you know what? It was
pretty good."_

I'm not saying that all coffees are the same, but in general if my choices are
"bad" coffee and no coffee, I'll take the bad coffee.

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gtani
Heh, i'm sipping my

    
    
        overly roasted (and cheap) Kirkland Columbian Coffee from Costco
    

right now, it's not bad. But i do appreciate high-end "private label" coffee
too. I was talking to somebody this week whose sibling runs a little roaster,
and almost got squeezed out of business when world supplies get squeezed by a
weak harvest somewhere, and Starbuck and Nestle start buying like crazy.
Exciting business!

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xntrk
It doesn't say in oz or grams how much coffee you are actually getting. From
some rough math I would have to guess it is about 6oz. For $15 that seems
really expensive even when compared to craft coffee (tonx/toby's estate) which
is around $19 (shipping included) for 12oz bag.

~~~
ToddSchoel
Yeah I just contributed to the indiegogo but before hand I send them an email
on price here is the response I got to paraphrase.

"It is 15 dollars including shipping and in terms of quantity it is 10 oz"
Pretty good deal considering that they are doing interesting things with
content that directly connect you to the farm and culture...

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sliverstorm
How are you "directly connected to the farm and culture"? If you are like most
people, you brew your coffee and go on with your morning.

~~~
syerram2
Hey - we send you very small snippets of content everyday through email/app
about that Coffee. So as you enjoy your cup everyday - you get a learn a
little bit about what made all of it possible.

