The Idea: Promoting Women-Led Coffee
Our cold brew coffee journey started with an idea for a new kooler than cool taste. We were inspired by our love of the East Coast lifestyle and the many women who dedicate their vision and labour to improve the art of specialty coffee.
💪Women-Led Farming of Specialty Coffee Green Beans
The coffee supply chain’s history of slavery and oppression still affects many women in coffee. Physical labour jobs are gruelling and often pay so low that they don’t cover basic expenses. Women hold 70% of low-pay physical labour jobs, but only 20-30% of coffee farms are women-operated, according to a report by the Internation Coffee Organization.
But it doesn’t have to be like this. Women coffee farmers grow exceptional specialty coffee beans, contribute to building a better coffee industry, and support their communities. For example, Beti and Mahder are the dynamic duo behind Dumerso Washed, one of our signature "women in coffee" beans. Despite facing brutal hardships, Beti and her team have done an outstanding job rebuilding her business with a focus on specialty coffee and process control. Learn more about Beti and her farm. By supporting women-led coffee farms, we build a coffee industry we can all take pride in.
☕ Roasting, Tasting, Mixing, and Remixing
After we selected some beans from women-led farms, the green beans travelled all the way to our Charlottetown roastery. Instead of hot water, cold brew is made by steeping ground coffee in cold water and then filtering it. The result is a clean, smooth, and delicious taste.
Cold brew coffee takes a long time - our current process takes 24 hours! Of course, we wanted to find the best roast possible to make kooler than cool cold brew. So, our secret was experimenting. We did hundreds of experiments through roasting, tasting, mixing, and remixing while constantly seeking feedback from coffee lovers.
❤️ Developing Our Kooler than Cool Product
Our Koolbrew honours the many contributions that women have made to coffee over the years. But it also serves to inspire and celebrate the new voices in coffee and fuel the creativity of innovators, thinkers, artists, and entrepreneurs in other industries. We wanted to make sure that our designs were steeped in the feeling of kooler than cool.
To bring our vision to life, we collaborated with a talented graphic artist who created vibrant designs inspired by the origins of each coffee bean. We loved her vibrant, bright designs! Currently, we are offering our Ethiopia Koolbrew online. Check it out now!
❄️ Producing Koolbrew on the East Coast
Partnering with local businesses is important to us, so we collaborated with East Coast manufacturers on production and packaging. But packaging cold brew coffee without additives isn’t straightforward. We wanted to make sure our cans were firm to the touch, but we didn’t want additives messing with our flavours.
Finding a solution took months of hard work! But the vision of midsummer adventures with Koolbrew kept us going. We knew we were getting closer to Koolbrew road trips, mixed drinks, and jam sessions. And our sleepless nights were powered by the goal of sharing the flavours built lovingly and skillfully by so many talented women in specialty coffee.
✈️ Koolbrew Beyond Borders
Finally! The day came when we were ready to launch our Koolbrew. With our shelves stocked and store live, we are excited to ship our Koolbrew across Canada. Now, you can share the fresh taste from anywhere. Please send us your feedback, and share your Koolbrew with some kooler than cool friends. Together, we can share the story of women in coffee and build a better world of specialty coffee.
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