Colin and I met here on campus. We're both members of the same fraternity. And we found out very quickly that we had a shared love of the same beverage.
two best friends with a shared love of espresso martinis, turn their passion into a career.
But you know, when you look at coffee, there's a lot of similarities to wine, right? There's dozens of cupping profiles, tastes, notes, smells, we just want good coffee.
Today, we chat with the co founders of new range coffee. I'm Kevin Douglas, this is the Entrepreneurship@DU podcast. All right. We're here in the podcast studio at the University of Denver. And today we have the cofounders of new range coffee. So will each of you guys just introduce yourselves? Say your your name you roll new range and what you started to do you?
Yeah, so Colin wrecker. I graduated in 2013. I was a business major with economics and business ethics, Legal Studies, minors. So I do most of the you know, we're both co founder. So it's kind of split. And we're a lot of hats. But I mostly do you know, the executive and financial and legal side of things.
And my name is Aqua Kaffir. I was also a Daniel's I graduated in 2016. With a major in finance. I do not handle any of the financial stuff over at neuron John, I'm more of the pretty face of the company. So I handle sales, storytelling, anything creative that we really do.
Can you tell me a little bit about how you guys met and how you connected? And eventually how that turned into a business partnership?
Yeah, absolutely. So Colin and I met here on campus, we were both members of the same fraternity. And we found out very quickly that we had a shared love of the same beverage. So it was our junior year here at d u. And I remember that we had gone out to dinner with a friend's older brother, and we watched him drink an excessive amount of espresso martinis. And we thought that was the coolest thing we'd ever seen. And from there, it kind of grew out amongst our friends, where we would go out to different bars and restaurants. And we would sample the espresso martinis. And eventually we established a rubric where we would go and we'd rate it out of 10. And then in order to keep track of all the espresso martinis at the different bars and restaurants, we created an Instagram and the Instagram slowly went viral over the years, to the point where before COVID, we were getting 50 to 60 submissions a night from London, Sydney, Paris, Tokyo, and we really realized that there was a massive global appeal to this drink. And Colin and I were on trip together. It was a boy's trip. And we were in Tokyo at a very nice hotel at a very expensive bar. And we had probably the most expensive Espresso Martini we'd ever had to drink. And it was one of the worst we've ever had. So Colin and I looked at each other, and we were both kind of like, you know, now's the time we're not getting any younger. Let's quit our corporate jobs, and sell pre batch keg espresso martinis to bars. So that was the first iteration of new range coffee is we actually both left our jobs in finance to pawn or where's that at bars. And throughout that process, it became abundantly clear that business plan wasn't gonna work. So we did a major pivot. And we took an objective look at the cold brew industry and saw that while it was super oversaturated there wasn't a whole lot of innovation happening. And we saw a golden opportunity and kind of just ran with them there.
What were those corporate jobs? And what was that transition? Like? Had you ever been entrepreneurs before? Had you ever started? Even like being a kid doing a lemonade stand anything like that?
Honestly, no, I was always pretty risk averse. You know, I came in to do actually as an as an aerospace engineer that lasted a week, and then it transitioned to finance because I asked my guidance counselor, I was like, I'm good with numbers, but I hate what I'm doing. Yeah. So build that on that. Before this. You know, I've done investment banking, real estate investing private equity, real estate was my last gig. Zach was a finance guy, too. So neither of us had any experience with food and beverage, no experience being an entrepreneur, you know, kind of just feel like you just give it a shot, and then it takes or it doesn't and then it kind of just proliferates and becomes who you are. You know, at this point, it's our baby. So there's no real you know, we're not we're not leaving it. We're not quitting. Yeah, never really intentional about you. But
yeah, it was definitely not a linear path. I was working in transportation logistics as a market setter. So essentially, what I did is I analyze what was happening in the freight market, and then I turned around and I would tell that to my brokers. That's how much you can pay a certain trucker to get a load of Coca Cola move from point A to point B. For me, it was pretty unfulfilling. And it was just one of those things where I was looking for any reason to really go out and do my own thing. It was, you know, I'd never taken the leap, but something I'd always wanted to do. It was actually Colin, that, that really inspired that because, you know, we joked about starting this company, and it was something where I was like cool, that's a fever dream. Maybe we can do it as a side hustle. And when we got back to America, Colin called me he's like, Hey, I just paid a lawyer retainer. We're filing all the paperwork. It's time to quit your job. Yeah.
The only way to really make someone commit, right?
Yeah. No going back after that. Exactly. I was looking at your website I saw. I love the term quality over snobbery, especially in the world of cold brew coffee. I feel like there's all these very long, elaborate YouTube videos about the best french press strategies and things and I can't even wrap my head around it. So tell me a little more about what inspired this. This branding of sort of, you know, being real and authentic and losing the snobbery in this industry?
Yeah, so that kind of came from Zach, when we're looking at this, you know, we we didn't really know what we were doing. We're just kind of being, you know, objective, knowing nothing about the industry and doing what we thought, right. But, you know, when you look at coffee, there's a lot of similarities to wine, right? There's dozens of cupping profiles, tasting notes, smells, you know, different growing regions and different, you know, the list goes on and on and on. At the end of the day, yes, that works. There are people that make money off that. And you know, at the end of the day, they probably know more than we do. But when you look at it from the standpoint of we just want good coffee, you know, we're looking at what people are doing. They're making cold brews with astringent, acidic floral notes. They're kind of sour sometimes. And we were like, Why is this popular? Why is this what's good? So we were like, don't start from scratch, we're going to focus on strictly chocolate caramel, like smooth, sweet notes. So you know, regardless of how we got there, that's why we did it. And then Zack was like, we're just trying to say quality over snobbery.
Yeah, it's one of those things that was born of being probably the stupidest people in the room. You walk in and like we're dealing with all these coffee producers, and they're trying to really drill down on what is it on the coffee rating scale, there's 100, and the SCA is 100 plus 100. Blessing. And we were like, we just don't want it to taste burn. It was just people would just kind of laugh at us. And so it was one of those things where, yeah, so many people are just like, you know, that intimidating process of walking into a really niche coffee store. And the barista has, like, you know, shooting daggers at you and, and you know, we just want to take that out, you want coffee to be more accessible. It's such a daily, it's a daily part of everyone's, you know, lives. So it should be accessible, and it should be enjoyable. And there's no reason that you should feel intimidated when you're trying to find something new.
Awesome. I love that. I was also looking at on your about page, it talks about the commitment to good and how your beans are roasted with solar energy. I wanna hear more about how that how did that come about? And why was that so important to you guys?
Yeah, so I think it kind of started with again, Zack and I were never really in the food and beverage or farming or manufacturing agricultural space. You know, once we got involved, we realized how detrimental coffee is to the environment, just by nature, it is very bad for the environment. But you know, you look at it and go okay, coffee is going nowhere. People are gonna keep drinking it until you find a substitution. So when we set out to do this, we were like, Okay, how can we try to offset this as much as possible? So from sourcing, you know, Fairtrade organic to partnering with a certified B Corp freight company that goes, you know, they find a way to basically offset their carbon emissions. We partner with C trees, they replant kelp forests and restore mangrove tree populations. Even the roasting we use solar, sorry, roaster does have solar panels on the rooftop. So is solar roasted beans, which is obviously more offsetting. They're missing it. Oh, yeah. Aluminum cans, infinitely recyclable? Yeah. So everything we did you know it? Yes, the cost adds up. Is it drastic? No. Would it big company do it? Not a chance. But you know, we have that ability to and if we start and grow that way, we are hopeful that, you know, if we get massive, we do have the potential to stay with our current supply chain that we've set up?
Yeah, it's just about you know, doing what you can what you can do it. And I think, you know, it's something every every company, I think moving into the CPG space, it's kind of regarded as the bare minimum. Now, you know, you if you're gonna make a niche craft product, you have to be cognizant of your environmental impact.
Yeah, absolutely. When starting to do and like yeah, just destroy forests, and I put it in plastic bottles, you know that that won't raise money, right? for good reasons.
I'd love to hear a little more about just each of you personally, where you're from, if you're Colorado locals, or if you came to d u, what reasons that you chose d u and how you feel the university and the classes you took might have influenced the way you approach entrepreneurship today? Yeah, so
So like most Denver residents, we are transplants were part of the problem. But I'm from Manhattan Beach, California, just outside Los Angeles. The real reason I came here was I grew up coming to Denver and Boulder. I had some family out here. We go to Estes Park, we go skiing for the mountain, so I really only looked at California schools and then d u and C. You see it was just far too big for me and I know I needed a lot more intimate, smaller class size teaching regimen. I just don't throw out Over the 100 Plus kids. So that's kind of how I got out here. And then one thing I actually get a lot from people is, you know, why did you choose? Do you That makes no sense? You know, all these kids from New York and LA, how do you know about the school? It was the only place for me, like looking back deal was perfect fit my lifestyle. So many good friends came out of this talk got my first job. My second job. My third job was connections at d u. Yeah. Again, like I said, came here as an engineer switch within a week, you know, thankfully, they weren't making you apply to get into the business school at that point. So I just transitioned easily. And then yeah, really happy. I stuck with finance and economics. And obviously, you know, we're not in that space anymore. But I use that information daily. You know, I live in Excel some weeks. So definitely a good foundation for what we're doing.
For me. So I'm from upstate New York, and I grew up as a ski racer, I was involved in the US development Ski Team program for 14 plus years. So skiing was so much a part of my life, that actually when it came time to start looking at colleges, and I broke my back, so I wasn't going to be skiing in college. I wanted to go to school in the Deep South. I don't know why I just had it in my head that I never wanted to be anywhere that it snowed ever again. So I was applying to like big state schools. You know, all all down the deep deep cellar, we're talking deep sound where I would have stood out I haven't Yankee boy would have been toast. But my mom was just like, hey, you know, we've been in Denver so much, because of you know, when I was out here skiing, competing, you know, it was one of the things was always in the back of our minds, and, you know, touring co touring CC, coming to coming to Denver. And she pretty much had to force me to get on a plane to come out and see do and like Colin said it was the second I was on campus, I knew that this was the school for me, I did want to go to a university with a strong business program. And you know, Daniels was, I mean, it's ranked even higher now. But when I was looking, I mean, it was apparent from the get go, that that was the school that I wanted to study at. Then the second I got into it, I didn't even open up another admission letter. It was you know, it was set in stone. And then in regards to how my ventures here at D, you kind of played into entrepreneurship. Like Colin, I changed my major, but I did it six times.
Previous five.
So I did marketing, I did real estate and construction management. I did spend a quarter over the HR TM school because of the wines the world class like. I think it sounded cool. All right, class. Yeah, and, and finance, business ethics and legal studies, I was all over the board. And I think what it really is, is there's that ability within, especially within Daniels, I can't speak to the rest of do. But I assume it's the same where you have that ability to kind of dip your toes in a little bit of everything. And so much of the Daniels curriculum is comprehensive. It's like very much akin to a liberal arts education within the business school, because you have to have all these different courses, regardless of your outside of your major work. So it just really allowed me to see like, what the all encompassing different parts of like running a business would be. Obviously, I don't use finance in my everyday life. Colin does, like I said, like he said, he lives in Excel. We call it his favorite video game. But yeah, no. So it's, I think it's really, you know, the breadth of experience that was offered to me in such an intimate setting here at do that really allowed me to like, see everything there is out there.
Yeah, I definitely think that's a benefit of the quarter system is just getting more chances to take new classes, rather than starting off right away, and then getting a whole year behind because you took too long to just switch to the the right fit for you.
Yeah. And thanksgiving to New Year's off.
Also, the second best part? Maybe Maybe that's the best part. Do you have any advice to students who are in a similar position to you where they didn't think they were going to be an entrepreneur, they didn't plan on starting a business, but they found this thing they're passionate about, and suddenly they have this opportunity to turn it into their, you know, career.
Yeah, I mean, I guess back when, when we're here, you'd pretty much just like Zack, you kind of look like insane on paper, right? It's like just kids done everything. Now there's actually an entrepreneur school. So that's awesome. If you're feeling like Zach. I mean, that's probably where he would have ended up. Yeah. I mean, you know, some people know what they want to do. Like my dad, he knew is going to be an engineer from day one. He never he was at one company that really retired. That's just who he was, then, you know, I think some people in nowadays, there's so many things in front of you that it's hard to know what you really want to do, unless you're kind of following something or you're just really talented at something like this is where I'm applying my efforts, but I don't know. Probably just try a bunch of things. You know, you might not love it in college, but at least if you'd still don't find what you love in college and you're well rounded. You can do something with that, right might look funky on paper, but once you meet someone and talk to him in an interview and kind of explain why it looks insane on paper, you know, that might even get you the interview, like what is wrong with this guy in place. But, you know,
um, my biggest piece of advice is, and this is so cliche, but there's a twist to it. So it's the it's the obvious like don't be afraid to fail. there. And the reason I say that is like, don't be afraid of failure in conversation and networking. Colin and I have gotten to the point where we're at, because we were willing to sound like idiots talking to people much, much smarter than us. So if you're interested in something or you know, you don't know how to do something, I remember in college, I was paralyzed by fear, because I didn't want to walk into a conversation and make it seem like I didn't know anything, I would be asked my way through a compensation walk away from it, and realize I hadn't gotten anything out of it. So if you're very blunt and upfront and transparent about the fact that like, Hey, I am trying to learn from you, you know, people are accessible. People really do like to help out, especially within the entrepreneurship community. So it's yeah, it's just swallow that fear and be willing to admit your own shortcomings, and then be open to learning from people that have gone through this before you. Yeah,
I will say on that, in that same vein, you know, when when you're at school, and you have the ability to go in turn places or people will just give you a shot, because you're a student, and you were eager to learn. Do it. I mean, I thought for sure, you know, I'd watch Wall Street stuff. And I was like, Oh, this is awesome. I love high finance. I did one summer investment bank interning and I knew investment banking was not for me. So you know, you can you can think somes, awesome. You can, you know, watch all these, you know, the movies make it look great. And Hollywood's like, Oh, hi, finances is incredible. You live it for three months, and you're like, This is not for me. So you really don't know until you talk to people in that space or see what you know, day to day life is in that space. Because nothing is what it seems you know, it's always a little different than what you think it's gonna be.
Yeah. You never know until you do it. Right. Exactly. And then anything we can keep an eye out for with new range. Anything big on the horizon?
Yeah, a ton. So right now we have just finished our rebrand. So our entire company is getting a facelift, due to some pretty much two and a half years of market feedback from retailers, distributors, consumers. We're roping it all into one now. So it's gonna be a cohesive brand. Finally, the three ready to drink canned products have been rebranded they will be the same as far as taste. They are all now organic. We also have a self heating latte coming out. So yeah, it's our same coconut cream, vanilla latte. But you twist it and within three to five minutes to heat so 135 degrees and stays there for 30 to 60 minutes. That's incredible. So yeah, never heard of the product. Yeah.
Is that the first is that an existing product other folks are doing
so people have done similar temps where the issue was they didn't have control over the delta. So meaning, if you can started at 120 degrees, it would keep going up 120 degrees and would turn into a pipe bomb. Oh, it's over boiling. So the tech partner we've partnered with, he has found a way to basically stabilize the reaction where it will hit 135 degrees and stay there. And then if it goes above, it'll shut down the reaction. So yeah, no more crazy explosions. And then we also have a cold brew concentrate coming out. So it's 30 servings coffee for $30.08 fluid ounce glass bottle. So the whole goal there is ecommerce push, or you know students on campus, right, you have a mini fridge, you don't have room for appliances. You don't have room for wine sized boxes of cold brew concentrate. So this really goes after that market. And then our last drink. Finally, three years later, we have the Espresso Martini coming out now. Hey, all right. So yeah, that'll be q1 of next year. But it's not going to be canned like we initially wanted. It's going to be in a normal 750 milliliter liquor bottle. The whole goal there is you know, it shouldn't be on the go drink in our eyes. It should be you know, bartender pours you four ounces shakes. It needs to be beans on top. He got to have the three beans Of course. So yeah, we kind of our full product line coming out after the rebrand. Everything's going organic. So we're gonna look like a real national brand.
Wow. Yeah, it's all come full circle. That's pretty cool.
Yeah, that's why you pay the experts and branding. We did the branding kind of ourselves a little bit on the front end. And yeah, we're not we're not bringing people
Yeah, no, your know your weaknesses. Yeah.
And finally, what is each of your favorite drinks that you guys make?
So mine is the cold brew latte? You know, not to be that guy. But I think it's the best on the market. I think it's the best one ever made. Yeah, no, but I drink Yeah, I drink a lot of our cold brew latte. I'm scaling back. I was up to about six, seven copies a day. I'm down to about one. So I'm currently in recovery. Working on it, but yeah, so yeah.
I mentioned it's hard when you're surrounded by it all the time. Yeah, you just right there. Yeah.
Yeah, I was gonna say I thought my favorite was lotto. But again, you know, when you have an unlimited supply of coffee, and you drink two to three a day, I started to stop because it was just so much caffeine. Yeah, my favorites. Probably the cold brew with benefits or old cold brew coffee plus with the no jitter no crash formulation. I think, you know, again, it's not my favorite as far as taste profile, but I can actually delete these things and not get crazy overly caffeinated and jittery and shaky and sweaty. So a perk Yeah, I guess three years later, you're now kind of at a problem now. We have a drink that solves itself.
That is so thank you guys so much for coming in. We really appreciate it and we wish you the best of luck with new range and everything yet to come.
Absolutely thanks for having thank you
yeah
The Entrepreneurship@DU podcast was recorded and Marjorie Reed Hall on the University of Denver campus. You can find us on Instagram at @duentrepreneur, on Twitter @du_entrepreneur, on Facebook at Entrepreneurship@DU. Entrepreneurship@DU is part of the Daniels College of Business, which has its own podcast by the way. Check out Voices of Experience, available wherever you get your podcasts