According to Brash Coffee owner Matt Ludwikowski, coffee producers are the new rock stars. So what do you do to celebrate rock stars? You plaster their faces on t-shirts, of course!
Ludwikowskiย admits itโs a little crazyโso crazy, he’s picked up the nickname โPajaro Locoโ (“Crazy Bird”) from some of the coffee farmers Brash buys from. His wild hair may also have something to do with it. โI love that I can develop relationships with farmers all over the world, and really connect with them on a human level,” Ludwikowski tells me. “We can be friends. And they can care about whether or not their coffeeโs being served here.โ
Each farmer-featured shirt at Brash highlights a quality about the farmer. For Henry Gaibor, a retired medical doctor now farming coffee in Ecuador, his t-shirt bares the phrase “The Scientist”. Producer Ruben Magana’s shirt dubs him “The Philosopher”, based on “the more philosophical approach” he takes towards farming, according to Ludwikowski.
Brash’s t-shirts were designed by Atlanta graphic designers Alvin Diec and Travis Ekmark, of The Office of Brothers. This is merch with a goal: these shirtsย take the names and terms from the coffee worldโwhich can sound foreign and confusing to many consumersโand relate them to a face and a person.
โIf you were a customer, and you became a big fan of Henryโs coffee, maybe you want to rep Henry when youโre walking around town or something,โ Diec tells me.ย According to Ludwikowski, the farmers think having their faces on t-shirts is pretty rad, too. He says heย wants people to know that at the end of the line, thereโs a person who had the dream to make coffeeโsomeoneย who took risks and worked really hard to do it.
You can purchase Brash’s t-shirts on their website.
Yee Won Liew is a freelance journalist based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. This is Yee Won Liew’s first feature for Sprudge.ย
