Coffee Kickstarters, boy are there are lot of ‘em. It seems like every Tom, Dick, or Harry with a bag of coffee is opening a café and wants you to pay for it. You want to open a video game-themed coffee shop AND donate 97% of the profits to a charity that sends Xbox 360’s to third world countries? Sounds revolutionary and fiscally sound. Into which bottomless pit should I throw my life savings?
But even with all that crowdfunded muck, there are still a few interesting campaigns. I myself have donated to a coffee Kickstarter or two in the past, and will probably do so again sometime in the future. And normally we here at Sprudge stay mum on Kickstarters or Indiegogos or what have you (what with all the vaporware, impossible too-good-to-be-true doo-dads, outright scams, among other things), but there were a few entries that caught our eye this week. So here are three active crowdfund coffee campaigns we found noteworthy that have yet to make their funding goals.
Coffee Spanish for Coffee Buyers – A Field Guide
Traveling to origin to purchase coffees can be difficult, where dialectical eccentricities abound. But the new book from BGA co-founder Andy Newbom and Andrew Russo of Russo Roasts Coffee consultancy looks to make the process a little easier. Containing a mix of technical Spanish and local idioms, Coffee Spanish for Coffee Buyers has been written and is ready to go to print, which is where the Kickstarter comes in. At the time of writing this, there were 28 days left on the campaign with $1,600 of the $5,000 goal yet to be contributed.
Cat and Cloud Coffee
I know what you’re thinking. Who are these brosephs asking me for $30,000? Well, they’re Chris Baca and Jared Truby of Cat and Cloud (and Charles), some of the trillest coffee brosephs in the game right now. Regional Brewers Cup and Barista champions, US Barista Championship finalists, former BGA Executive Council members, Aeropress emcees, podcasters, roasters, and now café owners, these dudes wear a lot of coffee hats, all of them jauntily askew. Trubacca (and Charles) are asking for a cool $30,000 to add to an already acquired small business loan to open a café/roastery space at 3600 Portola Drive in Santa Cruz, California. With 27 days, the project is a little over $20,000 from reaching its super chill goal (and Charles).
Burundi SHAMBA Mushroom Project
Angele Ciza is the owner of the 360-member Terimbere Cooperative in Burundi. Along with Café Grumpy, Ciza has started a GoFundMe campaign to help the co-op get the supplies they need to help the farm workers grow mushrooms in coffee’s offseason. With a short growing cycle, mushrooms provide workers with a source of high-protein food and an additional means of making money. And growing mushrooms will also help the coffee. Composting the fungus will create a mineral-rich soil for the coffee trees, leading to a higher quality green coffee. The Burundi SHAMBA Mushroom Project is asking for $15,000 and has thus far only received $1,000.
Three pretty neat coffee campaigns for you to peruse, should you have any money burning a hole in your pocket. Check them out, and if you feel like giving a little, I won’t be mad at ya.
Zac Cadwalader is the news editor at Sprudge Media Network.
