Coffee outfits big and small get represented every year here on the Build-Outs of Summer on Sprudge. And they don’t get much smaller than today’s entry. Hygge Coffee Company have unleashed their roving, pedal-powered cold brew bike upon the streets and farmers markets of beautiful Missoula, Montana, featuring both still and nitrogenated varieties.
But this isn’t just some rickety old bike hauling a janky kegerator hither and yon. Hygge’s mobile setup is completely custom made, able to hold eight separate kegs and nitrogen containers, all tapped and ready to go. It’s not a bad little setup they have, and it allows them to spread Hygge’s message of enjoying the simple pleasures. And cold brew.
As told to Sprudge by Andrew Squires.
For those who aren’t familiar, will you tell us about your company?
We are a quality driven coffee roaster based in wonderful Missoula, Montana. But first let us address the elephant in the room—our name. We’ve heard nearly every pronunciation imaginable, but we pronounce it Hue-gah. This is Danish word that back in 2014 when we began was still so new, yet now has hit mainstream even being added to the Oxford Dictionary. Very simply put to us, Hygge means to enjoy the simple pleasures of life (coffee being at the forefront of course). Our company takes pride in finding ways to add value to people’s lives from crop to cup. Finding long-term sustainable direct trade coffees as much as possible. We currently source our coffees via direct trade from places like Long Miles Coffee Project in Burundi, Direct Origin Trading in Colombia, and Gold Mountain Coffee Growers in Nicaragua. All others are sourced from Sustainable Harvest. As it stands now we do not currently have a retail front or coffee shop, but the main thrust of our business is wholesale and retail distribution helping others to serve and sell great coffee with tangible impact in the world.
Can you tell us a bit about the new space?
We are celebrating the launch of our Cold Brew Coffee Bike this summer season into our community. Our space isn’t just one space, but an unlimited number of outdoor venues. This is a traditional chain and pedal powered bicycle, with a large cargo box, jockey box for cooling, and two tap cold brew system (one low pressure/flat and one high pressure). The bike has been customized to hold a nitrogen tank (currently 20lb), two separate nitrogen pressurized lines and gauges, and up to eight five-gallon corny kegs of cold brew coffee. Our Cold brew can be pressurized, cooled, and served all directly from the bike. This was an exciting thing as Missoula has a bustling Farmer’s Market community (at least three weekly markets) and we are happy to be a first year member of the Clark Fork Market each Saturday from 8am-1pm. Missoula is a very active community with strong biking, hiking, and outdoor activities—not to mention many great summer events. Our aim is to spread the love for excellent cold brew coffee at as many events, festivals and places as possible! We realize there is an abundance of bad cold brew and we have worked very hard to make cold brew people love. High pressure nitrogen-infused coffee is still very new around here, and we are constantly educating our interested customers. When making our cold brew we extract as much flavor as we can, and charge the coffee at least 48 hours under high pressure. This creates a strong, smooth, and sweet flavor that is true to the coffee and that people love!
What’s your approach to coffee?
We approach coffee with curiosity, passion, and respect. Celebrating the hard work of farmers and producers is what we are about. Treating each coffee uniquely based on all its important factors, our goal is to roast every coffee to perfect development and flavor. Origin distinctives are roasted to be highlighted, celebrated, and communicated in all our packaging and other channels. We love great coffee!
Any machines, coffees, special equipment lined up?
Our Cold Brew Coffee Bike was made by Coaster Pedicab located in Bonner, Montana. All cold brew equipment and parts came from Kegco. At this stage we are using a South American blend for our darker cold brew and a Burundi for our lighter option.
What’s your hopeful target opening date/month?
We launched our Cold Brew Coffee Bike the first Saturday of June and have received a great response from our community.
Are you working with craftspeople, architects, and/or creatives that you’d like to mention?
Justin Bruce and the whole crew at Coaster Pedicab have been amazing to us. They make world class Pedicabs and bikes just outside of Missoula. Zach Bauer was the creative genius behind the design, and is the most creative person we know. Also many thanks to Summer Sun Garden and Brew in Missoula who always have any miscellaneous items we need for the bike.
Thank you!
Thanks for this opportunity and for what you do for the specialty coffee community!
The Build-Outs Of Summer is an annual series on Sprudge. Live the thrill of the build all summer long in our Build-Outs feature hub. Got a Build-Out of your own? Get in touch.
