Micro-blogging and micro-lots go together like, well, I’m not really sure, but there’s no denying that in the social media world, coffee culture, and specialty coffee in particular, reigns. Don’t deny it, every time you see a Chemex you double tap. No, actually you tap frantically. I don’t know when I came across Instagram account Men and Coffee and its sister account Women And Coffee, but of course when I did, I followed. I mean, it was attractive people making and drinking coffee. Isn’t that why the internet was created in the first place?
If you haven’t checked out Men and Coffee or Women and Coffee yet, they are pretty much exactly what they sound like. As the Men and Coffee website says, “Bringing together two of the most wonderful things: Beautiful Men & Delicious Coffee.” Well there you go.
People of course love it. As of writing this, the Men and Coffee Instagram account has over 55,000 followers. And some of the followers are quite discerning. “Oh, but why Starbucks??” wrote one in response to an image of a woman in sunglasses holding a Starbucks cup.
But I wasn’t satisfied with keeping this an unknown Internet phenomenon, as we do with most things on the Internetz. So I reached out, and Alex Tooby, the founder of the two accounts, agreed to answer a few questions so that you could know all about what it takes to bring sexy people drinking coffee to the internet.
Sprudge: How did Men and Coffee get started? I started @menandcoffee in late November (November 25th to be exact) after discussing with a friend the sex appeal of men drinking coffee. It was an innocent conversation but led to me later looking on the web to see if anyone else had started such an account. When I noticed no one had, I quickly jumped on it. Lesson: The Internet needs more things. If there is a thing that isn’t on the Internet, you need to start doing it. Cats and Coffee? When did you launch Women And Coffee? I registered the account @womenandcoffee pretty quickly after @menandcoffee started just to be safe. I didn’t actually start posting on that account until February 7th. At that point I figured @menandcoffee was doing well so it was time to start running the two accounts simultaneously. @womenandcoffee is a lot further behind at this point, but thats okay, it’ll get there, I’m sure! Lesson: Be gender equal. Personally, do you find men drinking coffee more attractive than ones that aren’t? I’m not really sure what it is about the combination of men and coffee but it just seems to work for me, and many other women and men it seems! Of course all of the guys on the feed would be gorgeous without their coffee mugs but the two together create something magic! Lesson: Coffee is magical. But you’d better be attractive, too. I am sure on the Tumblr you get some fun comments—any noteworthy ridiculous ones? I actually find most of the funny comments on Instagram. On my website www.menandcoffee.com I have a “what our followers are saying” section that includes a handful of funny comments. Some of my favorites are: “my ovaries just exploded!”, “I feel like I’m cheating on my husband by following this account”, “I just made inappropriate noises in public”, and “I think I just dribbled.. he is beautiful!”. Lesson: People say weird things on the Internet. Do people submit any NSFW type images, or are most pretty clean? I have definitely received some risqué photos but nothing I couldn’t handle. I do look at these guys all day everyday, you know…haha! It’s interesting to see how @menandcoffee has kind of shifted. I started with more topless guys, but at the time my followers liked the barista shots better. Now that it has become more popular, the followers have switched back to liking the sexier photos. I do my best to give the people what they want to see! Lesson: People are indecisive. One day you’re a barista and the next day you’re single and taking your shirt off.
A master at work #womenandcoffee
A photo posted by W O M E N & C O F F E E (@womenandcoffee) on
Give me a little background about yourself—do you work in coffee? Just an avid coffee drinker?
I actually don’t work in coffee. I currently work as a freelance Social Media Strategist. Hence, the love for Instagram and the creation of these accounts! Additionally, I am a communications student at Royal Roads University in Victoria, BC (I live in Vancouver, though, and do correspondence), and my background is in Print and Graphic Design.
Lesson: you can get training to learn how to make more Internetz. It will probably be more fruitful than making coffee.
Why do you think coffee culture is so big right now? Just a trend or here to stay?
To be honest I’m not really sure why coffee culture is a big thing right now…I think it’s the same magic that makes men and coffee so special! There’s something about coffee that just goes with everything. Likely it will be here to stay. Coffee is the life blood of so many people, it couldn’t possibly die off anytime soon.
Lesson: Keep drinking coffee DAMMIT.
Be honest: what’s more attractive, men drinking coffee or women drinking coffee? And along those lines, what does the Internet like more, men or women drinking coffee?
As a heterosexual female, I definitely think @menandcoffee is more attractive, but I am super admiring of the beautiful women on @womenandcoffee too! So far, @menandcoffee is by far the Internet favorite but that may be just because I started it earlier and it went “viral” earlier. I have no doubts that @womenandcoffee will climb to the same heights as its big brother.
Lesson: For the first time ever, people would rather look at men than women. Thanks coffee. Now, where are those cats?
Anna Brones is a Sprudge.com desk writer based in Paris, and the founder of Foodie Underground. Read more Anna Brones on Sprudge.
