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Launch HN: Sudden Coffee (YC W17) – Instant coffee that doesn't suck

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Re: Launch HN: Sudden Coffee (YC W17) – Instant coffee that doesn't suck

#244

Post by blhack »

gingerbread-man wrote: post #70
ryanSrich wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every flight I've been on with Starbucks VIA has been absolute trash. Airplane coffee quite literally tastes like it was made with toilet water. That's honestly the only way I can describe it. I'm bearish on any improvements because I'm convinced the problem is the water they use.

You're spot on re: the water quality. An investigation at DFW a few years ago found hazardous levels of e.coli in the potable water tanks used to refill aircraft. I wonder why the airlines aren't doing anything about this. I'm not a frequent first-class passenger, but if I were, high-quality coffee would be a big deal for me.

I don't think I've ever been on an airplane that served "tap water". It's always been bottled.

Re: Launch HN: Sudden Coffee (YC W17) – Instant coffee that doesn't suck

#245

Post by csours »

freese wrote: post #169
RandomOpinion wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Amen to this. I would be much more inclined to try Sudden Coffee out if there were an option for a one-time purchase, especially if registration were not required (I really don't want to deal with yet another password). As a side question: what's the shelf life of Sudden?

Thanks for the feedback - duly noted. The shelf life is around 4-6 months - we recently started to flush the tubes with nitrogen so as long as you keep the in cool, dry and dark place they'll last for a while.

+1 to the above. The first thing I looked for on your site was how to try it. I don't want a sub before I try it.

Has anyone 'hacked' your coffee - I'm thinking of the Aeropress community and the nifty things they've done.

Have you demoed this anywhere in person?

For instance, in Austin people stand in line early in the morning for BBQ, and I'm sure you would make a huge impression if you gave out free samples a few times.

Re: Launch HN: Sudden Coffee (YC W17) – Instant coffee that doesn't suck

#246

Post by alaskamiller »

zloof wrote: post #216
alaskamiller wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The tone might have been negative, so my apologies. There's a lot of value add that Sudden is bringing to the table. Most obvious being sourcing, second being operations, third being logistics of getting the boxes to you, then lastly fourth--and most important--is marketing. Coffee for the most part is bullshit, much like the wine industry. A small part of the audience want to hobnob about taste. For some reason ever…

Great response - appreciate the clarification and all makes sense. Yeah, those are all the real challenges we face. Marketing for us is a big one - as many people have pointed out about our website :-) I think it's our job as a business to figure out a way to make it mainstream. It's going to take creativity, hard work, and a great tasting product - but that's the challenge we are signing up for to be honest. We are…

To be honest I was rocking the Sudden Coffee red sticker on my laptop in the south bay for the last four months!

Re: Launch HN: Sudden Coffee (YC W17) – Instant coffee that doesn't suck

#247

Post by blhack »

abeyer wrote: post #33
farorm wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thats the first thing they teach you at YC, always be having that recurring revenue.

It's also one of the first things to turn off a new consumer thinking about taking a chance on an unknown brand. You're fighting the reputation of generations of scammers who promised "cancel any time" and either weasel-worded the small print or just outright ignored cancellation requests to charge as much as possible to recurring bills.

I disagree. If the price point is right, I am a big fan of subscriptions.

A great example of this is: meundies (oohhhhhhhh ba doop boop boop). Fresh undies come every month for like $15/mo. I've had it going for a couple of years (I think), and it's slowly replaced all of my other (terrible) boxer briefs.

Just my 0.00002 BTC.

Re: Launch HN: Sudden Coffee (YC W17) – Instant coffee that doesn't suck

#248

Post by sandGorgon »

This is amazing..I wish we had this in India, which is still catching up to high end coffee.

As a coffee obsessed , but curious hacker - what is the biggest technical challenge in for this? Is it the brewing, or the bean selection..or the freeze drying?

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