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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

#261

Post by freese »

pbreit wrote: post #239
zloof wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Happy to answer whatever questions we can disclose! Thanks for starting the thread. It's somewhere in the middle to be honest. We did not invent freeze dried coffee - it's been around for over a century. However, it is quite difficult to make it work at-scale in a way that's profitable/sustainable, and that still tastes good. I have a pretty extensive background in operations, manufacturing, & tech and I had to pull…

How long do opened and unopened tubes last?

Currently we promise 4-6 month shelf life. We recently started to flush the tubes with nitrogen. As long as you keep the coffee in dark, cool and dry place it will last probably longer - we're still not sure since the oldest samples haven't gone bad yet!

Edit: when you open a tube it will age much faster.

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

#262

Post by freese »

blhack wrote: post #244
gingerbread-man wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

drinking water is but hot water for brewing coffee comes from big tanks that get really gross

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

#263

Post by zloof »

throwaway729 wrote: post #220
DamnYuppie wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know lots of people who would pay for good instant coffee for a few weeks out of the year. I like to backpack and many people love their coffee and jump through hoops to get their fix in the backcountry. They would definitely be into good coffee that is portable and instant with just hot water.

Yes. You definitely need to market this to the backpacking crowd. They'll blow $100's on light, compact gear and then shove beans + grinder + aeropress on top... and then deal with the mess. Or at least, I will :) The subscription model isn't great in this respect. I travel up to a dozen times a year and backpack at least a couple weeks per year (in aggregate). So that's 3x2x12 (3 cups per day of travel for each work…

It definitely does work well for backpacking and based on your amount of usage - sounds like something that could work well. Definitely have run some campaigns with a travel focus. However, the bursty demand you mentioned is what we hear from travelers and backpackers - that makes it a lot harder to serve (it's hard to get in front of you right around when you'll need it).

A big part of our mission is serving coffee for everyone's need - we have some people who use it camping, we have others who use it on the way to work. There is room for both.

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

#264

Post by freese »

brogrammernot wrote: post #233
zloof wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So I'd say look at it like a spectrum. In the cafe world there is - average/ not-so-great drip coffee --> Starbucks --> Speciality/ Third Wave Coffee. I don't know how VIA makes their product, but if you do a side-by-side taste test with Sudden vs VIA, I 100% guarantee you will notice (and prefer) Sudden. We do in fact use a pretty unique bean selection + brewing process to achieve it. Re: drying techniques - it real…

I'm not trying to be an asshole, but do you really see this company taking off? You're battling the known perception of instant coffee being awful and trying to sell a super premium product within a group that's tailored to buy cheap coffee because they just don't care. That's just a brutal uphill battle from a consumer education standpoint and a price comparison standpoint. I get that you're not trying to compare yo…

When I was starting to work on Sudden I knew that the biggest challenge would be around the perception of instant coffee. It's a lot of work but we have a pretty solid plan and traction right now!

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

#265

Post by freese »

alaskamiller wrote: post #246
zloof wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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!

Hahaa! Awesome. The circle or die cut one?

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

#266

Post by bahro »

DamnYuppie wrote: post #194
truthexposer wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who is your target? If people want good tasting coffee, like a connoisseur, one would like the option of selecting the type of bean, where it is sourced from, how it's roasted, how it's ground, how it's brewed etc. People even vehemently oppose and stand by brewing methods, which to an ordinary person who doesn't care about coffee, wouldn't care about. And if someone is buying instant coffee anyways, I doubt they car…

I know lots of people who would pay for good instant coffee for a few weeks out of the year. I like to backpack and many people love their coffee and jump through hoops to get their fix in the backcountry. They would definitely be into good coffee that is portable and instant with just hot water.

Totally. If you can make instant coffee that tastes even okay, it would be revolutionary for backpacking.

Coffee is the most important thing my partner and I check to make sure we have before we enter the backcountry. And it's always instant, not out of preference or cost concerns, but weight.

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

#267

Post by cstrat »

freese wrote: post #174
cstrat wrote: post #148

I would love to try this out but you guys don't post to Australia yet :(

We did international shipping until Jan but it turned out to be just a pain. A lot of shipments got stuck in customs or got lost - it wasn't the customer experience we wanted and not really worth it for us

Ah ok I missed the boat then :(

I could imagine it being difficult to send to Australia. We have strict rules on food and plant matter coming in and I am not sure what this would be classified as.

Thanks for the reply!

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

#268

Post by bowmessage »

zloof wrote: post #218
sargun wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This might be a trade secret, but how are you keeping the colloid solution coherent? I'm kinda surprised you say that brewing the ristrettos are the hard parts. I know that centrifugal brewing is all the rage these days (as siphon, pour-over, and espresso were before), but it seems like automating espresso is a solved problem. Are there no industrial-scale burr grinders? I think the biggest problem would be tamping a…

The part re: colloids is a trade secret at this point, but definitely a real challenge. As far as we could find, there is no common solution for industrial scale espresso. If someone has one, please post it here. This was a personal obsession of mine last spring - "How does this not exist?!?" Kalle is the coffee expert, but as the 'non-coffee guy', I have no idea why this wouldn't exist - I would have thought someone…

industrial scale espresso: what about those automatic espresso machines you can sometimes find in office buildings? they pull single, double, or triple espresso shots from a touch screen interface. Can do lattes etc. too, but assuming you wouldn't need that part.

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

#269

Post by alaskamiller »

freese wrote: post #265
alaskamiller wrote: post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Hahaa! Awesome. The circle or die cut one?

Circle. When you going to send me the die cut one??

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

#270

Post by [deleted] »

zloof wrote: post #263
throwaway729 wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. You definitely need to market this to the backpacking crowd. They'll blow $100's on light, compact gear and then shove beans + grinder + aeropress on top... and then deal with the mess. Or at least, I will :) The subscription model isn't great in this respect. I travel up to a dozen times a year and backpack at least a couple weeks per year (in aggregate). So that's 3x2x12 (3 cups per day of travel for each work…

It definitely does work well for backpacking and based on your amount of usage - sounds like something that could work well. Definitely have run some campaigns with a travel focus. However, the bursty demand you mentioned is what we hear from travelers and backpackers - that makes it a lot harder to serve (it's hard to get in front of you right around when you'll need it). A big part of our mission is serving coffee…

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