The Rootless Coffee Mission Statement
Rootless Coffee Co. makes craft coffee without the pretentious bullsh*t. We collaborate with comic artists to design packaging, take an “anti-marketing” approach to entertain instead of sell, and give people a reason to enjoy the morning instead of enduring it.
Be creative. Be yourself. Break free from boring.
Yep. We did it. We wrote that.
So what does it mean and who cares?
It all started with a convo about WHY we do what we do.
We were tired of beige coffee bags full of text that felt more like homework and less about the taste and experience we love.
We're also full of existential dread in the morning, so coffee is the thing to look forward to. You heard that right, the people who own a coffee company aren't morning people. Persons. Peoplesons. You get it.
Anyway, we look back at the almost 3 years (damn) and realized what we naturally were doing was working. Now how do we capture that lightning in a bottle?
The Coffee
Well, it starts with good coffee. Sean started developing incredible roasts right when he got into the biz. Not bizarre earthy pretentious yuck, but taking your favorite diner coffee and making it so hipsters like us would love it.
High-end coffee sourced around the world, roasted in Flint, MI in small batches to perfection, and intentional tasting notes of dark chocolate, nutty, fruit, etc.
Each roast has its own identity. Most roasts are intentionally created to be brewed in everything from a coffee pot to espresso or pour over.
We also grind the coffee here so you don't have to. Yes, we get that... granular.
The Art
The next piece of our weird puzzle: the art.
As comic nerds, we had a revelation. If you're looking at a rack full of comics, you probably aren't familiar with 85% of them. So how do they sell?
Well, if the cover artwork is good, you pick it up and start flipping through.
Our equivalent is picking up a bag at a grocery store or shop, squeezing it and sniffing it. Sounds weird, but duuuude you gotta try itttt.
Anyway - Jono, a comic writer, pulled in his creative comic and multimedia genius friends into the fold. As we developed our roasts, we got to envision something special with the art.
Here's where it's fun: we don't do the same style on every bag. They're almost all different artists. The direction? "Put our logo here, the name of the coffee is this, here's a loose idea... we trust you, go for it!"
And boom. The soul of Rootless can happen.
That Community
"Man, I keep getting your ads. You guys are weird."
Hell yeah. We're unabashedly ourselves to the dismay of many.
To us, marketing is about sticking out and having fun. All we do is listen to podcasts, watch comedy, and try to make each other laugh.
Now we're able to enlist some of our favorite local creatives to kick ass on videos, photos, and whatever we can conjure up.
The Rootless Community isn't just people who buy stuff. It's the same feeling of going to a VFW Hall show to see your favorite bad, everyone's covered in tattoos, and you're all throwing firecrackers in the parking lot at midnight.
We love that people get it. And we're endlessly thankful you're sticking around. I know... we're kind of tough to handle sometimes.
But out of respect for you, we vow to entertain, make you smile, make you laugh, make you send a screenshot to your boss and momentarily regret it because you're not sure if it's appropriate, and ultimately, not challenge your intelligence.
We're literally in marketing, and there's a lot of grossness. So we're here to add a coffee-stained mark on the coffee industry.
Break Free From Boring
It's almost absurd the amount of stuff we're working on for ya'll.
New roasts, new collabs, new merch... there's a lot in the works as always.
Fortunately we love what we do. This is the coolest job ever.
So again, thank you. Keep caffeinated. And we'll see you inside your phone.
-The Rootless Rogues