Why Put CBD Into Your Coffee?
NuRange Coffee’s founders think it might be the key to a perfect brew.
Talk about an epic pivot. Colin Ricker and Zach MacAffer, co-founders of NuRange Coffee, shared their journey from minor Instagram fame to becoming budding experts on crafting the best crossover cup of coffee and CBD.
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How did you end up launching a cold brew product? How did you formulate and develop your product?
It’s a funny story actually. When we set out, CBD (or even cold brew) wasn’t even in our plans. We originally quit our corporate jobs to perfect our favorite cocktail, the Espresso Martini. Collin actually runs an Instagram account (@espresso.martinis) where he rates every espresso martini in the Denver area. The account grew quickly and soon he was seeing submissions from all over the world on a weekly basis.
We quickly found out that our idea of kegged cocktails was a horrible business plan and nixed it. However, while we were doing our research, we were pulled toward the world of cold brew and didn’t look back.
While there was a ton being done in cold brew, we believed there was still a significant hole in the market. People needed a black cold brew that tasted good. The market was packed full of black cold brews that were… meh or lattes that tasted great but were packed full of sugar. So, we decided to dive in and find a healthy coffee that would taste great too. We targeted ethically sourced beans that would provide a rich, chocolatey, and smooth coffee.
Additionally, Collin and I wanted to fix the issues that we saw were most prevalent with cold brew. Due to the high caffeine content, we were constantly cracked out, riddled with anxiety, and literally shaking with our stomachs on the fritz. We wanted to develop a proprietary blend with ingredients that help counteract those effects.
We were fortunate to find some brilliant coffee minds and consult them throughout our formulation process. We decided that we wanted our coffee to be shelf-stable without refrigeration and built our coffee around that. The process to make our coffee shelf-stable without preservatives is incredibly intense and involves using a very high heat bath after canning to kill off all microbials.
So how did CBD come into the mix?
Coincidentally the Farm Bill was signed into effect as we were creating our coffee. As casual users of CBD, we wanted to explore our options mixing CBD into our coffee. As we did a market analysis, we again noticed some common themes — everyone was putting CBD into their beverages, but the product they were using was less than fantastic, and oftentimes people weren’t looking into the science behind it. There were a lot of subpar products on the market as people rushed to make a quick buck. Since we were taking the same approach with our coffee, we poured over the science: digging into bioavailability, optimizing CBD utilization in a beverage, and sourcing the best product.
We were adamant that we wanted to use CBD isolate, as we felt it was the best way to accurately dose and ensure that people were getting what we said they were getting in each coffee. Additionally, we knew there would be no trace amounts of THC (huge plus when dealing with the government), and no grassy taste that would affect our coffee. The alternatives (hemp, hemp oil, hemp extract, hemp seed oil) don’t work as advertised, to the point that some really shouldn’t be called CBD at all. It’s a bunch of different ways to label “nothing” as “something.”
Fortunately, we were able to weed out the bunk CBD pretty quickly. Without diving too far into the science, the heating process I mentioned before is extremely taxing on different CBD products. Essentially, when we started making our test batches, we saw samples that had all of the CBD disappear entirely. We needed to find a partner that created a nano-emulsified CBD isolate that would hold up under extremely high heat, ensuring that we were getting the most scientifically advanced product available. It was a truly interesting process because most companies we were sampling hadn’t tested their product under these conditions, so our work helped support baseline testing in their own product development.
After literally dozens of test batches to just settle our CBD isolate provider, we found something that we believe is the absolute best product on the market for our coffee. It shows clearly in the end product.
What were the biggest challenges/hurdles you’ve experienced?
Our first big challenge was that we had NO experience in the beverage world before this. Every nuance was entirely new to us, and it was about making connections with people who could guide us through this process. It was countless hours of trial and error, R&D sessions in our kitchens, and heated debates over how our cans should look.
The process we require to can our coffee requires very specialized and expensive equipment. There are only about 5 facilities in the entire country that can handle it. Most of these facilities require enormous order sizes, and as a small, self-funded company, we didn’t have the capital to afford what they required. So, there was a bunch of negotiating and selling our own story in order to get them to consider making an exception for us. Luckily, we found an incredible partner who not only shuts down their lines to run a significantly smaller run size for us but has also served as invaluable mentors as we navigate this process.
Collin is an absolute superstar when it comes to navigating the legal side of our business. As you’re well aware, the CBD industry is still in its infancy, and regulations are changing daily. Collin is in constant contact with the regulatory authorities — in an ever-evolving industry, it’s important that we stay up to date with what’s required of us. There’s a lot of redundancy in the licensing side of things, and we are constantly submitting our product for review. We keep everything above board, and we’re extremely transparent with both our retail partners and customers. We don’t want there to be even a shred of doubt in the legitimacy of our products.
“The truth is, caffeine and CBD work in beautiful harmony.”
Some people would see caffeine and CBD as having counteracting effects. How would you explain this to consumers?
This is a pretty common misconception and one we love to talk about. Many people utilize CBD products (including full-spectrum CBD oil) as a sleep aid and consider coffee what wakes them up. They view the combination of the two as an “upper” working against a “downer.” The truth is, they work in beautiful harmony.
As I mentioned before, there are many negative side effects associated with caffeine. Primarily it’s the anxiety and jitters that you see after having one too many cups of coffee. The CBD isolate that we add to our coffee works against those side effects, such that we can see it nullify them completely (although, legally, we can’t claim that).
Envision this: you have your morning coffee, you have the attentiveness and mental clarity that you’re looking for. But, you’re not sweating, you’re not shaking, your stomach isn’t upset. It’s a much more pleasant coffee drinking experience.
Again, trying to not geek out too hard on the science, but there are actually over 100 cannabinoids that have been researched. Due to the lack of education and awareness, people are really only aware of two: CBD and THC. However, a lesser-known one is CBN, which is the cannabinoid in most CBD products that actually helps you sleep. By using just CBD isolate, we avoid CBN in our drinks.
What’s been the most unexpected or surprising part of building and growing NuRange?
The most surprising part of all of this has been the reception by the public. We set out to create something with literally no experience and no idea how we were going to do it. It took us 18 months of full-time work just to get our first round of products to market. Until that first round of sales, we were nervous that everyone would hate it.
The reaction that we get from a first time user is what makes it all worth it. The number of times we see someone take that first sip, smile, and go “WOW! This is great. I’ve never tasted anything like this!” is way more than we ever even hoped.
Things have taken off on at a breakneck pace ever since we hit the ground running in January. Starting this month, we’re rolling out in every Whole Foods in the state of Colorado. It took us three months from product introduction to our acceptance into their stores, which is virtually unheard of in the beverage space. Every time someone agrees to stock our product, from a major chain to a mom and pop butcher shop, feels the same. The validation that people see a real difference when they try our product is all we really need.
Hilariously, we still don’t have the espresso martini that started all of this. Even though it’s our baby and what got us here, the liquor space is a totally different monster, and we’re still ironing out the kinks there. But in the meantime, we have two great products, with a third — a coconut cream latte — on the way.
This whole project has been both incredibly taxing and rewarding. If it wasn’t for Collin’s insane work ethic and ability to navigate unknown waters, we wouldn’t be where we are. We’re just excited to see where this takes us next.
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