It was a cool crisp morning by the water. You could see the evergreens in the distance and the rising sun’s rays moved gently between the leaves of the trees and gently landing on your cool morning outer layer jacket. You walked out towards the walkway path, as beautiful as it could be...and you saw a truck.
Not just any truck, but a fully decked out truck, and decked out in a different way than you’d think.
This truck had multiple mugs, a stove, pour over kettles, some comfy looking camp chairs by its side, and a portable, yet stable-looking awning that was just calling you – to sit, and be comfortable. What was all this for this bright and early 7am by the water you wondered.
Kuju-stocked and ready - Hydro Flask’s Dawn Patrol out waiting to brew you a pour over.
You approach slowly. Skeptical that perhaps instead of a peaceful morning stroll by the water you are about to be ambushed by corporate marketing merely present to make an impression. But the chipper lady standing by sees you and shouts a calm, “Good morning, can I pour you some coffee?”
Of course you oblige. How could you not amidst such a beautiful scene?
You respond with, “I don’t have a mug for it, just my water bottle.”
“No problem. Pick one from here.” the lady says as she points to the beautiful Hydro Flask coffee mugs hanging.
You are surprised. A beautiful morning, free pour over coffee and an awesome coffee mug to go with it...what’s the catch?
You proceed to hold your mug out and ask for the coffee, but the lady doesn’t bring out an old pot or a plastic batch brew canister out of the van that may have been sitting there since the early morning. Instead she pulls out a small pouch. The emblem on it says “Kuju Coffee”.
She proceeds to tear open the pouch and disappointment overcomes you as you think to yourself, "Eh...I don’t want instant coffee but at least I got a free mug.”
Yet, the surprise continues. It’s not coffee that she pulls from the small pouch. Instead, you see a small filter-like pouch, almost the size of a tiny wallet. She tears that pouch open and somehow magically pulls open the sides to reveal hooks of some sort and motions to your mug.
She anchors the filter to your mug and as you peer inside, you see...coffee grounds! Then she pours hot water over those coffee grounds to reveal a beautiful morning mist of fresh coffee aroma take over the space between you and your mug. The only thing that could have made the morning better was the smell of fresh coffee and here it was.
Your coffee’s pouring is complete and the lady says, “Thank you, hope you like the coffee. The Hydro Flask mug is yours to keep!”
You walk away sipping some coffee you initially thought was instant and now feel simultaneously foolish and delighted to have your expectations pushed to something you could not anticipate.
Peering back to the decked out truck that ended up being a free mug + pour over coffee destination, you see others behind you being calmly ambushed by the same experience - the Hydro Flask Dawn Patrol, featuring Kuju Coffee.
From afar, without knowing what happened, when or how, the Kuju Coffee team is stoked. Not that you tried our coffee but that you got outside on that beautiful morning - to see the trees, the water, the sun, the crisp pure air and the silence that permeated all of it. That you were reminded that all material things matter little, next to the created things around us.
We created Kuju for these moments - the moments that remind us greater things matter, that wandering to encounter experiences unknown matters, and that perhaps coffee can be the inconsequential enhancement to these moments that make them just memorable enough to get you back outside the next morning.
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