Welcome to the world of Moon Coffee, a unique blend of passion for exceptional coffee and the vibrant NFT community. Founded by a retired Chicago Police officer, Moon Coffee was born from a love of late-night brews and a deep dive into the world of cryptocurrencies and NFTs. With a background in midnight shifts and a journey that began in crypto in 2019, the founder combined their two passions to create a brand that not only delivers premium coffee but also bridges the gap between non-crypto enthusiasts and the exciting world of digital assets.
Moon Coffee stands out by offering specialty-grade beans, freshly roasted on the day of your order, ensuring each cup is perfect. The brand's commitment to quality is evident in their meticulous selection process, where only one in five beans make the cut. Launched in February 2023, Moon Coffee quickly gained traction, especially after obtaining a license from the Made By Apes initiative, further legitimizing their efforts within the NFT community.
In tandem with Moon Coffee, the founder's creativity and love for NFTs led to the inception of Mutant Ape Designs. What started as custom coffee mugs featuring beloved NFTs expanded into creating 3D figures, custom videos, and innovative Web3 business cards. This venture taps into the demand for personalized NFT merchandise, making each product unique and high-quality, thanks to partnerships with top-tier creators and artists.
Together, Moon Coffee and Mutant Ape Designs showcase the founder's entrepreneurial spirit and dedication to merging traditional products with modern digital art. Whether it's through a perfect cup of coffee or a custom NFT mug, these brands are redefining how we enjoy our everyday pleasures while celebrating the dynamic world of NFTs.
Can you tell us about the origins of Moon Coffee? How did it all begin? What inspired you to start a coffee business with a focus on the NFT community?
To begin I'm a retired Chicago Police officer that spent the last ten years working midnight. So I was living / staying awake with all types of coffee. I started in crypto in 2019, in NFTs in 2021 buying my 1st Ape in May 2021. So I retired in January 2022 and took a few weeks off to sleep lol. So when I was ready to start the coffee business I wanted to combine it with NFTs as they helped me retire. As it turn out there were 4 coffee companies using BAYC IP so I didn't want to step on their toes so I decided to name the coffee Moon Coffee Company (in lock with all NFTs going to the moon) and go with Moonbirds on my bags. In the meantime we were spending months trying to find the perfect beans / roasters for our business.
Our idea was simple we wanted to introduce non crypto people to crypto via a great cup of coffee. We want them to buy our coffee over and over and one day associate Moonbirds to our coffee, or if they go to our website and see all of these projects / artists.
So that narrowed down our beans / roasters. We selected a specialty grade bean (only one in five beans are considered specialty grade)
We wanted a premium coffee to get non crypto people in and were happy with our selection.
On top of specialty grade coffee, our coffee is freshly roasted the day you order our coffee. Giving our customers a perfect bean / roast every time. We launched February 2023 and this February 2024 Yuga took over Proof and I applied for Made By Apes. We got the license and things are starting to move.
What motivated you to start Mutant Ape Designs?How did you come up with the idea to expand from custom coffee mugs to videos, 3D figures, and Web3 business cards?
So as we promoted Moon Coffee one thing that I thought of and didn't see around was having my Moonbirds or Ape on a coffee mug. Since I drink coffee everyday I might as well see my NFTs on the mugs. So we created our mug and sure enough there was a small demand for it. I custom created a few mugs displaying my work from my @mocococom1 account which had 100 followers at the time. So that was a pet project that I would work on if I had a customer that wanted it.
As an Ape I support as many Apes as possible one day I see a few Apes post their 3D Apes. So I found out that @RidazLp2 created them so I had him make one for me. It was February when I got it, and quickly found out that I can play with it on Blender. It took me several weeks but I know enough to make fun videos. T
he next thing I discovered was that I can pause an action in blender and 3D print my Ape in that pose. A few weeks later BAYC released the 3D files. Well anyone can create videos now, but not everyone has the time to learn how to make them. So I offered free videos to anyone that bought a bag of coffee. That was my most successful month of Moon Coffee. So the demand for short fun videos is there. Combine that with my coffee mugs, 3D printing I said this is a business. I quickly applied for a second MBA called Mutant Ape Designs (MAD) and waited. While we waited I discovered a person that made cards of your NFT posting stats on the back. Turns out if you tap the card to a smart phone my Twitter account pops up. I loved that idea. I said instead of baseball cards, let's make business cards. Put my Ape or any NFT on the front and QR Code on the back for options and instead of yelling you account information at Apefest just tap the phone and they can follow you instantly.
Since everything is custom we create everything based on what the customer wants. Jay Day is one of our customers and I wanted to give him a free 8 inch 3D printed figure. Since he into working out I wanted his Ape to be flexing. He said he wanted the pose from one of his videos. Just a leaning pose. So that is what he wanted that is what he got.
As far as quality, much like the Coffee business you have to hire / work with top tier partners. It might cost a bit more but worth it at the end of the day as it is our name on the product.
Since we just started we just want people to be aware of our business and happy to discuss placing your NFTs on mugs, shirts, hats, tumblers, anything really. We feel once you see the cost and quality of our products you will come back for more.
How has being part of the "Made by Apes" community influenced your business? In what ways can "Made by Apes" help builders and entrepreneurs like you?
I love the Made By Ape branding. It legitimizes the product. And once it is recognized you get a huge community wave of support. That doesn't mean everyone buys your product (which many might believe and get frustrated when it doesn't occur) but as an entrepreneur with zero dollars for marketing this is huge. The spotlight that the Ape community members place on your product with a simple like is amazing.
I will say things are starting to get confusing, we got Ape DAO, Thank Ape, MBA, ApeCouncil, and someone like myself who is spending every hour focusing on the business I can miss things. So it's great when we can go to Bored Media for a summary. I was able to apply and hope to win 25k Apecoin to build my Moon Coffee business so as long as we have Apes that support each other we will be fine.
How do Moon Coffee and Mutant Ape Designs complement each other? How do you manage and balance running two distinct businesses? What are some of the biggest lessons you've learned from your journey so far? How can the community support Moon Coffee and Mutant Ape Designs in their growth and development?
Our main business is Moon Coffee, so Mutant Ape Designs is our fun side adventure that people love. Designing coffee mugs pair well with selling coffee, and helping people create videos of the Apes is just fun. Running two businesses can be challenging but I have a ton of help from my wife (co founder) and team. Lessons I learn don't spend all of your money right away, save some for marketing
don't expect a rocket to the moon day one, this is a grind and the more you put in the more successful you will be.
With an NFT boom coming in 2025 I can see people buying in and falling in love with the community so they will love to see their NFTs in physical form and possibly supporting NFT businesses. Good time are around the corner. Moon Coffee is a proud BAYC community member but we love all NFTs and Artists. We partner with a few to release monthly NFTs to our subscription customers, we partner with @remx_xyz for a recent artist drop and partnerships are amazing for spreading awareness of our products.
The best way to support Moon Coffee Company and Mutant Ape Designs (outside of buying anything) is a like / comment / re-tweet. I truly understand that not everyone likes coffee, or is loyal to their brand, but by interacting with our posts some of your followers might discover us and they might fall in love with our products.
For more information on Moon Coffee Company and all of their future endeavors follow them on X and check out their website here:
Stay Bored.
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