Inspiring Conversations with Brendan Abrams of Kayak Coffee Delivery

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brendan Abrams

Hi Brendan, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in LA. Honestly a pretty average middle-class lifestyle. I moved to San Luis Obispo for college at Cal Poly, spent a summer as an engineering intern in Melbourne, Australia (where I discovered specialty coffee) and then worked as an engineer on the Central Coast for about a year before making the move to San Diego. Now I work in an engineering role at a commercial lighting sales company. Fun stuff! I should mention that I’ve grown to really love San Diego. I had a little over a year’s time between moving here and the pandemic starting, but in that time I made so many good friends and had a blast exploring the city. As a sporty and active person, I had no trouble filling up all my free time. In pandemic times my lifestyle is definitely a lot slower, socially speaking, but I’m thankful to still be able to enjoy this city. Not to mention the coffee! Regarding the motivation behind the business: As the pandemic started, I tried buying my coffee beans online. I wanted to stick with local roasters, but almost all of them would charge me a hefty shipping fee even though I lived within driving distance of them. I thought there had to be a better way to buy coffee from the community of San Diego roasters, so I launched Kayak Coffee Delivery.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I really can’t complain about my path so far. I’m lucky to have a supportive family, stable finances, and relatively little drama in my life. Certainly doesn’t make for an interesting story! Running a business, on the other hand…that’s HARD. Social media, marketing, getting anyone to care or listen or even visit the website…it has all been a challenge, and that’s ongoing. The coffee itself is the easy part. Everything else has a steep learning curve!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
We’re a coffee delivery company! Here’s how it works: We have wholesale partnerships with several San Diego coffee roasters (James, Mostra, and Dark Horse, to name a few). On our site, customers can order coffee beans from any of our roasters, and we deliver the orders free of charge. So you can buy coffee beans at the standard retail price (or less if it’s a subscription), and you don’t have to pay for shipping. The goal—aside from building our own business—is to support the specialty coffee community in San Diego. We accomplish this by boosting the sales of local roasters and making good coffee more accessible to our customers. We’re well aware that there are plenty of other coffee delivery and subscription services out there. But they all suffer from a lack of connection between roasters and customers. We only sell coffee roasted in San Diego and we only deliver in San Diego, so it’s a completely local affair. If you like beans from a particular roaster, you can go support them even further by visiting their shop!

We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
I’m very lucky that San Diego has such a vibrant coffee scene. That’s what makes this whole idea possible. I’m also lucky to have a great full-time job outside the coffee business, which allowed me to save up enough money to get Kayak off the ground. As for Kayak’s success, I think that remains to be seen. It needs a little more luck and a lot more hard work to reach its potential.

Pricing:

• Code for 10% off an order: SDVOYAGER

Contact Info:

• Email: brendan@kayak.coffee
• Website: www.kayak.coffee
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/kayakcoffeedelivery