Who is Lost Without Coffee?

Hi, my name is Evan Kangas. I am the founder and dreamer of Lost Without Coffee. I am a busy but proud father of 4 beautiful children. My entire family loves the outdoors which helped to inspire our brand. So how did I ever find the time to start roasting? Well lets dive into that.

So who is Lost Without Coffee? Well, everyone obviously! All joking aside, here is the story of our brand:

I have always drank coffee in my adulthood (and occasionally in my childhood when my dad wasn't looking) but I really got into it when I learned that you can roast coffee at home. This was during the 2020 Coronavirus lockdown when we were confined to our homes. What hobby could be better than learning how to roast coffee? I started with a cast iron skillet and a gas burner learning first hand about the stages of roasting and all of the senses involved. It was so fascinating to see it first hand and it still is today! I then roasted with a whirly pop popcorn popper and eventually upgraded to a Behmor roaster. What is so special about roasting coffee is that there are so many variables to experiment with to affect the flavors.

My dream is to open a roastery someday. My current location's zoning laws do not permit me to roast and sell my own coffee so my solution was to find a vendor that meets my criteria and build a brand for the future. My criteria is to have my customers experience FRESH, roasted on-demand coffee that comes in an appealing package. I believe that drinking coffee while it is still fresh is a completely different experience than just getting your caffeine fix. I taste test every coffee that I sell because I only want to sell good coffee!

So begins the branding journey. My love for coffee and the outdoors inspired me to create a brand that can bring the outdoorsy coffee lovers together. I love humor too, so when I brainstormed business names (well over 100!) I couldn't find an available name that would not sound too generic. I thought to myself: "I'm lost". Then it just clicked! The coffee industry is huge and so many people have come to depend on their daily dose of caffeine that we would all be "Lost Without Coffee". I was excited about the idea. I knew that there were several groups online that loved to joke about the need for coffee. This fit my personality well. So the name was there but I had a lot of work to do to figure out how to brand it. Another brand vision of mine was to have a logo that is playful and would be look great on apparel for the great American tradition of camping and enjoying the outdoors. 

My wife and I brainstormed and surveyed many different people to arrive at the playful stick figure wandering through the Wilderness in search of great coffee. I also have a graphic design background that was very instrumental in creating the logo. If you look into the negative space of the lantern that the stick figure is carrying, you'll notice a coffee bean. I thought it was subtle but a nice touch. We still have a lot of work to do to be recognized as a brand and someday manufacture our own coffee so any support and business is very much appreciated!

I hope you enjoyed our story and hopefully you will enjoy our coffee too!

Below: Me roasting in a cast iron skillet 👇

Below: Me roasting in a Whirly Pop 👇

Below: My makeshift cooling screen.👇