Questions and Answers About the Coming BrewPony Launch

Fellow Riskologists,

There is so much going on around here, I can hardly keep up writing about it.

Two weeks ago, I announced the launch of BrewPony—the subscription coffee bean service I’m starting and inspired by readers like you—on March 5th. That’s just a week away. Yikes!

In the last update, you all asked a lot of great questions about how BrewPony works, and I want to take a second now to answer some of them.

If you love the idea of never waking up without amazing coffee to stuff in your high-definition taste portal, then read on to find out if BrewPony is right for you.

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Q: Will the coffee be delivered as whole beans or will it be pre-ground?

A: Good question, and a very important distinction. BrewPony will only ship whole bean coffee. This is for the sake of freshness. A whole coffee bean will stay fresh and delicious for a surprisingly long time, but once you grind it, the clock starts ticking fast.

In fact, you should never grind more coffee than you intend to drink in one sitting. If we could fly one of our Brew Ponies out to your house to grind your coffee every morning, believe us, we would! As a consolation, we do recommend an excellent grinder.

Q: Will you ship to Australia/Canada/Somewhere else not in the U.S.?

A: Unfortunately, no. At least not at the beginning. Shipping coffee internationally is a challenge we haven’t quite cracked yet in terms of cost and delivery time. But we’re working on it! If you live outside of The U.S., we haven’t forgotten about you. We just need some time to figure out how to get incredibly fresh beans to you for a reasonable price. Once we’re ready to ship internationally, we’ll announce it on our newsletter.

Q: What if I don’t have a fixed address?

A: BrewPony can still accomodate you! We wanted to design this service to work whether you hang out in one place or travel a lot. There will be a countdown timer on the site each month and you’re free to change your shipping address at any time before the clock expires and we start shipping. As long as you’re somewhere that USPS delivers to, we’ll send coffee to you. You can also pause your subscription if you’ll be outside the country temporarily.

Q: What problems/difficult questions did you run into while putting this together?

A: Ah, a business question—very good! I’ll go into these kinds of questions in more detail as we build the business, but here are just a few of the many questions we had to answer as we brought this idea to life:

  • How do we deliver amazing coffee and still keep the price competitive?
  • How can we be sure that USPS will properly deliver our packages?
  • What do we do if we get so many orders that we overwhelm one of our small roasters?
  • How do we know our customers will enjoy the coffee we pick for them as much as we enjoy it ourselves?
  • How do we handle refunds?
  • How will we reach more customers than just the Riskology.co audience?
  • Many others!

Q: Do you ship to _______?

A: If the United States Post Office delivers mail to you, BrewPony can be delivered. That includes Alaska, Hawaii, any U.S. territory like Guam, Puerto Rico, The U.S. Virgin Islands, and even military bases!

Q: Forget coffee. You’re so handsome; can I buy you a drink?

A: Yes. Yes, you can. Please purchase here.

Q: How much does it cost?

A: Our plans start at just $29/month for two 12-ounce bags. For the average coffee drinker, that’s less than $1 per day. It’s also about (or less than) what you’d pay at the grocery store for high-end coffee. And who knows when that was roasted! BrewPony ships no more than one day after roasting, so your coffee is incredibly fresh even if it travels across the country.

Q: Is there a contract? How can I cancel?

A: There is absolutely no contract and you can cancel anytime (24x7x365) right from your account dashboard. No need to use fax machines or carrier pigeons.

Q: Can I buy a BrewPony subscription as a gift for someone else?

A: You’re so thoughtful! And yes, you can. For gifts, you can specify how long the subscription will last and pay all at once. Simple.

Q: Is your team actually made up of real, live ponies?

A: Yes. I mean no. Unicorns, actually.

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Wow, this is really happening! BrewPony is launching on March 5th to our first 50 customers. If you love coffee, then we’d love it if you were one of them. Click here to make sure you’re on the priority notification list.

Have another question? Ask it below in the comments. It’ll help us fill out the FAQ section on the BrewPony website. Will you be joining us on March 5th?