Jonesboro-based company launches “Covfefe” and “Liberal Tears”
Designed in political jest
JONESBORO, Ark. – After the tense 2016 presidential election and the political climate which has followed, David Beck and his brother Stephen had a bigly idea: turn the tense political atmosphere into a cup of coffee.
How about a cup of Covfefe? Or maybe a taste of Liberal Tears? The company, Roasted Politicians, is based in Jonesboro and they’ve turned national news tensions into a humorous coffee brand.
“Early in the summer, my brother and I were just talking and laughing at the news but also, really frustrated,” David told NEA Report. “We’re very much into politics and topics of that nature. We talk all the time and have debates. We also really loved food. I don’t remember the exact conversation, but it was basically what if we could capitalize on the more humorous things that have happened in politics over the last year and make a brand.”
Stephen began researching. He learned that establishing a roaster would be very expensive and labor intensive, David said. But Stephen found the idea of sourcing beans from a roaster and packaging them in custom own packages. It was much more economically efficient for a start-up organization basing the brand on a topical subject.
“We played around with the names,” David said. “I think the first bag was called ‘Trumped Up Trickle Down’ but it was too long. We thought about using ‘Nasty Woman’ and these phrases that became so popular.”
The two also considered using “Crooked” in the name of one of the coffees. “Bad Hombre'” was a consideration, possibly of a Venezuelan coffee bean. However, choosing names for the coffee brands was not so simple. They didn’t want to pick something too divisive but they also wanted it to be relevant months and possibly years later.
They were still in the idea and planning phase when, before you could ask ‘what happened,’ President Trump sent out the perfect Tweet:
“Right around that time, Trump tweeted “Covfefe,” whatever that means,” David said. ” According to him, it gets a lot of negative press. But we thought, that’s just perfect for coffee.”
The Republican coffee is a classic, bold-blend, However, one brand wouldn’t work alone. Political coffee is stronger, together, so the brothers decided to do create, “Liberal Tears.” With charming names chosen, the two knew they needed attractive designs before making anyone’s morning brew great again.
“We started brain storming what we would want it to look like,” David said. “(Stephen) came up with the designs based on water colors and the designs on the bag aren’t really far from the initial designs.”
The two teamed up with a design-firm based in New York. The firm featured a portfolio that included political advertising for Samuel Adams beer. It was the perfect fit for what Roasted Politicians had in their leaders’ minds.
Seven months later, the coffee was out of the Beck’s minds and into their hands.
“We wanted it out as quickly as possible before the subject matter died down. and there was thought we would need to change these designs after Robert Mueller opened his investigation,” David said. “One of our biggest fears was if we do this coffee, I don’t want it to be old news. But thankfully, it’s not. Hillary published her book about the latest election and Trump has tweeted about it, so I think it’s helped that stay in people’s’ minds.”
The brand just launched their online presence but they’ve already begun to receive nationwide reaction. Users from across the United States have interacted with them, already, David said, and most have been positive.
“We had a few trolls,” David said. “I don’t remember his Twitter handle but he said he’s a retired pro-baller (sic) for the New England Pantriots (sic). He tweeted at us saying, ‘Only something this tacky would come out of Arkansas,’ but we just laughed at that. I think he had about twelve followers.”
David has been impressed thus far with the reaction to the Jonesboro-based brand as interest has begun to percolate. He said most people can laugh at politics. There’s always some who take things too seriously, but with politics of the past two years, that’s the last thing he would be surprised by.
“…there’s so many things about our current world that I never would have believed,” David said. “I’m shocked that it’s still happening but I’m thankful for business reasons!”
You can buy Roasted Politician brands of coffee online or at Full Sun Gifts on Southwest Drive in Jonesboro.
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