Blue Hen Outdoors Podcast
Hunting,travel,outdoors,comedy
Blue Hen Outdoors Podcast
Episode 69: Dirty Duck Coffee Co
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This episode we have owner and CEO of Dirty Duck Coffee Co on Jay Peterson, we talk about his hunting background and recap some of his past season this year in Missouri, as well as dive into how he got into the coffee business and how he’s has grown to where they are now, and what the process is like to get a quality cup of coffee… I my self and a huge fan of their products and highly recommend the “Cinnamon Teal” flavor they offer
Go get come quality coffee @ Dirtyduckcoffee.com
Welcome back to another episode of the Blue Hen Outdoors Podcast. I am pleased, blessed, and honored to have with us tonight. Mr. Jay Peterson, owner and CEO of Dirty Duck Coffee. How you doing tonight, brother? Hey, I'm doing awesome, Hunter. How you doing, man? Good, good. Can't complain. Had a nice, easy, breezy day at work today. I'm a construction inspector by day, podcaster by night. There you go. Yeah, construction is always uh you never know what you're walking into. Oh, yeah, for sure, for sure. Well, uh, let's start off with how did your guys' uh hunting season go this year if you got out much?
SPEAKER_01Uh got out some. Uh, it was a little bit better of a year than it had been uh the year before, but uh here in Missouri, we're still stuck in the the effects of the drought. So still seeing, you know, it's hard to hold water. And I think that's kind of one of the biggest complaints about, you know, most people in the Midwest areas that uh we're seeing an effects with we don't have a lot of pothole type areas for ducks to to loaf and and lounge around in. So uh it's really hard to to get and stay on birds because they just kind of move from the bigger bodies of water to the rivers. Um, and you know, there's not a lot of stuff in between. And so I think we're all just still feeling the effects of the drought. And so uh it wasn't a terrible season, but you know, it wasn't anything to write home about either.
SPEAKER_00So yeah, I feel you there. How'd you uh get started into hunting in the first place?
SPEAKER_01So I grew up here in the Kansas City, Missouri area, and I was I was fortunate. Um, you know, I always joke that I had two dads, not like that, you know, not that there's anything wrong with that, but uh you know, my my biological dad, uh, he was great. He was like my sports dad. So he's the one that that taught me how to play sports and and was uh you know my coach in in that regard. And uh and that was kind of our commonality. And then I was I was blessed that I got a bonus dad and my stepdad, Bill Duncan, and uh he was the outdoors guy. So he was the one that taught me how to hunt and fish. And so he got me out in the duck blind when I was about five years old for the first time. And uh I remember like it was yesterday, uh, we were out there, we had this this really cool levee blind. So it was uh a blind that was built into the levee on the north uh the north end levee. And we're in there hanging out and having fun. You know, I was eating donuts and drinking hot chocolate, and I thought it was a blast. And then uh it was kind of a slow day, I think. Uh I didn't see a ton of birds, but we had one solo goose that uh started way up there and just kind of helicoptered down. And I remember him, you know, saying, keep your head down. And you know, I was kind of peeking up and looking and uh trying to watch the action and uh and then it came in, we shot it, and I was just hooked from that moment on. And so that really just became a huge part of my life, spent about every weekend that uh we could, you know, getting ready for the next season and the offseason and and every chance we could getting up and hunting during the regular season. And uh so it was just became a part of my my background, my blood, and and so I loved it, been hooked ever since. Uh, you know, for for better or for worse. It's it's been an addiction and and I love it, wouldn't have it any other way.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, sounds good. That's how it always once you have that one first good hunt, man, it just hooks you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man, it was it was fun, it was a good time. And then, of course, a few years later, when you know my dad started letting me shoot on my own. Uh, you know, I shot my first uh green head, it was the first duck I ever shot, had a single shot 20 gauge. It was kind of the hand-me-down, the pass down gun. It was our first ride of passage that we all started with this single shot 20 gauge that uh I finally got the rubber padding on it. Uh, I think everybody else before me just had a straight metal plate and it tore up their shoulder pretty good. But that was a hand-me-down gun. And so I shot shot the first time never pulled the trigger. I hit a Mallard Greenhead with it, and I think that just you know ruined me even more. And and so then I got to move up to shooting two shells in a in a pump. Um, and you know, my dad just kind of worked us up so that we were always safe. Um, but then you know, got more efficient with how we were shooting, just so we weren't wasting shells and taking bad shots and hitting cripples. And uh, so yeah, just kind of worked my way up into to better guns. And you know, it was it wasn't until I was about 20 years old and in college that I got like my first real good gun and got a Browning Gold Hunter, and I shot that for you know 15, 20 years and just got a Benelli for the first time uh a couple years ago.
SPEAKER_00Oh, nice! How do you like the Benelli?
SPEAKER_01I like them pretty good. Uh they're lightweight, you know, they shoot pretty well. I've had to get used to it though. It it kind of shoots, you know, everyone always says it kind of shoots a little bit high into the left. And so I've I've just had to adjust for it. It's it's a little different. The the Browning that had is real as a heavier gun, and so I could just put that bead right on it and and usually be pretty accurate. So I've it's kind of an adjustment, but it's a it's a good gun. They always cycle well for me, at least. Um, you know, I've heard the Benelli bump every once in a while, but I haven't had too bad of an effect. But I've I've always liked Benelli's too, and and it's been a good gun for me.
SPEAKER_00That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, what about you?
SPEAKER_00Uh I shoot uh for my waterfall gun, I shoot a Mossburg 9 9200. Those are those are great guns. Oh, yeah, yeah. My it's my dad's old gun. He he doesn't really hunt as much anymore as he's kind of getting up in age, but um yeah, he's just kind of like, here you can have this and use it. And I was like, Cool. My turkey gun, when I got that, it's a legacy pointer, which is also a great gun. But um the choke tube in it was stuck in it when I first got it, and I always and I was like trying to wrench it out, trying to do everything to get it out, like without without being a gunsmith or having like the proper gunsmith tools. And then finally I was like, all right, I'm just gonna take this to somebody that knows what they're doing, they'll get it out. And then before I started using the Mossberger again, I would use that as my duck gun, and we have a Mossburg pump, but the ejector pin fell out on one of my dad's hunting trips when I was younger, and it just never got fixed. You know, I just took it and was like, all right, we're gonna get them all fixed.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I keep an old Mossburg pump, turkey 24-inch turkey gun. I keep that at the house. That's my my home protection. So I I know it'd be be in good hands if anybody ever tries to you know mess with me through the door.
SPEAKER_00So oh yeah, I mean, not talking crap about any of the other guns, but I just love the Mossberg. I mean, it's they're gonna have tough guns, and you know, I've I've had a buddy that like he shoots Mossberg too. He's like, dude, I've dropped this thing in the muck of the river, dropped it in sand, like you can throw it through a battlefield and it still works just fine. Yeah, they're they're tanks. Oh yeah. You mentioned turkey. Do you do any turkey hunting with spring bean here?
SPEAKER_01I I I used to uh quite a bit in college and and right after college. Um and then I think life just gets busy and and I think I just get more and more impatient. You know, I'm I'm a waterfowl guy first, kind of up when game and and wing shooting, you know, dub and stuff second. And then I think Turkey kind of ranks third at going after birds. So I just get out there and I'll sit down for like an hour and just get bored. So uh I just and so then that's kind of translated into uh, do I really want to mess with going out and doing it today? So I used to do a lot, uh, you know, before my stepdad passed away, um he uh I used to go out just to go out and hang out with him more than anything. We go out, he he shot anything that moved in each season. He just he was just a diehard hunter. Uh so he just loved to get out there and and do it. And uh so I've I've done it just less and less over the years, but I'll get out there every once in a while. Uh love to mushroom hunt in the spring, get the morels that are in the right now. It's it's like prime morel season. I got a couple the other day, and so I love getting out there and doing that. Kind of a few honey holes that I can go out and do it in a pretty quick amount of time.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's the one thing I've kind of wanted to learn slash get into while I'm because I'm a big turkey hunter in the spring. But um, I don't really know if morels grow like that over here on the east coast because I'm in the east coast in uh Delaware. Okay. And um I don't also really know what kind of mushrooms you can eat and can't eat yet over here. So I don't want to pick one and then they're not hard, they're not hard to tell once you once you know what you're looking for.
SPEAKER_01So yeah, imagine that they grow there, but I I'm not sure, you know, terrain-wise, if you guys have the same tri type of terrain, but I would think they would. Yeah, but they're they're they're great eating. So um, yeah, here in Missouri we call it the Missouri Triple Crown. So if you get your if you get a turkey, you get the morel, and then you go out and you catch a crappie. So we call it the the spring triple crown for Missouri. That's awesome. But yeah, yeah, it's fun. So I've got two out of three. That's usually what happens. I I get two out of the three. So I get the fish, I get the morels, and then uh I very rarely get the turkey.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah. What's what's the uh fishing kind of like out there in the Midwest in Missouri? I've never really heard too much about it. Uh with great fishing, lots of great lakes all around this area.
SPEAKER_01Uh a lot of people keep you know ponds stocked, and so I've got an upright duck hunt. We've got a stock fishing pond. It's a couple acres big, and uh, we keep it, you know, loaded up with bass and bluegill and crappie, and just have I have a ton of fun doing that. And uh I like to fly fish. I just don't get as many opportunities to do that here in Missouri as as uh because I live up in northern, you know, northwest Missouri, Kansas City, Missouri area. And so I don't get as much opportunity to go places that have like trout, you know, that's more down the south, down by uh Arkansas, um the White River and all that down there. It's the closest trout fishing that we have here uh in Missouri. But you know, I'm gonna be out in Colorado this summer with my family. So I'm gonna pack the fly rod and hopefully I'll get out and be able to catch a few uh fish out there. But Missouri's got great fishing. A lot of people get out in uh different places. You know, Smithville Lake is close by here. Get on the boat and do it there. Uh the you know, Lake of the Ozarks, all that area down there has a lot of great lakes to hunt off of. Truman Lake is another good one. So you can go a lot of places and and catch lake, uh catch uh, you know, fish on the lakes around here.
SPEAKER_00Nice excuse me. Do you have any um have you traveled anywhere for hunting trips or fishing trips at all in your uh fishing career? Or do you have any trips you want to take?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. We've been very, very fortunate since uh we started Dirty Duck Coffee that we've met people from all across the country and and anymore, it's it's more of like a time thing. We got a lot of invites, it's just a matter of being able to make them all happen just because we get busy. Uh our hunting season kind of goes over Thanksgiving, Christmas time. So it's kind of hard to get out of town as well and take advantage of our hunting seasons here locally and and make it out of town and get to other places to do it. But um got I've had a good opportunities to get places and so we've been to Canada and Alberta the last couple of years, went uh two years ago, went there. We've been down to Arkansas, so hunted with some great folks down there uh at Straight Lake uh with Max and the boys. Uh that was a great time hunting in the timber. First time I'd done like a true timber hunt, and that was out of this world, ton of fun. Uh, we've been out uh Maryland, so we've we've been out Ocean City area with uh Jeff at Pit Boss and did uh did the duck boat out there. That was a blast getting out. And that was the first time I'd ever done anything like that before. So it was a little bit of adjustment the first day, but kind of picked it up and and hammered them really good on the second day pretty quick. Uh so done that, trying to think where else I've been. Um yeah, those are the main places that that I've been for for ducks is Arkansas, Canada, and uh of course here, here in the Missouri area, lots of places across the state to to go and and then over just across the border over in Kansas. They have some pretty decent uh public lands over in Kansas I've been able to hunt on to.
SPEAKER_00Okay, cool. Uh I've been I've hunted in New Jersey, Delaware, of course, Maryland. Um I've turkey hunted in South Carolina. Okay. And I think that's about it for right now. I got a few plans I'm trying to set up for next year, maybe. But we'll see what happens. Sure.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's always good intentions, and then just time can kind of get by from you sometime. So uh I think right now, Tim, we got another another trip that we're putting together. I think we're gonna be back up in Alberta. Uh well, I think we're gonna go late this year. So I think we're gonna catch like the last week of the season. So that's like second week of November. Okay. Which we went we went middle of October last time, and it was still kind of warmish for Canada. Uh, so I think we, you know, based off of when we're planning to go, I think we'll kind of hit more of the snow and and colder weather this time. So that'll be a little different ball game hunting than the last time we went.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, for sure. It's funny you mentioned uh Jeff and Pip Loss that you've been out with him. I've had him on the show a couple times. He's an awesome, awesome dude.
SPEAKER_01He's a hoot, man. Yeah, I just saw a video of him last night. He was you know cooking on the grill and he had his he loves crown, crown black. So he did crown black in his cup and cooking out and having a good time. So yeah, he's he's a good guy.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. Everything you see on social media is what you get in person.
SPEAKER_01Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_00So you mentioned Dirty Dog Coffee. How did you guys get the idea to start a coffee company?
SPEAKER_01It was really by happenstance, my uh, you know, my business partner Buck, we've been good buddies since back in high school. We met our freshman year uh on the football field and uh became good buddies just from doing that together and and going to school together. And then we kind of figured out that we both like the outdoors and he'd always been an upland bird guy. He had never really in, you know, fishing and things like that. And he had never really done the waterfowl uh thing. And so I invited him to come with me up to my place that I grew up on, my family farm, and uh he just got hooked on it like we all kind of do. And so that kind of became a thing that we did together. And so after our freshman year of college, we both went to community college here locally freshman year and got a lot of hunting together in that year, just became even better friends uh doing it together that first year of college and skipped a lot of class uh to go duck hunting and and hang out at the cabin. And uh and then we both went our separate ways after that. And he went to Missouri Western in St. Joe, Missouri, which is North Kansas City, about 30 minutes, and played college football up there for Missouri Western. And then I went over to uh University of Missouri, which is in the middle of the state in Columbia, Missouri, and and got my undergrad there. But we kind of said from there, we said, hey, let's make it an effort every single year. Let's get back together, let's do a hunt together at least once a year. And so that became our thing. You know, we decided, hey, we're meeting up every year. We planned it out and say, here's when I'm coming over. I'm, you know, he's coming over here, I'm coming there. Let's make sure we get together and hunt. And whether that's me going up hunting with him by, you know, where he was going to college or meeting back at my family farm. And so we just made an effort to do it every year. And uh kind of long story short, he ended up uh connecting with a bunch of people, guys he went to college with that lived up in Mound City, Missouri. So that's about 30 minutes north of St. Joe, where he went to college. And it has the Squaw Creek National Wildlife Refuge. So it's a huge concentrate concentration for waterfowl, uh, really heavy for snow geese. So there'll be up to two or three hundred thousand snow geese that refuge there uh during their migration. And then, of course, a lot of ducks will be hanging out there as well. And so there's a lot of duck clubs and people that hunt in the community there. And he started hunting up there with them and and getting to know the area, doing the public land hunting. We had a couple good public land areas right there, uh, not far from the from the refuge as well. And he was doing the poor man line hunting there. And uh, and he's kind of spending a bunch of time up there and decided, hey, let me just instead of renting out hotels, he started out by renting out a downtown building and it was called the Musty Duck. It smelled so bad. Uh, that was what we nicknamed it. So you'd walk in and definitely have a distinct odor. And um, that actually that they ended up falling apart and they had to tear it down, it was that bad and kind of run down. But um, a few years after doing for of doing that, uh, one of the buildings a couple doors down came for sale. And so if you imagine like, you know, 1887 is when these buildings were built. So it's a big tall brick, uh, you know, plaster walls. And it was originally a saloon on the main level. So it's 20-foot tall ceilings, you know, exposed beams, you know, all the classic saloon look. And then it had on the backside uh staircase that went up to uh basically a studio apartment. So he bought this, but it was run down. And so, you know, one of his buddies just kind of was joking one day and said, What do you nickname this place, the Dirty Duck? And so it just kind of stuck. So it was always like, Hey, let's go hang out at the Dirty Duck, or hey, I need a hand with the Dirty Duck. Can you come help me? And so, you know, his dad and brother and and some other friends just really kind of got a lot of elbow grease and and fixed the place up and made it into if you walk into the main level, it looks like a non-functional bar. So it's got a bar top, wood floors, uh, big buck hunter and shuffleboard games. And people like that are walking by that don't know uh that it's not a bar will just like come in and sit down and then like look around and say, you know, who's who's gonna serve the place? And so he just kind of branded the building and uh made a logo for the building just to with the nickname with the dirty duck and put that on the door and and that just became the hangout. And then during COVID, um at right before COVID started, actually, he started just making some hats and hoodies and giving them out to people as as uh as gifts just for coming and hanging out and just to kind of have fun with the with the name and everything. And uh everyone had kind of said, you need to do something with the brand. So COVID comes along, we're both shut down with our traditional businesses, and he calls me up and is like, I'm thinking about doing something with the brand, but we need like a staple product, and I'm thinking coffee. So at the time, nobody was really doing coffee besides, you know, there's one big player uh that was kind of doing it in the industry and um or really in general. And so I was like, hey, that's sounds like a good idea, man. I'm in, let's go. And and so we just got to work and came up with our first four blends and got them bagged and put together, and you know, got together a website and in a Shopify collective shop and said, let's uh let's roll it out and see how it sticks. And six years later, here we are.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, that's awesome. What was it like starting, like trying to figure out the right coffee blends and all that stuff, like the whole and scaling the business to where it is now? Sure, yeah.
SPEAKER_01I mean, kind of like with anything, it's a little a lot of trial and error. So um we found uh we found one roaster to begin with, and that was like our first blend. We we kind of started with them. Uh, but then you know, through the industry, we connected with a great roaster uh down in Texas. So Buck actually lives in South Texas, that's where he lives. He's been down there for over 20 years now. Uh, we're both from right here in the same area in Kansas City, though. Uh originally his folks still live around here, but we found a great roaster down there, and they really had a great variety. And so we just sampled all their offerings and said, yeah, this is who we want to partner with. And we started with those four blends and now it's grown to nine. So we've got nine different blends to choose from, as well as K cups. And then we rolled out uh a little over a year ago four different cold cans of coffee. So we got you know, cold cans that you can just grab and go and ready-to-drink offerings. Um, and then that will kind of roll into some more ready-to-drink options that we'll have down the road.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. How did you guys come up with the names and ideas for the names of the blend that you guys had? Because it's very creative.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's just kind of it was it was that kind of that product to COVID, you know, a little bit too much time on our hands. So we would just sit there and come up with different things. And, you know, we kept a shared note on the iPhone and we would just, and it's kind of what we do. It's always kind of add stuff to it. Hey, we're thinking this, we're thinking that. You know, some things we go ahead and try to roll out with, or other things we just kind of put on the shelf for later. But you know, we just kind of threw out some different names and saw what what we liked and what would stick, and and then uh just found some great uh creative people to work with to design the bags. So we'd say, here's kind of the idea that we're thinking, here's what we're wanting to go with on these. And you know, they'd help us to put those that art to life. And so that's why, you know, what I think kind of hits home with a lot of people and what people a lot of people like is the design of things. You look at every single bag, and we've even had people make the comment, you know, it kind of looks like a piece of art, you know, something you could frame and put on the wall if you just took the design itself from, you know, the front of the bag. And that's kind of what we wanted. We just didn't want it to be some generic name. Sometimes, you know, in the outdoor industry, you can get kind of just mundane and just like the obvious name for something in the outdoor space. And we wanted to be kind of fun, creative. And then we came up with different things like I'm in the duck stuff. You know, Buck just kind of came up with that one day. And uh Morning Wood was something we're sitting, we were sitting around the blind one day, and you know, Buck's like, what if we stuck a wood duck on it and called it Morning Wood? You know, and I was like, I'd probably get a laugh out of people, and it's now our number one seller. And, you know, not only is it a great bag of coffee, but it's a lot of that's just because it's a funny name. And so we want, you know, we don't try to take ourselves too seriously. You know, we're just a couple of idiot duck hunters that uh just wanted to have something fun to be part of the industry without, you know, making it uh something that we had to do every single day. You know, we didn't want to become uh a grind, we wanted to just be something fun and that people get engaged with and be a part of the brand and and be a part of the industry and spread the word, you know, try to get more people addicted to this uh this stupid lifestyle that we lead.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, for sure. I'll never forget the first time I actually got your guys' coffee. I was down in uh Malays and Countyville. Okay. And um, I was just walking around. I I I forget what I was trying to buy or like what I was there for in the first place, but I was just walking, like you know how you do when you get in the outdoor free, you just end up wandering around trying to see what you don't need, but get anyway. Yeah, and then I went over to the camping section and I was like looking at the because I'm a big coffee guy, like I like a good cup of coffee. Like, if I go like on vacation some places, I'll go to like little mom and pop roasters or brewers and get like a couple flavored coffees just to like support the local business and whatnot. But um I was looking and I was like, what are these coffee guys? Like I because I've seen the dirty duck coffee like advertised on Instagram or Facebook or something before, but then I was like, I was like, I wonder if this is any good. And I saw you got I got uh the cinnamon teal, and I forget what other flavor I got, but I was just reading all the flavors, like you said, morning wood. I I got a chuckle out of that, and uh the Missouri boat ride. I was like, Oh, that's cool. These are like different, like these are like this is I probably get done with this if it's good. And then sure enough, I came home. I opened the one bag of uh cinnamon teal. I and that's the one thing I always smell the coffee first because that that'll tell you right there. It gets the senses going. Oh, yeah, it gets the senses going, it'll tell you if it's good or bad, right off the smell, in my opinion. And I smelled the cinnamon tea, I was like, Whoa, I was like, this is gonna be a good cup of coffee. I can already tell. And I was just hooked. I was like, oh yeah. And I've I've had the Missouri boat ride, but cinnamon teal is my favorite for those that want to get a start on Dirty Duck. Highly recommend it. Cool, yeah.
SPEAKER_01No, and what's funny, we'll be at shows, and we have these big tough guys that come running through, and and they're they're always like, I like a good bold cup of coffee, you know. I just like it black and bold, and you know, and I'll be like, Well, just try that cinnamon teal. I don't drink flavored coffee, you know, I'm a tough guy. And so they they go by and they'll just take a sample of it. And I don't know how many of these big tough guys that never drink anything flavored, that ends up being their go-to. Oh, yeah. And they end up subscribing and they're like, Man, they'll come back by the next year at the show and say, I'm hooked on this cinnamon teal now, man. I'm so glad I took a shot at it.
SPEAKER_00So well, even like you were saying earlier, the art on the bags, too. I like that's kind of what brought drew me to that bag in particular. I was like, Whoa, I've never seen a bag of coffee like this. Like you could put the art on the bags and just like frame it in in a wall if you wanted to. It's like it's so cool. Yeah, we wanted to stand out.
SPEAKER_01We just didn't want it to be, you know, a lot of people just do like a sticker label on a blank back, uh, you know, blank, you know, black bag or a white colored bag and just put a sticker label on it. But we wanted it to be a full printed, really catch people's eyes, just really be high quality because that's the the the coffee inside is a high quality coffee, you know, it's all small batch, single origin roasted. Technically, they're organic beans. We don't put the organic on there because we're not gonna pay thousands of dollars just to have the organic sticker on there, but it's not your mass-produced run-of-the-mill same coffee that all these other people are buying their coffee from and putting their labels on it. It's uh it's a high premium, you know, quality, quality bag of coffee that lets it be memorable. You know, you sit there and you're you're drinking in the duck blind, it it adds to your experience, you know, and that's what we want. We want duck hunting's a shared experience with people. You know, I always joke, you know, how's the hunting? Well, it wasn't great today, but we solved all the world's problems, you know. So I just I just remember that was a huge part of what really drew me into duck hunting too, was the the social side of it. Sitting in the blind, talking with people, whether they're your family or whether they're complete strangers that you just met, and you got this shared experience that you're going through. But in the duck blind, like, you know, you're having you're having the laugh, but you know, sometimes you're having some good serious conversations about, you know, what's going on in life. And and I just remember that growing up, you know, because it wasn't always sunshine and rainbows from the week before when you're in the blind on Saturday with your family. You know, there could have been something, you know, pretty impactful that happened in the family that week. And or maybe there's some, you know, beep between me and my brother that we got to get out there. We're trapped inside of this uh, you know, these dumpster blinds. We took these old dumpsters and made them into blinds. That's how a lot of our blinds were, and then stuck, you know, sunk them in the ground. You know, we're stuck here for a few hours together because dad's not gonna let us leave. And we need to hash out our problems and talk it out and you know, figure out why we're mad at each other or you know, why we're, you know, we just gotta be in our bonnet about something. And uh, so you know, that's the whole point is is the togetherness, it's the community, and and we wanted that cup of coffee to to be a part of that experience and for people to say, yeah, that's a great cup of coffee to go with the experience of being out there in the outdoors together.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, for sure. And even on the related to the discussion of the whole social aspect and duck blind talk, like I I remember vividly, like when I was younger, like I'd have some of the best laughs I've ever had in the duck blind with my dad and some of the older men that we'd have in there, or like even when I was in high school playing football, like I remember talking to the older guys, like you know, trying to figure out where I want to go play ball in college and telling them all my options and stuff. And I actually made my decision in a duck blind of where I wanted to go play college football. That's awesome. Now, where'd you go? I went to uh Wingate for a couple years and played D2 ball in North Carolina. That's awesome, man. Oh, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01It was a few one of a few, man. This small percentage of people that get to go and you know do it at the college level. So grads to you. That's a huge achievement.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, yeah. I only I only did uh two years down there playing, and right when I was starting to play is when COVID hit, so I kind of put oh yeah on the back put a damper.
SPEAKER_01Well, shoot, man, you could have been like you're you could have been like a ninth year senior by now, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Right, you know, like some of these guys. Oh, dude, it's crazy with the MIL and like the extra COVID years and the transfer portal stuff. Now it's ridiculous.
SPEAKER_01Yep, absolutely. Yeah, I remember uh Buck and I, we took one of our buddies during our freshman year of college, we decided on a whim. It was uh the last, it was the day after Christmas, so the 26th of December. I think we had one, we had finished up our season here in the North Zone. So there's three zones in Missouri. So there's a north zone, there's a middle zone, and there's a southeast zone. And so we decided our north zone was done, sighted on a whim. Like we left at 6 p.m. We found out that they had these draw areas for the conservation that they just started a few years before where you could draw in and just do potluck and hopefully you get in, type of situation. But we had to drive six hours away to get to the closest spot that was still open in the middle zone. And so it was down the Booth Hill, Missouri. So we literally packed up at 6 p.m. and just started driving. And we took, we had, and this is back before, you know, you didn't have navigation on your cell phones. So we ended up, I thought was the straightest direction on the map, ended up being switchbacks through some of the hills, and it took us forever to get down there. We rolled in for a 430 draw at like 415. Oh, wow. So, and I ended up a couple, you know, we get about an hour into the drive, and and Buck and a couple of the buddies decided to start getting into some beer, and I'm like, Well, I gotta stay sober. Uh, you know, I want a big drink or anything at the time, anyways. But I was like, I guess I'm driving the whole way. So I drive the whole way down there, we get there, and we luckily draw in three days straight. Oh, wow. But one of our buddies had never been duck hunting before. So this is hilarious. We get him out there, he's out there like messing with the decoys. So we kind of con him into he's kind of slow. We're like, Hey, what hey Greg, why don't you get out there and you know, can you fix the decoys? And so he gets out there, and as soon as he does, you know, we start messing with him and start calling. We had him out there for like 45 minutes thinking that birds were working us. And he'd like, look, I mean, no, keep your head down, keep your head down, you know. So it's just funny stories like that. And he couldn't hit any, he couldn't hit the broadside of a barn door, so we finally let him shoot a couple coots just so he'd say he hit something, and and I think he brought those coots back with him, he was gonna get them mounted or something. So yeah, just a lot of fun stories like that.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, for sure. How did you guys pick? Because I know there's like a whole bunch of different beans and like from different like areas of the world and stuff. How did you pick what beans to use for what coffee or just what beans in general?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, um, a lot of them kind of was like a playoff of whatever the name of the bag was. So, like the Dark Dynasty was a pretty obvious we're gonna do a dark blend with this one. Uh cinnamon teal, you know, straightforward. Let's let's do a snickerdoodle. And so it's actually that's a blend with an oil in it. So it's not even, you know, there's no like spices or anything in it. So it's a flavored oil that they put on it that gives it that snickerdoodle flavor at the roaster. So it's like a secondary process they do with the beans. Uh so you know, our roaster is great. They source from I think it's about 13 different countries. And so they'll be able to, you know, they kind of guide us. There's, you know, we're kind of saying, here's the profile that we're looking for. Uh so like Suns Up, guns up is a light roast. Because Suns Up is kind of like sun, you know, the sun rising. So it's the first thing we, you know, it's the the light, the lights coming up. So we want it to be like the light roast. So it kind of just made sense to to do a light roast with them. And so Columbia Supremo is is that blend. And so they just kind of guide us, send us a bunch of samples. When we're kind of trying to get a certain flavor, like the Missouri boat ride. I mean, they sent us a ton of different combinations because we wanted to hit it exactly right. You know, we we wanted it to be uh, you know, that that blend um with that little bit of nutties, a little bit of sweet in there, and and it just was a home run once we finally hit it. And so they just kind of guide us, and but it comes from 13 different countries, and those are all over, mostly you know, Mexico, South America, um, Papua New Guinea. That's where our cold brew comes from.
SPEAKER_00Oh wow.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Interesting. Do you guys have any? I mean, I know you mentioned you guys did the cold brew last year. Do you guys have any other ideas you're able to share?
SPEAKER_01Um giving too much way. Not quite yet. Yeah, we're gonna have a new something in that ready to drink. And we're hoping uh it's been a long time to kind of formulate that. It's a a little longer process than coming up with a cold can of coffee. And so we're kind of on that final stage. So we're hoping that we'll have it for uh the Delta is the first event, first big event that we'll do this summer. So the Delta Waterfowl has their big convention, and it's actually not far from us, north of here in Des Moines, Iowa. Uh, I guess July 24th through 27th or something right around there. So we'll have we'll fingers crossed, we'll get everything finalized and and we'll have a new ready-to-drink option uh for dirty duck by then.
SPEAKER_00Awesome. Do you guys have any different flavors or roast coming out that you're trying to work on? Not right now.
SPEAKER_01I think we're we're kind of good with the nine. We feel like it's we got a good variety of the darks, the mediums, you know, French roast. Um, we got that high velocity, it's got that extra caffeine kick in there. So we feel like we got a good lineup to work with that hits everybody's flavor palettes. And I don't really see anything. There's one one blend I think we could probably do. And that would require taking one of the bags we've done before and rebranding it. So it's something that wouldn't take too much tweaking that we kind of reintroduce with a new design on it. Uh, I think that's that'll be the and that's a that's a breakfast blend. So I think if we do anything, we'll kind of just revamp the breakfast blend because we really haven't pushed that hard just because we're gonna rechange up the kind of the imaging on the bag.
SPEAKER_00Okay. Have you ever thought or seen that your idea of a coffee company would grow and be to where it's at right now? I mean, I think we we hoped it would, but we didn't know.
SPEAKER_01We didn't know what the response would be. Uh, you know, and and we were kind of new, we had never really been on the product side of the industry. So we didn't know how the industry was going to receive us and and if they would even take to it, if you just never know. Uh, but man, we're just so fortunate. There's just a lot of really, really good people in the industry that took us under the wing and said, hey, let us help you. They didn't see us as a competing, you know, taking they're stealing our dollars that they could buy our product with. You know, we saw the opposite. We saw a lot of people say, Hey, I I like what you guys are doing, and we like that you guys are trying also to help grow the industry and our sport and the conservation side of things. You know, we try to give back as much as we can. So, like we're a DU partner. So we've got um, we're a preferred vendor with them. So some of the portions of the proceeds from the preferred vendor program goes right back to help out DU chapters. So you'll see us at a lot of different chapter events and and banquets that they have. They'll have our stuff up there for the silent auction or giveaways or however they want to use it to help to generate more dollars for the ducks through Ducks Unlimited. And so it we're very, very fortunate. Just some some great people in the industry. And and it's been it's been great. We've just met a lot of great folks that do a bunch of different things. Uh, other people that have some great products that that we've enjoyed, you know, like the Hella Dry guys, uh, they've been they've been great to us. Uh, you know, Boss Shot Shells and Migra, they those guys have all been good to us and and uh really helped us to grow. Uh the Quack Shack podcast guys, uh, they've been they've been good partners of ours. And and you know, people like you, man. I mean, like you didn't know us from Adam and you're taking the time to to talk with you know a couple of Yahoos uh about our brand and and spend time with me on on this podcast. And you know, and and we've had a lot of the people kind of with their podcast brands and things like that that have had us on. And uh it's just been it's been a lot of fun. And then we work with a lot of good outfitters too. So um a lot of good ones right here in our local area. Uh so been it's been fun getting to know those folks, and there's a lot of good ones up there in Mount City area, but also other uh outfitters across the country and and also stores that carry us, and so yeah, it's been fun. And I mean, did I think it'd get to where it's at today? No, but we were hoping it would, and and it's just kind of fun seeing it year after year kind of grow and become even bigger. Oh yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00I'm sorry I'm taking a long pause. I'm trying to think of the next question. You're good, man. Um what was it like when you guys first started getting out of the trade shows? Like how was kind of the response to your product? I mean, was it kind of just like people are like, oh, you know, it's another guy trying to.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, no, it was uh overall we've had a great response. I feel like anytime we go somewhere, um at the end of the day, we're just selling coffee. And so it's it's not like rocket science. You're not trying to like figure out how to work our product or or anything like that. So the learning curve and the entry price point, it's pretty small, so people can give us a shot, you know, without a huge investment. You know, so I think that's helped. Uh, we do free samples at every show, and then we also, you know, for the vendors, we have the the, you know, you can buy one of our tumblers at an event and you get free refills all weekend. And that helps people to, you know, get something with our brand on it, but also they can load up their cup all weekend and feel like they got a good value. Uh, so I feel like everyone's really responded well to that. And and we have good coffee. At the end of the day, if you don't have a good cup of coffee, you're not gonna get the repeat business. People will choke it down just like they do some gas station coffee because you're the only option in town. And I got to have something hot and a little bit of caffeine to get me through my morning. Uh, but at the end of the day, we've got a high quality product that people enjoy, and all the repeat business kind of speaks for itself. And we've got a lot of we have a subscription program, so you get a discount if you subscribe, and then it comes you know in the mail um at whatever frequency that you want to have it show up at your door. And so, you know, that repeat business just keeps coming through, and that's kind of a testament to you know, people liking our product and and wanting to keep you know having it showing up every single week or every other month or however often they're buying it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, for sure. I can definitely attach that. I mean, like I mentioned before I'm in the construction business, so a good, a good quality cup of coffee in the morning goes a long, long way.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, man, absolutely.
SPEAKER_00Well, I got one final question for you, Jay, before we get ready to hop off of here. I appreciate the time once again. And it's my yeah, my pleasure. Any time my favorite question that I love to ask all my guests for their first time coming on. Hit me with it. It's it's what's your why that keeps bringing you back for more?
SPEAKER_01Wow. Um man, I think it it's kind of evolved. You know, I think we all kind of go through a bunch of different stages. You know, when you first get into the industry, you're just excited to be doing something new and and also being a part of something with a bunch of other people. And and it's just kind of like new and fresh and exciting. And um, and then I I think it it can kind of shift and sometimes it can kind of become a little bit of a grind, like you're like, do I really want to get up and do this? You know, because you forget about all like the great memories. And so sometimes it's like, man, like I I really don't want to, you know, do this. There's there's a lot of work that goes involved in it, and you got to kind of push yourself through it, but then you remember the good days. Um, you know, and I think kind of as I've gotten older and you know, and I've got and I've got kids, I love getting them involved and and taking them with me as much as I could when they were when they were younger. And and I try to prove them now. They're all, you know, teenagers are in college. And so getting them to want to get up early is a little more challenged than it used to be, but I still get them out there every once in a while with me. Um, but really it's it's my why is preserving what we have for the next generation. And I think we all kind of get to that point. You know, I've been uh not to date myself too bad and show how old I am, but you know, I'm I'm coming up on 40 years of of duck hunting now. Uh this will be, you know, my 40th year that I've done it this fall. And and man, just getting to that next generation is so important. And I think we see that year in and year out, just the challenges that we have keeping uh our water spot, you know, keeping the potholes for the breeding grounds and and keeping the public land access and the and the river access and all these different places that for a number of different reasons going across the board, whether it's legislation or whether it's just erosion or whether it's weather, you know, all these different things that are compromising all the places that that we get to hunt, uh, man, we gotta we gotta be in this together, man. We gotta keep fighting every to for every dollar to go towards keeping the heritage and keeping the places open so that the next generation gets that bug and wants to get out there and encouraging people, you know, it's really easy to get territorial and you know, and fighting people over little things. And I see the boat ramp fights from time to time. And I know those are anomalies, but you know, we all got to be in this together and and help each other out and and take as many people out as we can because you just never know. You know, you take that business guy that's never been in the outdoor space, but he just kind of at that point in his life where he's made all the money in the world and he's just trying to find something to do because he's done it all, you know, and he's got all the toys, um, but he doesn't have a huge purpose or a place to go and an outlet uh just to shut his mind off and and be outside. And and they experience what we get to experience, a sunrise in a duck blind on a duck boat, and then seeing some birds and having them come in and that first adrenaline rush of doing it. And it, you know, that's a guy that could say, hey, I want to fund whatever that next big project is that that we're trying to get to conserve a different part of um, you know, a waterway or you know, some marshland or whatever it is, the prairie potholes to to get more breeding grounds for ducks. So man, just the more people can get involved. I think that's kind of my why. Um, and taking as many people to have them experience what I get to experience and and also I can just enjoying it more, you know, not taking your next day for granted, you know. Um, you know, I got just two years ago was my last help with my dad. And you know, that those things don't come, you don't take those for granted. So enjoy all the time you get with, you know, your buddies and your loved ones and and uh get it get out there every chance. Don't don't say no if you really don't have an excuse to say no and and not get out there and do it that day. Oh yeah, for sure.
SPEAKER_00And I like to that you brought up how it's like you like bringing people out to experience everything. And I don't know how spiritual you are, but that's kind of my big thing too. It's like yeah, I bring people out. I'm like, dude, I don't just come out here to hunt. Like, in my opinion, I just go out and when I see the sunrise come up, I hear all the birds and everything waking up. I see everything working. The best way I put it is like gods just taking a brush and painting things or just taking as a little pointer, and just like, okay, here goes here goes the day.
SPEAKER_01Like like a Bob Ross painting, man. Oh, yeah, for sure. Becomes a masterpiece right in front of you, and seeing a sunrise or seeing like a big snowstorm. You know, I got it. I hunted in a big blizzard one day last year. Just I was a solo hunt. I at first was like, I don't know if it's gonna be any good or not. And but then I saw the front was coming through early and decided to go out, and I got and it just turned into a blizzard when it wasn't supposed to be, but flurries and you know, these malers just trying to get in, and and I just you know busted them up pretty good that day and shot a limit, and just I had a blast, and I'm like, God God had one laid out this day, and and it was it was fun. Oh, yeah, you know, and and that's why we do what we do, just because you never know, you know, you you think it's not gonna be a good day, and ends up being just one of those magical moments, and you just sit and take it all in, and you know, that's why we do what we do.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, for sure. Well, do you have any last thoughts, shout outs, or anything you want to say before we head out of here? Yeah, no, I'd I'd say just keep getting after them.
SPEAKER_01You know, bring people with you, keep getting after it. Uh, let's stay in this together. Let's uh I know it's easy to kind of get in the weeds and start fighting each other over all different kinds of stuff in the comment sections, but you know, at the end of the day, we're all on the same team and let's uh let's keep having fun doing what we're doing because that's that's contagious when people see us out having a good time and want to be a part of something that looks like it's a lot of fun because it is, it's a blast. You know, we love what we do. You know, we're all we all got a few screws loose to be doing it, but uh that's what makes us unique and different. And the more we can share that and and just uh create those positive vibes with everybody is is always a blessing for everybody and and spreads the spreads the word and then also you know benefits what we're doing so that it can can be here a hundred years from now.
SPEAKER_00Oh yeah, for sure. Well, thank you again for the time, Mr. J. I appreciate it. It was awesome having you on, man. I mean, I love having bigger people on in the industry. I mean, it's like I never thought I'd be getting to where I'm at now with the podcast and having people like you on, and it's just a blessing to be able to do that.
SPEAKER_01You've been doing dude, you've been doing a good job. I've been watching and seeing your stuff come across. So keep it up, man. Keep uh just keep swinging away, and before you know it, you'll be up there, you know, challenging uh our good buddies like Jeff Stanfield and Andy uh with the big honker, and you'll be right up there in the rankings with them.
SPEAKER_00So oh yeah, hopefully that's the goal one day.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, man.
SPEAKER_00We'll keep after it. Oh yeah, for sure. And I always like to close out every episode with it uh not an invite, but just saying, hey, like if you're ever out east or out my way, just let me know, man. We'll definitely have to get together and get on a hunt or something.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and saying, man. If you're if you're heading uh our season is typically like first week of November through the first week of January. Uh kind of our I got I got the ability I can hunt in the north and middle zones um where I'm at here in Kansas City. So if you're gonna be over this way and kind of in those time frames, just holler at holler at me and and uh if I can at least get you out for an afternoon or a morning. Um and then we got all kinds of people around here, be happy to connect you with other people to get on a few other hunts while you're out this way. So don't hesitate to reach out.
SPEAKER_00Awesome, man. I appreciate it. Thank you, and thank you all again for tuning in to another episode of the Blue Hen Outdoors Podcast.