Life and Work with Stephanie Beck

Today we’d like to introduce you to Stephanie Beck.

Stephanie, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My husband, Jeff, and I launched Mythic Brews as a happy accident in 2018. We were both interested in cold brew coffee starting in 2016, and over time, Jeff kept tinkering with different combinations and researching different beans. The overwhelming advice we kept finding was that “beans don’t matter for cold brew” and that you could use top-notch fresh beans or lower tier and older beans, and the final result would be the same – so early on we used whatever beans we had on hand. On a whim, we ordered a number of different varieties from a roaster that would only roast beans when the order came in, and our coffee dramatically improved. Only when we ran out of the “good beans” and went back to what we were making before did we realize just how spoiled we had gotten with the fresher beans and the coffee they produced. We both started brainstorming different flavor combinations, Jeff keeping track of everything we brewed in a journal – and when we found a great creation, it was obvious. One of us coined the phrase “This tastes mythic”, as in it was unbelievably smooth. In time, we started sharing some of our coffee with friends, and they were just as blown away by how smooth and flavorful our coffee was. In order to become a legitimate coffee brewer and start selling to the public, we had to move out of our kitchen and into a commercial space. Luckily, an old family friend owns a breakfast restaurant and they were able to make a little room for us in their kitchen in order to brew in the evenings when the restaurant is empty – which is ideal because our brewing process takes a full 24 hours. We have now been selling Mythic Brews Cold Brew Coffee for about a year, primarily selling our coffee in concentrate form through our website MythicBrews.com, but also at a number of events and a few local businesses around the Valley.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Our biggest obstacle has been finding our way in a popular or saturated market. There are coffee shops all over the Valley, and when we go to events we frequently get the question “Where are you located?” and our response “the Internet!” isn’t the answer they are anticipating hearing. Also, introducing coffee fans to cold brew concentrate has been an uphill battle, and fighting the preconception that cold brew is simply iced coffee, instead of a completely different brewing process can be challenging. The best advice I can give is to believe in yourself, believe in your product, and don’t give up. You never know where your next break is going to come from, and every opportunity is not going to work out but don’t let that get to you.

Please tell us about Mythic Brews Cold Brew Coffee.
We believe our coffee stands apart in taste and quality. We have seen firsthand a number of people, who claim to dislike coffee, try ours and fall in love. The lower acidity of cold brew and fresh beans create a smooth drink with zero calories that defy expectation. However, when we launched Mythic Brews, we said that we wanted our customer service to be as good, or better, than our coffee. We take pride in shipping orders as soon as possible, usually, the same day orders come in so no one has to wait any longer than they have to. We are currently working to create a large loyal following and looking for other local businesses or café’s to partner with us to sell and serve our coffee.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I listen to It’s Been A Minute on NPR and Happy Hour Pop Culture. Jeff and I both listen to How I Built This, which is a fascinating look into successful entrepreneurs and how they accomplished what they did. We both enjoy the book Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, which turns a number of common sense business ideas on their head.

Pricing:

• One bottle of coffee concentrate makes eight cups of coffee, roughly a half gallon. At $10 per bottle, it costs $1.25 per cup.

Contact Info:

• Website: MythicBrews.com
• Phone: 602-677-6342
• Email: mythicbrews@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mythicbrews/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MythicBrews/

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