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Comment by ccameron | Hacker News Reader

I'd like to echo a huge need for this in backpacking and travel areas. For instance I went on a cruise recently and could not get a decent cup of coffee for a week. I would have loved this option for travel.

If I saw this at a premium price and it was marketed and positioned properly as a much better alternative than Starbucks Via at REI or some other outdoor retailer I'd definitely buy it. I wouldn't subscribe for it simply because it doesn't meet my daily needs. I already have a nice electric grinder and do either pour over or Aeropress for coffee. Maybe I'm not your target market, but I think I could be if I can simply order it for travel and backpacking or on the go use.

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Thanks for the comment! I hear ya. We're considering retail as an option in the future. Right now the subscription simply is the business model that makes sense for us - our current margins are too slim for retailers.

That makes sense. If you offered a batch where I could just buy a bunch and it stays good for a long while then I would definitely buy some in that model. That way I can simply stock some away and pull it out for trips or when I don't feel like making it / in a hurry etc.

If you want to hit the backpacker market get some freebies out to blogs like Andrew Skurka, Section Hiker, Adventure Alan, Gear Junkie, etc. I don't know that the market is big enough to target, but I suspect with how profitable REI is there may be something to it.

These are all great - thanks! Although we don't advertise it on the website you can always email me and we can figure out something in terms of orders ;)

I'm not sure what the shelf life is currently… maybe a couple months?

Personally I subscribe for a similar use case and then just defer a week or two or skip on the months where I haven't used it all yet. Their subscription management options are very fine grained which is nice. I've been really happy with it so far.

And one more thing, can you figure out a great instant creamer? I've tried many instant creamers and they all taste terrible. I really like the Coffeemate Natural Bliss creamer line, but I've had trouble finding an instant creamer that I like. Maybe it's out there and I just haven't found it yet.

Working on it. They're all really bad, and I'm pretty confident we can make something a lot better.

Another thumbs up for backpacking and back-country camping with little amounts of gear. I load up on the "slim" packs of coffee for these trips. Looking forward for Sudden if I can ever buy it without a subscription.

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