Typing this on a (still!) chilly spring morning while sipping John Lillis’ Lifeboat Coffee. Yum!!
I first heard about Lifeboat Coffee through Facebook friends, and as we’re always on the look-out for pro-life businesses to support, I added Lifeboat to my shopping list. What a blessing to find out that they will donate 10% to my favorite pro-life charity! We get coffee, John gets our business, and our favorite charity gets some much needed funds! Win-win!!
I did have to wait a bit to place an order because we buy our coffee in bulk and had to finish up our stash. In the meantime, John was kind enough to satisfy my curiosity, so sharing our little Q&A here:
How did you get into the coffee business?
Here is a great link to explain it: About Lifeboat Coffee.
Is it a family thing? Yes, it is. Even in-laws have helped! The kids all love helping too!
How do you source your coffee? All of our coffees come from a “family” roaster, who have been blending, cupping and roasting coffees for 30+ years! We started with 20 varieties from around the world… But now, we do two things: 2 USDA Certified Organics – Dark and Medium and then two Colombians, Dark/Medium and an Espresso Blend and also one flavor, Hazelnut. Both of our organics are purchased co-op direct and the rest are bought on the sustainability model, above fair trade.
What was the biggest obstacle you’ve faced so far in establishing a pro-life business, and how did you overcome it? Financing. Finding financing and people who will do what they say. Very hard to find people who do more than talk. Another obstacle is roasting: the high cost of roasted beans.
How long have you been in business? We started August of 2013 and went “live” on the web in November 2013.
What’s your favorite way of brewing coffee? I am a quantity guy, so I auto-drip every day. If I had the time, I would press the coffee.
My boys would agree with John — they can never have enough coffee. As for me, I love coffee regardless of how it’s made, but my favorite is the moka pot. Alas. I have yet to find a well-designed stainless steel version, so for now it’s French pressed for me.
John Lillis’ story about finding a way to meld his various passions together is truly inspiring, and especially this:
While it’s pretty obvious to me why we need to support pro-life businesses like yours, maybe you’d like to offer some words of wisdom to other would-be business owners that would like to help rebuild the culture of life, and what they need to do? I think the biggest issue is to not be afraid of the culture… While it is true there is some prejudice against us, I do believe our Christian country will go big and support those who support life! In short, “Be Not Afraid!”
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