Change in the Name?

What is in a name?

The question above was raised so famously in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. In that prose, the conclusion was that the name did not matter.

For a coffee brand, on the other hand, the name can make a big difference. We started exploring this business idea with the name “Muertas Coffee”, which links to the Mexican culture that seeps through the South West. “Dia de los Muertos” is a very important cultural element of traditional Mexican culture, and has very well developed imagery and feel. That imagery can be earthy and rich, which reflects some of coffee’s qualities. The brand name also has to have an image which can evolve over the years and is easily recognizable from afar. When you think of the strongest brands, Golden Arches, Nike Swooshes, and even a green circle with a siren come to mind.

As we thought about it some more, the question of “Muertas” (feminine) vs. “Muertos” (masculine) started to float through our brains. We agreed that for some reason, death and females are a bad mix, but death and the male figure would be more acceptable to our future patrons.

We stewed on that for a while, and wondered what would happen if a first time customer decided to look us up online after a particularly spectacular experience, and only typed “Muerto” or “Muertos” into the good ol’ Google machine. Well…. the images that come up can be quite graphic and less than appetizing. If they hit our site, all would be well; if they miss, we could lose business.

So, we are keeping the name and exploring other options at the same time. If anyone has a great name in mind, please drop us a comment: We are not too proud to borrow!

What we are really looking for is a name that represents what we want our coffee experience to be. That experience will be rich and complex, but will certainly include Knowledge, Skill, and Education. We want to have our customers learn from our expertise, and feel empowered to develop their own knowledge and skills more as they brew their own amazing cups at home. One image that comes to mind is the itinerant minister, riding into town to town spreading his passion with the masses. If you love something that much, you just want to shout it from the rooftops!

For now, we will keep thinking. Happy brewing.