FAQ's
GENERAL INFO
Are you really a Bandit?
Yes! I lived well outside the law in many ways for nearly 2 decades. At my peak, I was a smuggler, operating a multi-million dollar marijuana campaign with a small plane regularly flying across the country. Until one day, the Feds caught on. In 2019 I was sentenced to nearly 5 years of Federal prison and lost everything.
Before all that, in 2003 I founded the DIY Bandits, a collective of renegades, artists, weirdos, working class folk, runaways & dreamers. We were hellbent on stealing back the pieces of our lives we lost to the job market & consumer culture. Petty theft, squats, trespassing, graffiti, general mayhem & other illegal activity was a common occurrence for us. Over time the DIY Bandits morphed into an underground record label that operated well outside industry norms.
Nowadays I’m more likely to be sharing my wild stories around a campfire with my kids or friends rather than actively living a life of such reckless abandon as I did in my past. But I promise, I will always remain a Bandit at heart.
Why should I buy coffee from Bandit Coffee Roasters?
Three reasons:
1-This is my attempt to build life after incarceration. You would be directly supporting my efforts & contributing to a positive comeback story. Sometimes you should root for the underdog!
2-A portion of every sale directly supports the independent, DIY music community around the country.
3-We have damn good coffee (you can read more about this in the coffee section below).
Can you tell me about prison?
I served Federal time (not state) & was sent to a Federal prison camp. You can hear about some of my experience on my podcast Back On The Grind.
If you or someone you know is going to prison, I would be glad to talk to you about the experience under one condition – you must be interested in taking responsibility for doing the work you can to create the best possible outcome for yourself. If your plan is to go to prison, sit in the TV room all day, get high, sleep your bid away, gamble & stuff like that, it's fine with me, but I don't think I will have much to offer you. If you're serious about making use of resources for yourself, you can reach out through our contact page & we can talk.
Do you smoke weed?
Nope. Not even when I had an airplane full of it. In fact, I haven't smoked weed since I was a teenager. If you do (or don't), it's fine with me. I have friends who smoke & friends who don't. All I can say for me personally is; years ago I realized the awesome things friends & I accomplished & the things I am proud of doing most, usually happened when I was/we were sober. That way of life seems to work well, at least for me.
SUBSCRIPTIONS (coffee & music)
How does the subscription work?
It's simple! You pick your coffee, select whole bean or ground & how often you want it delivered. Hit subscribe & save money! Then you sit back & wait for it to arrive in your hands (often with a letter or some free extras).You have complete control over every aspect through your customer account - change the coffee type, frequency, shipping address or cancel any time you want. You're in charge!
How do I get my free music download?
When you sign up for a coffee subscription, we'll send you an initial email letting you know we got your order, are hard at work roasting your first bag of coffee & probably telling you how wonderful of a person you are as well. It will also include a link to sign up for our free coffee & music list. You can sign up with any email you prefer using & you're set to go.
We will send you exactly one email a month (no spam or junk ever) with a download code & link to our Bandcamp page where you can get your free track each month!
(We ask that you only sign up for the free music download if you truly want it. It costs us money for every code we send & we can contribute those funds to supporting independent music rather than paying for a code you don't plan to use.)
What if I don't want the music, I just want the coffee?
That's perfectly fine. The monthly, free music download is completely optional. You only get if you choose to opt-in to it when you get your subscription confirmation email from us. Simply do nothing (ignore the opt-in instructions) & we'll only send you your coffee - nothing else.
(We encourage you to only sign up for the free music download if you truly want it. It costs us money for every code we send & we will contribute those funds to directly supporting independent music rather than paying for a code you don't plan to use.)
COFFEE
Is your coffee specialty grade, fair trade & organic?
Yes. Currently all our coffees are certified organic and fair trade.
Specialty coffee makes up precisely 3% of the world's global coffee yield. We make sure to only offer arabica coffees that have been certified specialty grade by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA).
Will my coffee be fresh when it arrives?
We are a small batch roaster and roast about twice a week. Keeping batches small and roasting often ensures the freshness of our coffees.
One of the best ways to enhance the freshness of your coffee is to order whole beans and grind them yourself right before you brew them. This is not required, but if you're getting serious about your coffee, it's worth investing in a home grinder (they're fairly inexpensive nowadays depending on options).
Do you have decaf or other coffees I can buy?
We are just getting started as a new roastery in 2023. We are working on securing a quality, organic decaf coffee soon. Once we do, we will offer a decaf & half-caf options. We are also working on our espresso blend currently.
We plan to expand our regular coffee selection as we grow & get a new space of our own to roast out of. We are excited to build our coffee selection for you, hopefully with your input!