Connect
To Top

Meet Zach Macaffer and Collin Ricker of NuRange Coffee in LoDo

Avatar photo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Macaffer and Collin Ricker.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It’s actually a pretty funny story how we started out — NuRange didn’t even start as a coffee company.

It all started as an inside joke amongst friends. Throughout college, myself, Collin, and all of our friends were fascinated with espresso martinis. It got to the point where our whole group gets them at every bar and restaurant we went to. We’d keep track of them, taking pictures and rating them out of 10. When Collin created an Instagram account to keep track of them, it took off. In the last five years, the account went pretty viral and it now receives submissions from all over the world — from Tokyo to London, New York to San Francisco. Pre-pandemic, it was getting 50+ submissions a night.

Anyways, on a trip to Tokyo, Collin and I had a particularly awful “EM.” We joked that if we ever had the chance to quit our corporate jobs and pursue our hobby as a career, we’d jump at the chance. Less than a year later, we’d left our office jobs and were trying to make kegged espresso martinis to sell to bars. Spoiler alert, that’s not a super viable business plan. As we were developing the espresso martini, we discovered the world of cold brew and really ran with it.

We realized that while cold brew was a saturated market, there was a ton of room for innovation and improvement. There was a lot of the same and we set out to be different. Now we have a line of innovative cold brews that are disrupting the market.

Has it been a smooth road?
It hasn’t been a smooth road at all! As two guys without any prior experience in the beverage industry, we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Coffee is extremely scientifically complex. There’s a level of science behind commercial coffee formulation that prevents a lot of people from doing it well. We were fortunate to connect with some very helpful beverage industry professionals that provided a wealth of information. Years of research went into the creation of our coffees. Collin now considers himself a self-taught chemist, which is funny because that was his worst subject in high school.

We work in three totally separate industries. In short, it makes us a lawyer’s worst nightmare. Fortunately, Collin has had a nose for navigating the regulatory waters. As a company that deals in regular coffee, alcohol, and the fledgling CBD industry, it’s important that we’re constantly researching and staying compliant with all the established laws and guidelines. 

We’ve learned a lot along the way. Since we’re a two man operation, we’ve had to wear a lot of hats. From formulation and commercial batching instructions to website development and e-commerce integration we’re entirely self-taught.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the NuRange Coffee story. Tell us more about the business.
NuRange makes canned, ready to drink, cold brew coffees. What we’re most proud of is our innovation — that’s actually what sets us apart from others, and what we’re known for.

Rather than just choose one thing to do differently, we’ve broken the established wheel. We currently have three coffees on the market with another two on the way later this year. All are in different niches of the cold brew industry, and each one does it differently. Our focus to detail as well as quality ingredients in processes has translated into a passionate customer base and an established retail presence. After only three months on market, we got into every Whole Foods in the state of Colorado, which was kind of a big deal.

A quick overview on each of our drinks:

NuRange Cold Brew Coffee – Our functional cold brew is unlike anything else on the market. Our unique brewing process, combined with our fair trade, organic, single origin beans from Guatemala, creates a really rich and chocolatey coffee. It drinks much smoother and less bitter than most black cold brews. It’s also a functional beverage with a mix of vitamins, minerals, and amino acids that work to reduce caffeine jitters and crashes.

NuRange CBD Cold Brew – Our signature cold brew base with an added 25 mg of CBD Isolate. Rather than rush to market with a less than exceptional CBD product, we took our time to select a CBB Isolate that is nano-emulsified and micro-encapsulated. This ensures that our customers are actually getting what we’re advertising. Additionally, the isolate itself is flavorless and odorless, thus having no impact on the taste of the coffee.

NuRange Cold Brew Latte – Our vegan, coconut cream based latte. We chose coconut cream because it has a high concentration of MCT oil, making it healthier than other dairy-alternatives on the market. This latte really is a game-changer, it’s rich, smooth, and creamy. But even better – it has half of the calories and sugar content of comparable products on the market.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
This is big in coffee. We think there will be a bigger focus on what’s actually going into the coffee – particularly in relation to keto and sugar-free diets.

Additionally, we’ve noticed that since entering the market, a lot of other coffees have picked up on the anti-jitter trend. We anticipate a lot of people focusing on negating the undesirable side effects of caffeine, something we set out to do from the very start. More functional coffees will continue to pop-up, especially with a focus on CBD. We think we’re well-positioned in that space as long as we continue to bring a top-shelf product to market.

Obviously, coffee isn’t going anywhere. While it’s already a huge market, we’re still excited for the industry to continue to grow and see more innovation.

What were you like growing up?
Zach: I was the stereotypical class clown. I always focused on making other people laugh, and I didn’t let school come in the way of a good time. Comments on my report cards were pretty predictable — “I just wish Zach would focus in class more!” My mom always thought that I just needed to find what I was passionate about and then I’d commit myself to it.

I think that held true in my professional life after college, things came easy to me so it was pretty easy to go through the motions and get my work done. It wasn’t until we started this that I found something I really, truly cared about. Now I’ve thrown myself 100% into it. I’m still focused on creating positive experiences for people, and I think our coffee can facilitate that.

Collin: Growing up in southern California, I of course was the kid who surfed, skied, skateboarded, etc. I was definitely outgoing and extroverted but also enjoyed having an Entourage-like small group of best friends. We found trouble here and there, but my grades were good, I was happy, and I was head over heels excited about going to Denver for college.

I was always good with numbers and thought I’d follow my dad as an engineer. That dream all but faded after two months. I switched to finance, worked at law firms and investment banks/managers, but never was too passionate outside the pay and great co-workers. That all changed once Zach and I decided to do the unspeakable and quit our great jobs to do something we knew nothing about. 2 years later, we are on the up and up and couldn’t be happier!

Pricing:

  • NuRange Cold Brew Coffee – $3.99
  • NuRange CBD Cold Brew- $4.99 (Do we want to use $3.99 or talk about lowering price or no?)
  • NuRange Cold Brew Latte – $3.99

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Josh Block, Chris Pieta

Suggest a story: VoyageDenver is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.

Related Items

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More in