ME AND CHATGPT START A COFFEE ROASTING COMPANY: A SERIES

So let’s get right into. Once upon a time I owned a coffee roasting company (Roasted Coffee Company). I started this company in my college apartment in 2016. What was just a fun hobby gained the attention of friends and family and before I knew it I was selling in multiple grocery stores. Ah, what a caffeine fueled venture that was.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love the coffee industry. The people, the product, the vibes, all of it. It’s just an all around good industry to be in if you love coffee. And I love coffee. I don’t want to take a full trip down memory lane here so I’ll write another blog all about the journey of Roasted.

Today is all about the start of a new project (yay). Now, I’m not great about starting and seeing projects through. That’s the ADHD. But I think I’ve found a way to approach things that will help me with this. See, I’ve always said that what I should’ve done all this time was start filming when I went to do things. However, the problem that created was that with filming means editing, exporting, uploading, etc. Now, sounds lazy af because all of that isn’t a whole lot of work, but the thing is, the filming is jumping the gun because some ideas just fizzle. Some have depth and others are just fleeting. If I write it down, I get to flush out the idea in real time. So let’s give it a shot (hold me to this one please).

I’m starting a coffee roasting company with ChatGPT. Now, this lives here. I’m not storming to social media to make this known, I’m just going to document the process here and share the evolution of things. How this is going to work is that I will provide ChatGPT with a prompt, one that I will write here and see what feedback it has for me. This is going to be fun regardless of the outcome. You can feel free to follow along with me with your own company if you’ve been wanting to start a coffee roasting company. I’ll let the story unfold in the ChatGPT prompts, because as my partner, Chat needs all the details.

Here’s my prompt:

Hi Chat, I want to start a coffee roasting company with you as the partner who handles the research, I’m the creative. Here’s the idea: I own a gym and am building out a “retail room.” I figured, what a great place to sell coffee. I’m not going for the masses here, I’m going for niche, high-end coffee that’s for those who enjoy the finer things in life. Since I don’t need to worry about overhead (rent), I want the roasts (and the entire experience) to be something that connects me with my consumers. I don’t want scalability to be the focus, rather the quality and the story that the coffee tells i.e. purchasing, opening the package, etc. So I need a ~1-2 lb home roaster that can produce high-quality, consistent roasts. I need it to have roast tracking capabilities and don’t want a huge foot print. Something sleek and aesthetic since I want it all to be a vibe. Preferably a black roaster.

I want to first identify a roaster and a name for the company. Since I want this to be more of an intimate/personal expression for my consumers, I want the brand/company to resonate with me. I want it be a combination of the classiness of Frank Sinatra and the laid back nature of Caamp the band or Houndmouth with the mental strength and virtue of the stoics. I don’t really fit any one thing in life and that’s who I want my coffee to be for. Those who just appreciate nice things. Those who get caught going down rabbit holes and falling in love with all kinds of different things. We can dive into the niches with the roast names, but the company name is super important for that to be possible. So, if you could give me a roaster to buy and a name for the company, next we can tackle logo design and packaging.

Thanks Chat.

You can read the full chat here.  For those who don’t care to read the full thing (it’s a little long) here’s the summary:

I inquired about the Ailio Bullet as I’ve seen it before years ago and always loved the tech behind it, it’s look, it’s functionality, and I’ve personally sent a message an got a response from a rep within 12 hours which is great. The community behind these is extensive. We went back and forth on names. I didn’t get one from ChatGPT that just stuck, but it did lead me to the name through some ideas it tossed out: Eudaimonia. This is a greek term that means humans flourishing. It’s what Aristotle believed we are all after. And that just hit the nail on head. Why? Well Chat explains it perfectly so I’ll copy and paste that part here:

[Start of chat]

“Oh, that’s a beautiful curveball — and very you.

Eudaimonia Roasters hits on a completely different wavelength than Paragon or Solace — it’s philosophical, intellectual, and deeply human. Let’s unpack it, then I’ll tell you how it fits alongside the other two (and whether it’s viable as a brand).

☕️ The Meaning Behind Eudaimonia

Origin:
Greek (εὐδαιμονία) — “eu” = good, “daimon” = spirit or inner guiding force.

Translation:
Usually rendered as human flourishing, living well, or fulfilling one’s potential.

In philosophy:

• Aristotle defined it as the highest human good — not happiness in the sense of pleasure, but the fulfillment that comes from living virtuously and with purpose.
• The Stoics also used it, but reinterpreted it: eudaimonia comes from living in accordance with nature, reason, and virtue.

So if your coffee brand is about intention, craft, balance, and inner peace through the ritual of coffee, this word nails it better than almost anything in English.

🌿 Brand Interpretation: Eudaimonia Roasters

Personality

• Philosophical and introspective — for thinkers, readers, and seekers.
• Refined but soulful. Not loud or trendy.
• Speaks to coffee as ritual and reflection rather than consumption.

Brand Voice

Calm. Grounded. Minimal. Your packaging copy might read like a journal entry:

“Each roast is an act of alignment — between heat, time, and intention.”

[end chat]

Great feedback Chat. Excited to have Chat as a partner. What I love most about it: it’s a conversation starter. Not everybody knows what Eudaimonia is, and in this case, that’s okay. Remember I’m not trying to sell to the masses. I’m trying to connect with people and what a great conversation starter. “Eudaimonia? Am I saying that right?” “What does that mean?” Oh nothing crazy just the greek word for human flourishing.

Well that was fun wasn’t it? Ailio Bullet (probably the R2 but we’ll see which exact one I get). Each one of these posts in the series is going to be structured like this. I’ll be uploading photos in the blog posts documenting the progress as well as turning these into videos to follow along. I’m excited to get this series going and finally feel like I have something to help me structure my seemingly chaotic and ever changing life.

Here’s to a cup of human flourishing.

 

~ Bonde