Fresh coffee, right where you are.
Cafæ is a coffee system that hides in your cup holder and brews fresh coffee in the cup. No stop. No line. No cleanup.
It's 6:30 AM. You want coffee.
You're in a ride to the airport. The trip takes 25 minutes. You'd love a hot coffee.
Coffee is already part of how we move and work. Getting it still means stopping.
Or: it's already in the car.
82% of the people we surveyed rated drive-thrus convenient or extremely convenient. Drive-thrus work. The cost is the stop.
33% said that in the past week, they missed two or more times when they wanted fresh hot coffee, because it wasn't easy to get.
From our survey of 1,042 U.S. coffee drinkers. Details are in "What 1,042 coffee drinkers said" below.
Coffee that comes with you
Cafæ rests on three ideas.
The product: Ready-to-Brew
One container holds everything for a cup. No water to refill. No ingredients to stock. No prep.
The hardware: it looks like a cup holder
Everything else is hidden underneath, so the car looks the same inside. Place the container in the holder and touch once.
Coffee brews inside the container you drink from. No hot liquid is poured or moved.
Five needs we designed around
Pick one to read how Cafæ is designed to meet it.
Anywhere coffee is hard to get
Skip the drive-thru line. Keep your route.
How it works
Drag the sun, or pick a step.
What 1,042 coffee drinkers said
chose fresh in-vehicle coffee in a hypothetical 25-minute morning commute. Equal $4 price, comparable quality.
What worries people about hot coffee in a moving vehicle
Respondents could pick more than one. These worries shaped the five needs above.
said they would be more likely to pick a rideshare service that offered it.
said taste and freshness matter when they get coffee. The coffee has to be good, not just convenient.
Survey results describe hypothetical choices. They don't predict real purchases.
Coffee should go where you go.
Coffee shops fixed a place. Drive-thrus shortened the stop. Pods fixed the kitchen counter.
Cars still have no way to make a fresh cup. We think that's next.
This isn't about beating drive-thrus. Most people find them convenient. But when the choice put the stop next to coffee already in the car, more people in our survey chose the car.
As cars start to drive themselves, travel time becomes usable time. In our survey, 54.9% chose fresh in-vehicle coffee in a hypothetical self-driving scenario. Only 16.6% chose a drive-thru detour.
Coffee comes first. We're also exploring tea, chai, and warm food. In our survey, 67.1% said warm food in the car would make them more likely to buy coffee or a food-and-coffee combination.
We want coffee to be a normal part of the ride.
The offer: it's free.
Join the waitlist and we'll share updates as Cafæ develops. No payment. No product is reserved. No products are currently for sale.
Cafæ waitlist
- Passenger
- You
- Route
- Wherever you're headed
- Cost
- Free
- You get
- Updates as Cafæ develops
- Reserves a product
- No
- Payment needed
- None
Your email is used only to send updates about Cafæ. See the note under the sign-up form.
Questions
What is Cafæ?
A coffee system with hardware that looks like a cup holder. You place a Ready-to-Brew container in it, touch once, and the coffee brews inside the container.
What is Ready-to-Brew?
One container that holds everything for a cup. You don't refill water or stock ingredients.
Can I buy it?
Not yet. No products are currently for sale. Join the waitlist and we'll share updates.
Where would I use it?
On your commute, at your desk, in a rideshare, or on a road trip. We're also exploring desk and countertop versions.
Is it only coffee?
Coffee comes first. We're also exploring tea, chai, and warm food such as oatmeal.
Will it taste good?
Taste is the point. 87.5% of survey respondents said taste and freshness matter. A system that skips taste isn't worth building.
Is it safe?
Spills and burns are two of the five needs we designed around. This is a concept, so we make no product safety claims.
Is the survey real?
Yes. 1,042 U.S. coffee drinkers answered it online. But it asked about hypothetical choices. It shows interest in an idea, not real sales.
What happens to my email?
We use it only to send updates about Cafæ. See the note under the sign-up form.
Follow along.
Tell us you're interested. We'll share updates as Cafæ develops.