Military couple build a coffee brand from Monterey in honor of veterans and first responders
Steven and Taylor Miller started Coalition Coffee Co. from their home in Monterey Peninsula. The couple are both on active duty for the state of California in the National Guard, but currently serving in Alabama. Taylor flies the military helicopters and when Steven is off duty, he's a law enforcement officer in the peninsula.
They say coffee is their "lifeblood" when they're working day-in and day-out at three in the morning. With most of Steven's family being first responders from nurses to firefighters, a big part of their mission is to also serve those heroes that are saving lives in their own battlefields.
"I kind of grew up always being surrounded by first responders and you know, just seeing the struggles that they go through on a day in and day out basis," Miller said. "Being able to kind of create this company, a lot of things we do is you know, we do donations and do charity drives and stuff like that and donate coffee to local agencies to assist them because I know at our department, we are going through coffee like nobody's business."
Miller prides himself on delivering the freshest roasted coffee to his customers. He has a roaster in Chicago, Ill that ships directly to his East Coast buyers and another one in Temecula, CA that ships to the West Coast.
"With coffee, everything is all about freshness and you know, our coffee, as soon as you open that box, you instantly smell it because it's so fresh," Miller said. "One thing I was really going for us, you know, it's roasted that same day you order and shipped out pretty much that next day as well."
Miller says he wants to open a brick and mortar on the peninsula, but they're waiting for the coronavirus restriction to ease-up and the economy to get back up.
