If you’ve never tried coffee flavored like milk that’s been soaking in a mountain of Fruity Pebbles, now is your chance.
That sentence may be enough to kill a refined coffee snob, but it’s clearly working on a lot of other people, according to Bones Coffee Co. CEO/founder Travis Rule and co-owner/creative director Tyler Nelke. The Florida-based brand has been thriving online thanks mainly to its winning blend of creative flavors – besides the aforementioned Electric Unicorn flavor, think stuff like Sinn-O-Bun (cinnamon bun) or S’Morey Time (s’mores) – and design flair. The result is something a bit like Liquid Death; not just a shared love of skull imagery and jokey product names, but a brand with a clear aesthetic that looks good on a package and a t-shirt. Bones’ approach has been to create unique art for each individual SKU that connects to the core visual theme, placing the mascot in a different context to reflect the flavor. That’s all being done by an on-staff team of artists who have been with the company since its early days, Nelke explained. That approach has opened the door for licensed collaborations with major IP holders across the world of entertainment – but that in itself isn’t so rare in coffee these days. Beyond the growing galaxy of celebrity or influencer-affiliated startups, you can find bagged coffee emblazoned with the logo of your favorite NBA team, comic book hero or 1980s movie franchise, just to name a few options. When compared to the slapped-on logos of some of its competitors, Bones’ hand-drawn designs and artistic interpretations stand out. That’s an opportunity for Bones to play to its strengths: rather than partnering with something like the UFC (Nelke claims he backed off interest), think IPs steeped in decades of pop culture history; more specifically, think Disney. After initial teaming on a limited edition release tied to Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Bones’ relationship with the Mouse House has yielded flavors based on “Indiana Jones” and “The Haunted Mansion,” and now with a three-flavor release celebrating the original “Star Wars” trilogy. Getting to play in the Star Wars sandbox was a “dream” for the company, but also an opportunity to draw new consumers into the brand. As decades of spending on licensed Star Wars merchandise attests, fans of the franchise are eager to indulge when tempted. “Every time we've launched a [limited edition] like Star Wars, we see a pretty large spike in new customer acquisition,” said Rule. “It’s been great for opening doors, like with Walmart. I think that exposure and people seeing that we're working with a brand like Disney gives us more credibility.” It’s unclear if the “Star Wars” flavors or other licensed flavors will make the jump into RTD, but Bones isn’t waiting around: over a year in the making, its reformulated ready-to-drinks are a major piece of its plans to grow offline in grocery retail with the likes of Albertsons and Walmart. The latter chain has notably been eagerly recruiting next-gen coffee makers like Throne and Happy to its shelf, among others. Those products all have their own differentiated takes on coffee, and Bones clearly has its own. “I think from a product development standpoint, we love that challenge,” said Nelke. “ We love [thinking] ‘what can we do now?’ That keeps us innovating in this space. And I think that's really important for us as a brand, not only for us to keep things fun around here, but to keep people interested because that's what they've come to know from us is ‘Look at bones and all their wacky interesting flavors. I gotta try that.’” Go Deeper: Read up on the latest celebrity coffee launch on BevNET. | 
