Dragon Roast

The integrity of Dragon Roast’s products, especially considering the status quo of subpar offerings aimed at gamers, is paramount. Their dedication to quality led them to choose Roastar for their packaging needs. We sat down with Ethan Mills, owner and founder of Dragon Roast, to discuss how that partnership has grown and evolved (and even get a little sneak peek of what’s to come).

Let’s start at the beginning. Can you tell us more about how Dragon Roast came to be? We’d love to hear more about the idea of making coffee more accessible and inclusive!

EM: I'm sure you've noticed I'm a huge nerd. Big into, you know, tabletop role-playing games, D&D, all of that stuff, and was a professional gamer for a long time. I'm also a huge coffee nerd. I had a playgroup here in my local area — but none of them were coffee people at all. I found the common thread between them, which was that they didn't know how to get into it. Every time I talked to people about coffee, I kept hearing, “It seems so pretentious,” or “It seems so inaccessible.” And I'm like, “That sucks. I don't like that.” So that’s what inspired me to get into home roasting. Actually, I built my first roaster out of a bingo cage, a skateboard bearing, a Coleman stove, and an electric motor.

And as I was improving my process, getting better equipment, and making better coffee, my friends were like, “Oh, this is actually really good.” And because I had been doing it all myself, it was easy to see that coffee, even good coffee, doesn’t have to be complicated.

Wow, it must have been quite the leap to go from being a professional gamer to starting a coffee business! What have been your biggest challenges (whether that’s roasting, packaging, design, marketing, or something else) and your biggest lessons or takeaways, so far?

EM: Oh, God, I mean, everything. One thing that I have learned is to not discount the power of word of mouth. I feel like that's something that people don't take into account when they're building a marketing strategy. Because I mean, for me, I'm only like three weeks into [sales]. I haven't done a single bit of marketing, I haven't put out any ads, I haven't paid a single dime for anything and I’ve sold 300 bags in 2 weeks.

I’ve also learned that I like to produce the best quality, even if it means taking a lower income for myself. As I've been researching and looking at other companies who are doing similar things in niche markets, it seems like a lot of people are cutting corners with their quality to make more money.

Absolutely. You touch on quality a lot on your website, as well, especially the idea that some brands charge gamers a premium while offering a subpar product. Can you speak to that a bit more, particularly as it applies to the gaming community?

EM: Gamers do tend to get swindled a lot. They get taken advantage of because it is such a huge market with so many garbage products and bootlegs of products. It’s also an easy market to prey on because nobody expects gamers to know what good coffee tastes like. They're just going to spend money on it if it looks cool. But I want to reach out and like protect these people, these gamers. They're such a passionate crowd.

I strongly believe that if you do right by people then good will come back to you. So many people think in the short term, do a money grab, screw people over and get out. That's why I put so much work into quality. This is a long-term thing for me, this is where I've put all of my energy and love and everything over the last four years.

That integrity and commitment to quality is so inspiring. Was it what made you pick Roastar as your packaging partner? How did you hear about Roastar – and what services have they helped you with?

EM: Yeah, 100%. I got label samples from a few different places, And when I got the bundle pack from Roastar I was just blown away by the packaging. Coming from a design background, I thought it was so good, and it was easy to follow. The quality of the labels was just better than everything that I was seeing — and yet the prices were still very competitive. I've had so many people sending me reviews saying that the packaging is so good.

I started off getting my boxes through Roastar, and now I use them for my labels as well. They were able to walk me through, making sure things like my margins and colors came out right. It gave me so much peace of mind to know the product would come out perfectly, because I stress about everything!

I even had an acquaintance hit me up, he's got a printing company. He's like, “Hey, we can print your labels. Would you be down?” And I'm like, “No, I've already got that covered.” I didn't even give them the time of day because Roastar is taking care of me and they're my business partner.

It sounds like you’re off to a great start with Dragon Roast. What made you decide on the products that you currently offer – and what’s next (if you’re willing to go into that)?

EM: I knew I wanted to launch with a light, medium, and dark roast. I also wanted to offer a decaf because I don't think there are enough good decafs out there. Decafs work especially well for gamers too, because they’re usually up late playing or planning their next session with friends.

I don't have an actual espresso roast and there are a few cafes I'd like to work with, so I’m working on that right now. I’ve been looking at retail spaces because I’m outgrowing my current property and I'm looking into getting a bigger roaster. I’ve even been considering building a coffee shop so people have a place to see me. We have all of these different ideas for our own milks and creamers, sealed cold brew cans, stuff like that. I'm open to everything!

We've had a blast talking with you, Ethan. You have an incredible brand and a story worth sharing! We can’t wait to see what comes next from Dragon Roast. Thanks again!

EM: It’s been a pleasure, thank you!