For the past few years, Jim Lamancusa and the Cusa Tea team have been intently focused on creating the highest quality instant tea on the market.
As a fan of tea that was looking for a mobile solution, Lamancusa launched the company in 2017, utilizing evaporative dehydration technology to create a line of instant tea.
As it gained a following, the company raised a $2.5 million Series A round of financing in June 2019 and expanded its product line. Later that year, Cusa launched a line of herbal teas that quickly became a top online seller, Lamancusa said.
Now, the company is expanding into a new line of instant morning drinks: coffee.
With the launch of an instant cold-brew coffee line, the company has rebranded to Cusa Tea and Coffee.
Made with the same cold-brew, evaporative dehydration technology as their tea products, Cusa is launching Light Roast, Medium Roast and Dark Roast in April, followed by several more flavors in the summer. Cusa Coffee can be made hot or cold and will dissolve in seconds.
Lamancusa said the decision to launch the instant coffee line was fueled by a recommendation from a coffee roaster that had tasted his instant tea product.
The roaster was impressed by the taste of the tea and asked him if he'd thought about using his technology on coffee. Lamancusa began testing the product and after positive feedback from industry professionals, dove in head first.
"It literally tastes like a fresh cup of pourover coffee," he told Colorado Inno, adding that taste is the primary customer benefit when compared to other instant options.
Seven instant packets come in every box, and each one makes an 8-ounce cup of steeped coffee in under 3 seconds. The product is set to launch on Kickstarter later this month, with a retail rollout set for later in the year.
Lamancusa said this product will introduce Cusa's options to an entirely new customer.
"This showed that we can be a platform of beverages that are instant and can taste great," he said. "...This is really going to branch out into a totally new customer segment for us."
Looking ahead, Lamancusa said the company will focus on building its distribution and customer base for the rest of 2020, before it launches any significant new product developments.
The company has five total employees and recently moved into a larger facility in Boulder to accommodate its storage and shipping.
