Charlie Jordan and Mark Ritz met while working together at Yakima Products. Following the sale of the company and subsequent decision to move it, Charlie left Yakima and they both sought a way to stay in Humboldt. Following their passion for cycling, the Kinetic Race, and coffee led them to create Kinetic Koffee.
Mark had spent decades in the outdoor industry. He described figuring out that a Venn diagram of bicyclists and caffeine addicts “would make almost a perfect circle,” and hit on the ideal of a coffee company aimed at the cyclist niche. While other coffee companies had noticed the niche, Mark was a person on the inside, known throughout the industry. Mark and Charlie worked to make it easy for those companies to become Kinetic Koffee customers. When perusing the company’s current dealers, you will find an intriguing mix of bike shops nationwide and Humboldt outlets of various types.
Mark and Charlie learned about sourcing and roasting coffee, but also about who benefits from the industry. “We really set out working from the get-go with small family farms,” Charlie said. More recently, they have emphasized working with women-owned farms.
She also said, “We are adamant about being organic.” Coffee plants are bio accumulators, and chemicals like pesticides and herbicides concentrate in the beans. On the Humboldt end, Mark and Charlie wanted to bring money into the county, create jobs, provide themselves an income, and produce a job for Mark.
Mark and Charlie discovered, while wine tasting, that they have very different palates. This provided an “aha” moment when it came to understanding why they appreciate different coffees. She leans towards darker roasts, he to lighter coffees. Kinetic Koffee’s process involves slow roasting, which takes longer and is more expensive, but Charlie says presents like a slowly roasted caramelly marshmallow. Both agree that, dark roast or light, a high-quality bean is key.
The company has a longstanding commitment to donate 10% or more of their profits to nonprofit organizations, not surprisingly cycling-related causes while also emphasizing local nonprofits. They lean into issues like salmon restoration and getting inner city kids into camping.
This charitable bent becomes very personal when you look at Kinetic Koffee’s Frog Fuel line. All net proceeds from those products benefit the Navy SEAL Foundation. Charlie’s son Kevin Ebbert, a SEAL or Frogman, was a corpsman, headed for medical school. He was serving on his final deployment when his element was ambushed, and Kevin lost his life.
“Our whole life plan was upended,” Charlie said. Out of that tragedy, Charlie and Mark were introduced to the Navy SEAL Foundation, a foundation that cares for the SEAL community. “We had heard about companies who contacted Gold Star families to get the rights to feature the fallen on their products.” These approaches were often simply exploitative. Kinetic Koffee started with a product honoring Kevin; shortly thereafter, they responded to requests from other Gold Star families. Each Frog Fuel Patriot Series bag honors a fallen Navy SEAL with their name and has a QR code that takes the buyer to a page dedicated to them.
Charlie then rededicated herself to Humboldt County, where her grandchildren lived. Mark by then had left day-to-day work in the company, going to work for Bell Helmets and traveling often. She took the lead at Kinetic Koffee, a role she still fills today.
I asked what was on the horizon for the company, and they had a great answer. In the Humboldt Made tradition of maintaining a collaborative outlook, earlier this year, Charlie was approached by another maker. “We’re renting a space that will have a drive through, Kinetic Koffee’s first,” she reported. Three Humboldt makers will share the facility. (Teaser: it will be in Eureka.)
I asked Mark and Charlie what they liked to do when not working. They live near the Arcata Ridge Trail and hike it often. They still ride bikes a lot. They deny being competitive with each other, not entirely believably. They love travel and have visited Italy, Scotland, Bali, and Patagonia, among other places. Mark calls Hong Kong, “an amazing city, New York on speed.” They also travel the US, including visiting the extended community they have created with other Gold Star families.
They describe the Redwood Curtain as a two-sided coin. It’s good to get away and experience different things and bring some ideas back home. “But I return wanting to kiss the ground. I’m so grateful to be here,” Charlie said.
