Coffee, Contraband, and Collaborations!

LawDog explains...

There seem to be some wondering why we're doing an anthology based around King Harv’s Imperial Coffees, so we thought we'd explain.

Awhile ago, Sarah Hoyt let us know about King Harv’s and the fact that Dave, the owner, liked to sponsor authors and their blogs or livestreams. The next thing I knew, there were several bags of coffee at our home base, The Blanket Fort. They were from King Harv’s Planetary line, and I was incredibly amused by the descriptions.

Being grateful sorts, OldNFO and I decided that this meant King Harv was now officially a sponsor, so we started announcing such at the beginning of each Livestream, and asked any who ordered some to tell King Harv’s we'd sent them. To say our gang takes direction quite well might be an understatement. Given the opportunity for mayhem, or silliness, or support for those we like, they'll run off like a herd of squirrels to help out. Many orders ensued, and we often received boxes of coffee from happy fans, too.

Next thing we know, one of those boxes shows up...with a couple of “extras”! Jonna opened up the box and found a NEW King Harv’s blend called “Blanket Fort.” Much dolphin communing occurred!

The description on the bag absolutely made me giggle like a fiend for several minutes. The description on the site is even better:

“This is not for the faint of heart. It is not for the weak. It is not for losers. It has not YET been banned. (We're working on that.) Coffee with an attitude.  Note that it's actually a really neat medium roast coffee, roasted especially for our friends The North Texas Troublemakers. Very rich, with natural flavor notes of chocolate, a hint of peach, and a bit of a punch in the finish. This is a description, folks! It's 100% coffee, roasted by occasionally paid labor (my son Zach).

NOT ORGANIC

NOT FAIR TRADE

It was…perfect. Of course, we brewed some up and had a tasting during the next Livestream, and discovered it was, like all of his blends, really REALLY good coffee. Dave at King Harv's explained that it was a one-off from a blend he was testing out...and remember what I said about our gang? They DELUGED him with requests for The Blanket Fort Blend. What was a happy one-off to say thanks became a regular offering in the King Harv's store.

King Harv's has a huge number of coffee offerings with very witty descriptions—and because we are…well, us, we got to plotting, and wondered if King Harv’s would like to be in on a coffee-based anthology. Because who hasn't searched for the perfect cuppa joe? What kinds of adventure have been involved in finding that perfect bean, the source of all happiness in the morning? And so an email went off to Dave.

The response was better than we had hoped—not only did he like the idea of a coffee-based anthology, he was wildly enthusiastic about it. (And he's submitting a story, too!)

So that’s how Raconteur Press’s Collaboration with King Harv’s Imperial Coffees came about. The call is open now, closes on June 28th, and the anthology publishes in August. Y’all are going to love this one.