Snoop Dogg showing off a canned INDOxyz product. Courtesy photo.
Rapper, cultural icon and business mogul Snoop Dogg just dropped coffee like it’s hot, rolling into the specialty coffee industry with a new brand of Indonesian coffee products called INDOxyz.
The Doggfather has partnered with Indonesian coffee entrepreneur Michael Riady for the sourcing, roasting and production of whole bean, pre-ground and ready-to-drink (RTD) cold brew products.
“I’ve always had love in Indonesia, and Michael always took care of us when we were over there,” Snoop Dogg recently told Daily Coffee News. “He showed me the best coffee in the world and we made it happen from there.”
Photo by Howard Bryman / Daily Coffee News
Riady, whose family has been growing coffee in Indonesia for five generations, previously founded a company called Tentera Surf & Coffee Roasters, an all-organic, all-Indonesian specialty coffee roasting company in 2017. Branding for that company combined Riady’s love of surfing and active lifestyle with his deep connection to coffee.
With growth stymied and many accounts lost over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, Riady was in search of new directions and new partners to revive the business. Snoop, meanwhile, was seeking involvement with a stimulating product that would keep him and his associates ready at all hours for whenever inspiration and motivation takes hold.
Known best as a rapper and now as the owner of iconic hip-hop record label Death Row Records, Snoop Dogg has his paws in many pies. He is a founding partner at cannabis-focused investment fund Casa Verde Capital, and owns his own cannabis company, a brand of gin and Broadus Foods, maker of Snoop Cereal, among other ventures.
INDOxyz Co-Founder Michael Riady. Courtesy photo.
Though Snoop has no formal connection to Indonesia, the term “indo” recalls the lyrics of his hallmark 1994 chart-topping single “Gin & Juice,” where it serves as slang for high-quality marijuana.
“I did not know that. I only thought, ‘Oh, Indo — okay, that’s me,'” Riady told DCN. “I know of his song but I didn’t really understand that’s what it meant.”
Riady sources coffees from a variety of farmers on the islands of Sumatra, Java, Bali and Sulawesi. These are shipped to Los Angeles where Riady roasts on the Loring S15 roaster owned by Tentera, which is the parent company of INDOxyz.
The Tentera retail brand is sunsetting now as Riady’s sole focus is on INDOxyz, for which he and Snoop have collaborated on new roast profiles with the goal of highlighting Indonesian-grown coffees.
“You don’t see Japanese people trying to sell you a Scotch whiskey,” said Riady. “As you look at wine it’s the same thing. They’re very specialized. I’m Indonesian, I have no idea about Brazil or Africa or South America, Central America. These are all great coffees, but I don’t speak the language or understand the culture. Indonesia has been one of the world’s top producers of coffee for hundreds of years. We have a history. We just haven’t marketed it very well. So I said, ‘You know what, I’m just gonna sell Indonesian coffee, because that’s what I know.'”
Photo by Howard Bryman / Daily Coffee News
Whole and pre-ground coffees are bagged and an RTD cold brew is canned in blazingly bright yellow packaging for the Snoop-approved INDOxyz products, marketed by Snoop as fuel for creatives, movers and shakers.
Riady described the first product as a medium-dark roasted single-origin coffee from Sumatra that he, Snoop, Snoop’s family and associates all agreed is a smooth and approachable daily drinker. The brand may expand into different roast styles over time, but plans to always feature pure, single-origin Indonesian coffee.
“It simply tastes the best. And I’ve been around the world a few times, ya digg?” Snoop told DCN. “I’ve been here every step of the way. I see Indo being a global brand and I needed to make sure it looks, feels and represents me the way it is supposed to.”
INDOxyz is launching with a limited rollout starting in Snoop’s home state of
California, prior to national retail expansion for the RTD cold brew can priced at $5.99 and whole bean coffees priced $17.99. Products will be sold online and in major grocery chains.
“All I can say is we have a lot coming in the next few years,” said Snoop. “Indo is going to change coffee. Promise you that.”
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Howard Bryman
Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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Awesome. Send me a T-shirt with the logo so I can advertise. I would love to.