NBA’s Corey Kispert Launches The Bitter Truth Coffee Company

Corey Kispert. All images courtesy of The Bitter Truth Coffee Company.

NBA sharpshooter Corey Kispert has launched a new coffee brand called The Bitter Truth Coffee Company, pairing fresh roasts with words of inspiration from lessons learned on and off the hardwood. 

The Atlanta Hawks forward said he wants to energize customers physically and emotionally. The brand leans into philosophical ideas, such as the notion that “hardship is unavoidable” yet can lead to improved personal fulfillment.

“To the average or novice coffee drinker, coffee can taste quite bitter, similar to what life’s hardships feel like at first glance,” Kispert recently told Daily Coffee News. “But as any expert coffee lover knows, if you interact with it for a little while, the beautiful notes and flavors come out more and more. We genuinely hope that customers will not only think the coffee is fantastic, but that challenges in our lives are not something to hide from or be scared of.”

While coffee had occupied a utilitarian role in Kispert’s routine as a pro athlete, he said he began to develop a more refined taste for specialty coffee throughout his travels for away games. He began documenting cafe stops with an Instagram series called “The Grind.”

Now having gone pro with coffee, Kispert has teamed up with business partner Ike Bubna, founder of Spokane, Washington-based New Love Coffee. Bubna consults with Kispert while sourcing all Bitter Truth offerings and then roasts them on New Love’s custom white 15-kilo-capacity Proaster with production assistance from roaster Megan Fouts.

Sourcing starts with organic and Fair Trade certification, while keeping an eye on high cupping scores and vibrant taste profiles. Bitterness, while inevitable in life, is not what Kispert is shooting for in the cup.

“We absolutely avoid bitterness and over-roasting in our coffee,” Kispert said. “A great roast should accentuate and bring out the best flavors that coffee beans already have and not hide or blanket them through the roasting process.”

Kispert isn’t the first NBA player to get into the specialty coffee game. Jimmy Butler famously built Bigface from the ground up inside the NBA bubble, and DCN has covered several other NBA connections over the years. Yet what separates these brands from typical celebrity-backed coffee ventures is that they started with a genuine passion for specialty coffee. 

At The Bitter Truth, sales are currently limited to online a la carte and subscriptions. Kispert said he wants the company to grow on coffee quality and brand connection, not just his name recognition.

“A coffee drinker who may not know a thing about professional basketball or my career still has a great chance of finding our coffee and aligning with what we believe, more than if it was just ‘Corey Kispert’s Coffee Company,'” Kispert said. “When I started The Bitter Truth, my true hope was to be an active owner and participant in the process, with agency behind what we do and what it feels like.”

Ike Bubna

Wholesale inquiries are now being accepted, and Kispert said the long-term plans include grocery placement and potentially a Bitter Truth cafe if momentum supports it.

“Our hope is to take baby steps in expansion as they make sense for the company,” Kispert said. “The last thing I want to do is over-reach and juggle too many balls at once while not being able to deliver to our customers.”

Comments? Questions? News to share? Contact DCN’s editors here. For all the latest coffee industry news, subscribe to the DCN newsletter.