What's Up With the Names?!

As you've noticed, we name our coffee after belt colors. For those of you in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) community, the names are obvious.

For the rest of you, consider this your introduction to the world of martial arts. And more specifically, the grappling world.

Jiu-Jitsu is a grappling art, much like wrestling or judo. You win by means of submission, which is when you effectively threaten a choke or a broken joint and force your opponent to tap, which means they surrender.

BJJ is commonly cited as one of the most effective arts for self-defense, and we highly recommend it as a starting point for anyone worried about their safety (and that of their loved ones!).

In the BJJ world, there are five belts, given by your instructor as you spend more time on the mat and get better.

1. White Belt. The average practitioner spend about 2 years here.
2. Blue Belt. This is usually the longest lasting belt at around 4 years.
3. Purple Belt. Expect to have this slick bit of color around your waist for around 2 years of good training.
4. Brown Belt. You'll be a brown belt for about 3 years.
5. Black Belt. The bigg'un. Once you make it here (and only about 2% of BJJ practitioners do!), you're a black belt for life.

So, it takes about 10 years on average to get your black belt.

But where does that fit in with Ground Shark Coffee?

Well, I (Nick), am a blue belt, and Adam is a brown belt. We both spend most of our free time on or around the mats and can't get enough of it.

We decided to name the company Ground Shark after an old BJJ quote attributed to Carlos Machado:

The ground is my ocean, I am the shark, and most people don't know how to swim.

Cheesy? Sure.

But frighteningly accurate.

We liked it, so here we are. Ground Shark Coffee. Kinda catchy, huh?

Anyway.

Back to the point.

Our naming scheme.

• White Belt: These are our light roasts.
• Blue Belts: Mediums!
• Purples: The dark roasts.
• Brown: You guessed it..espresso!
• Black: This level is reserved for special edition releases. Hop on the newsletter for advanced notice of these babies!

Make sense?

Good!

Now we're on the same page, and the recent rebranding of our White Belt Blend (now the Blue Belt Blend) makes a little more sense, I hope.

Cheers,

Nick