Get to know the people who roast your coffee, before you buy.

Tell Market coffee roasterCoffee roasting demo by Ryan Bros Coffee, one of the roasters featured on Tell Market.

When we buy coffee, we usually buy it from the shelf in a supermarket, or from a page on a website.

Our choices are often driven by brand preference. The name of the coffee or the roaster is pretty much all we have to go on. It’s an anonymous experience, with the assumption that we should for some reason “trust” the brand we are buying.

The folks at Tell Market want to change that.

Tell Market coffee on your smart phoneWatch each roaster's story on your smart phone, and then buy.

I have been talking with these guys for a few weeks now, really like their idea and have been looking forward to their big launch.

In short, I love what they’re doing. 

As a coffee lover you can go to their page on your computer, or through their app on your iPhone – the Android app is coming soon - and get to meet dozens of different coffee rosters.

Each roaster has created a short video in which they tell their own story. They talk directly to you and tell you about their coffees, where the beans come from and how they roast them.

These aren’t slick, professional, blah-blah videos. They are simple, get-to-know-me videos, most of them shot with a smartphone.

If you like what you see, you can then explore their selection of coffees right there on the screen, and buy what you want immediately, even from your smartphone.

What I like about this is that it brings you and the roaster together, pretty much face to face.

Here is how Co-Founder of Tell Market, Praveen Ramineni, describes what they do.

In a way, the developers of Tell Market have used technology to bring back the old-school approach to buying things. It’s akin to the traditional experience of going to a farm market and being able to see and talk to the people you are buying from.

It’s a more natural way to buy. And there is an accountability that I really like. The roasters put themselves out there, show you their work, and open up about their own dreams and passions. They’re not hiding behind a big brand name or a tall office tower.

I think these guys are onto something big here...bringing creators and buyers together in this way.

And I’m really glad they chose to focus so much on coffee, right out of the gate.

BTW – They’re offering a one-time credit of $10 per order to readers of Coffee Detective! Check out using the code DETOFF, and you get that $10 saving immediately.

To take advantage of the credit, be sure to visit the Tell Market website through this special link

The app experience is super cool, but you can also shop from your computer if you click on the COFFEE link under the Stories tab at the top left of their site.

About the author: Nick Usborne, aka Coffee Detective, is a writer and long-time coffee enthusiast. Read more…

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