Before I ever roasted a bean, I spent nearly two decades chasing crab across the Bering Sea. Out there, work doesn’t stop when you’re tired — it stops when the tanks are full. When the fishing’s hot, you don’t sleep. You run on instinct, grit, and whatever coffee you can get your hands on.

Twenty-hour days were just the norm. Sometimes seventy-two hours straight — soaked to the bone, running on caffeine and discipline. Back then, “good coffee” wasn’t even an option — just burnt, bitter fuel to keep you upright. But every cup mattered. Coffee wasn’t comfort. It was survival.

That rhythm — the relentless push to get the job done no matter what — never left me. When I left the wheelhouse to pursue entrepreneurship, the grind just took a different form: long nights, early mornings, and the same need for something real to keep me going.

One night, deep into another late work session, I brewed a cup and stared into it. That’s when it hit me like a ton of bricks — I was drinking someone else’s story. Their brand, their values, their version of “hard work.” It didn’t reflect the life I’d lived or the people I respected.

So, I decided to build the coffee I always wished I had back then — coffee for those who actually walk the walk. For those who push through fatigue because there’s no other option.

Kaptein Coffee was born from that world — the long grind between exhaustion and accomplishment. Every roast is a nod to those who still show up, stay sharp, and keep going, one cup at a time.

I didn’t build Kaptein to impress coffee experts or play the “flavor notes” game. I built it for people who know real work — the kind that doesn’t care if your beans were described as having hints of bergamot and poetry.

Kaptein Coffee isn’t another “craft” label trying to sound authentic — it’s built by someone who’s lived the grind most brands just market. From months at sea on twenty-hour shifts to long nights building companies, we’ve learned what real fuel feels like. That’s why every roast is done weekly, in small batches, with the same discipline it takes to weather a storm.

We don’t chase trends or tasting notes. We don’t dress coffee up in fancy words. We just make damn good coffee for people who show up early, stay late, and keep going.

You can imitate the packaging, but you can’t fake the hours behind it.

That’s the difference. That’s Kaptein.

– Scott Sperbeck

Founder, Kaptein Coffee