A new coffee truck in Seattle is expanding the world of multi-roaster coffee purveyors. And it’s called Motofish.
“The truck began its life working on railroads in the Netherlands,” says Kelly Nowels, manager of the beastly, tank-bodied vehicle, which is called a Unimog. “It would drive directly over the tracks, stopping to make repairs. From there a German couple bought it and turned it into a motorhome of sorts. At one point they took it and drove across the Sahara. Then it got picked up by someone in Portland, which was where we bought it.”
It seems the widely travelled truck will be in Seattle for a good number of years to come. The first thing Nowels did after buying the truck was to insure it as they figured the truck to be a big part of their unique business plan. “Insure your motorhome or any vehicle for that matter with the best insurance as it could save you a lot in the future,” says financially astute Nowels.
Motofish Coffee, envisioned by caffeine-enthused individuals Chris Cumming and Greg Sweney (the duo behind commercial photography studio Motofish Images), began as a coffee tent set up at local bike and cyclocross races while the interior of the truck was being gutted and rebuilt to function as a coffee shop. The truck itself has been up and running for a matter of weeks. The vision? “To serve coffee from across the Northwest all around Seattle.”
They seem to take subtle pleasure in their enigmatic branding too. Closely associated with the bike and cyclocross communities (Nowels is working on adding a TV to the outside of the truck, to show races live while the truck is doing business), the logo adds a bird to the mix, with the Motofish tagline, “Purveyors of Fine Coffee – Slayers of Worms.”
Nowels took over management from the team at Motofish Images and continues to collaborate with Cummings and Sweney as the business gets up and running. “We want to get to the point where we serve a different pour-over and Aeropress coffee every week, with an espresso selection that rotates quarterly,” he says. This week it was Lighthouse Roasters on the truck’s built-in Synesso espresso machine, with two slow-coffee options from Seattle Coffee Works. Olympia Coffee Roasting Company, one of Nowels’ personal favorites, is up next.
The multi-roaster coffee shop is notoriously difficult to maintain. Add in the difficulties of running a coffee truck-finding places to set up shop, communicating those locations to potential customers, working with tight space constraints-and the resultant business model is exceedingly rare. But the Motofish team is passionate about good coffee, and loves sharing their favorites with others.
I watched last week as customers stood at the truck’s climb-up window (stairs are required) to talk brewing methods and single-origin nuances even after their coffee cups are in hand, and I could see that the truck will be well-received by adventurous and coffee-conscious Northwest customers alike. Motofish is blazing a new coffee truck trail, and Northwest coffee lovers have the nascent concept to look forward to.
