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Cybertrucks aren’t just for driving or gawking at anymore: They’re also for making coffee.
Moonwake Coffee Roasters has been brewing espresso out of the back of a Cybertruck since February, a “purely business decision,” said Moonwake co-owner and former Tesla software engineer Ming Wood.
“We would have definitely not bought it otherwise,” he said.
Moonwake Coffee Roasters has been around long before introducing the Cybertruck, a recent addition that provided additional electric power to allow the company to keep up with high demand for made-to-order drinks at the West Coast Farmers Market in Cupertino.
“We’ll catch your attention with the truck, but come stay for the coffee,” Moonwake co-owner and former Meta program manager Mabel Yeung said. “It’s not a gimmick, and we’re very serious about what we’re trying to do and the experience we’re trying to bring.”
The roasting company began as a hobby during the pandemic, selling a rotating selection of small-batch coffee online before beginning to brew its beans at pop-ups early last year. Since July, Moonwake has been a staple at the West Coast Farmers Market, but the booth has gone through many iterations. It started by selling pour-over coffee only before tacking on an espresso machine to offer lattes, cappuccinos and signature drinks.
“The demand actually got pretty intense, and we quickly outgrew not just one prosumer machine, we actually outgrew two prosumer machines,” Yeung said. “The Cybertruck allowed us to have a commercial espresso machine to really serve the demand that we’ve been getting at the farmers market.”
There are four main reasons Moonwake decided to invest in a Cybertruck: Most commercial espresso machines require 240 volts to power them, and a Cybertruck has the correct voltage; a traditional food truck is closed off from the consumer, and Moonwake wanted to be transparent in how they’re crafting drinks; Moonwake is partnering with Voltage Coffee Supply to outfit the truck; and the Cybertruck is a head turner.
“We’ve had people come out from as far as Sacramento,” Wood said. “They saw us on Instagram and wanted to get a coffee and see it in person, which is incredible to hear.”
Roasting every Friday, Moonwake offers a selection of both citrus-forward and cocoa-forward beans, which customers can either purchase online or at Moonwake’s weekly Sunday farmers market booth.
“Our perspective is a little bit different than a lot of the newer-wave coffee companies in that we don’t think there’s a wrong way to enjoy coffee,” Wood said. “There’s a lot of older coffee drinkers who prefer less acidic, less of the new wave high-fruit type flavors, and we think that that deserves a ton of attention…and with equal intention we’re going after some of the most world-class and world-renowned coffee producers who are either producing or processing coffee in a way that creates floral, citrus and other fruit-type flavors that are truly above and beyond your normal light roasts offerings.”
In addition to beans, Moonwake offers made-to-order beverages at its farmers market booth, like featured pour-overs (market price), cafe chicheme (an iced espresso with vanilla, cinnamon, honey and sweet corn cream for $7), passion fruit ginger tonic (passion fruit and ginger syrup, espresso and tonic for $6.50) and Milo mocha (espresso, Nestle Milo malt, dark chocolate and milk for $6).
“We’re driven by elevating nostalgia,” Wood said. “I spent a lot of time in my childhood growing up in Singapore, and so we drank a lot of Milo, and so that has a special place in my heart and past.”
For a company brewing out of the trunk of a Cybertruck, it’s fitting that Moonwake’s origins started at Tesla.
“Tesla was a pretty intense engineering culture, and we were working a lot of late hours and were pretty stressed, and we wanted some moment during the day where we could hang out and chat with our co-workers as friends and human beings,” Wood said.
So he and some co-workers bought an espresso machine and coffee grinder off Craigslist to make coffee together and destress.
“That ritual became a really pivotal hobby for me initially, and it led into coffee roasting as well,” he said. “Because we had so many people in the office that we were brewing coffee for, we wanted to find beans that were affordable, and we ended up just not liking the ones that we found.”
Wood went back to Craigslist and purchased a roaster. When the pandemic hit, he continued his hobby of coffee roasting and continued to stay connected with his co-workers by sharing his new roasts.
“We’re married so we’re basically a team always, and Ming brought me along the coffee roasting journey as well,” Yeung said. “My love language is serving people in terms of food and feeding people, so coffee was an interesting combination of both Ming and my passions.”
Wood grew up in Singapore and Massachusetts, coming to the Bay Area when he got a job at Tesla after completing undergrad. He met Yeung, a Cupertino native, while playing volleyball at the bar Sports Page in Mountain View.
Now, the couple looks forward to opening their own brick and mortar in West San Jose in August or September, at which point the Cybertruck will likely be used for special events or to help out with weekend rushes.
“Ultimately, we just want to give people enough of a unique and great experience that they, for a moment, forget about all their worries,” Wood said. “That was the original reason why I got into coffee in general. It’s just taking a moment to reflect on something else besides all the stress that you’re dealing with, and we all know there’s plenty of stress in the Bay Area.”
Moonwake Coffee Roasters, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino; Instagram: @moonwakecoffeeroasters. Open Sunday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.