Email Breakdown #65: Angelino’s Coffee Part 1

Want to make a ton of sales, strengthen customer retention, and potentially acquire a new target market… all at the same time?

Simple:

Launch a new product.

Ok, it’s not that easy, though. Market research, product development, branding, the launch strategy, and more go into a successful new product.

Hold on a second, though. Go back to the first two words in the second sentence of the previous paragraph.

Market research.

You can get everything right, and the launch will still flop if you don’t base your new product on a customer want/need.

But there’s no need to spend hours scouring forums, Amazon reviews, and social media. 

Instead, just ask your loyal email list what kind of product they’d like to see next.

Angelino’s Coffee wanted to release a new coffee flavor, so they… well… asked their list.

There’s a little more to it than that, of course. Read my full breakdown to get the specifics.

Table of Contents

About Angelino’s Coffee The Email: Involving Your Customers In Product Creation The Subject Line and Send Name  The Body Copy Takeaways What to Do Next

About Angelino’s Coffee

Angelino’s Coffee is a family-owned coffee company offering over 50 flavors to its customers. Per the site, the company has served over 1 million customers since its 2002 founding. It appears to be primarily an online (aka eCommerce) brand.

Angelino’s Coffee was founded by Kirk Bedrossian, whose father had a coffee-processing business. 

The two traveled to Costa Rica in 1998. This trip sparked Kirk’s love for coffee… 

And was the beginning of a four-year journey across the globe to discover the best coffee beans.

The journey took Kirk to several continents, including Africa, Indonesia, and South America. Along the way, Kirk fell in love with the diverse people and cultures he encountered — and how these factors impacted the coffee.

He found himself back in LA, California, in 2002. That’s when he launched Angelino’s. Per the website, Angelino’s was launched “to share the world with others through a simple yet transformative cup of coffee.”

In a niche like coffee, the story is crucial to standing out. It’s more about creating a “tribe” than selling a cool product. Why buy your coffee over all the other brands? What makes you so special? Why should I care about your brand?

Angelino’s About Page does a good job of addressing these things. Lesson in there.

Moving onto the email…

The Email: Involving Your Customers In Product Creation

You’ll notice this email is shorter than most:

Seven lines of body copy. That’s it.

You’ll also notice how “plain-text” this looks. It doesn’t even have the “mostly plain text with neat HTML formatting” look. It feels like a friend wrote it. The only “graphic” is a small logo at the bottom.

What’s interesting is Angelino’s uses more HTML/image-heavy stuff often. So this stuck out to me (purely as a subscriber, not an email strategist) even more.

The Subject Line and Send Name 

Angelino’s makes this no more complex than need be:

Works on its own. It’s a casual question, inviting the reader to open and contribute.

In context, again, though:

Angelino’s doesn’t write a lot of these text-based emails. So this subject line will pique curiosity.

We must also discuss the sender name:

“Angelino’s Coffee” would have worked fine… but adding an actual team member’s name makes it so much better. Adds to the “person-to-person” feel.

Love it.

Quick note: The “@” is a good way to save a few characters and stick out more while conveying “at”. Simple, I know, but many don’t realize this.

The Body Copy

Angelino’s opens with an “agreeable question”:

Who doesn’t have a “dream flavor” of coffee? It sounds like a dating app prompt, in a good way.

(If you’re curious, I love coffee with a hint of dark chocolate flavor.)

So most customers will mentally nod along. And they’ll also understand where this email is going.

Which brings us to the next chunk:

Look at that second line. Angelino’s adds a pinch of storytelling and a sneaky bit of proof (the coffee chemists part). 

“The coffee chemists are in the Flavor Lab” is way cooler than “We’re thinking of new flavors to make.” It exudes personality and fun.

And “coffee chemist” has a nice, alliterative ring to it.

But before popping the question, Angelino’s refreshes the reader’s memory about all the wonderful options those coffee chemists concocted previously:

Those flavors just sound delicious. 

But any customer who drinks them will again nod along like “yes, I love those flavors”. 

Angelino’s gets more customer buy-in because said customers trust the brand will make only delicious flavors.

We’ve hooked the reader with an agreeable question, hinted at new and exciting products, and primed them to get excited by reminding them of past flavors…

Perfectly framing the ask:

“Our chemists created these wonderful flavors, so what new amazing brew would you like to see?”

That’s the essence of this and the previous section.

I like that the reply instructions are bold. Catches the attention — crucial in a linkless email.

Also, notice the wording of the instructions. That clause after the comma shows the reader their suggestions will be heard. They won’t just fire a reply into the digital void.

Now… a survey form could work, but I prefer the reply method here. Especially given the plain-text look and the simplicity of the new offer (it’s just a new flavor).

Replies reduce friction by eliminating the need to click through to a form. The reader simply hits reply and fires off the flavors they want to see.

It also feels casual and conversational. Creates a more inviting and welcoming environment to request a flavor.

We close with a signoff:

A thanks, the sender’s first name, and their job title. All without heavy graphics, might I add. The only “graphic” element is the nice ‘n’ neat logo.

I like how there’s a link to the site. This isn’t a sales email at all. And they’re explicitly avoiding that feeling to keep a “hey, we just want your input” tone.

But the link’s there just in case someone wants to visit the site. Why not?

Takeaways

Here are some big takeaways:

1. The Copy Mechanics

The copy reads as if the sender is talking to you one-on-one, asking you to help the company make new flavors. 

No matter how big the brand might be, this always makes the connection feel personal. The line breaks add to the conversational feel.

I also love how they used proof by including past smashingly successful and scrumptious flavors. 

This reassures the reader that the company will do it right, no matter the next flavor. Gets the reader ready to buy because they know it’ll be good.

2. The Email Structure

The email’s structure is as follows:

1. Agreeable question hook + open loop
2. Context/announcement section
3. Proof
4. CTA

To explain the open loop: 

The “dream flavor” question isn’t immediately followed with “We want your help creating the next flavor.”

Keeping this loop open creates tension the reader’s mind wants to resolve. And so they keep reading until they hit the ask.

This is important because all the middle copy primes the reader to want to respond with their dream flavor.

3. The Overall Strategy

The larger strategy: Launch a new product that customers are eager to buy.

This email’s strategy: Get more effective market research in less time and improve sales by asking customers what they want.

Not much else to it.

In Part 2, we’ll explore how Angelino’s announces their new flavor.

What to Do Next

1. Get on my email list using the signup form below for more Email Breakdowns and other helpful marketing content.
2. Share this with someone who will find it insightful.
3. Reach out to me if you want help writing emails like this one.
4. Check out Angelino’s Coffee for a delicious array of coffees! They’ve got ground, whole bean, Nespresso, and Keurig cups.