Do you prefer drinking coffee or rubbing it on your body in the shower? “If I could do both at the same time that would be really nice,” answers Jordan Montgomery over a coffee-catch-up to chat about his coffee scrub business Yas Body.
I had to ask. Because, in his role at ONA and Project Origin he has become admittedly obsessive about coffee, though with good reason.
“I’ve had the opportunity to got to coffee farms, meet the growers and then serve their coffee in a café on the other side of the world. I’ve watched it roast and helped create the packaging for it,” he says.
It was having a contribution along the entire way of the coffee process which led Jordan to love coffee for more than just a morning ritual like the rest of us.
There is a peak window to drink coffee, it’s not directly after roasting as it will be too fresh and on the flip side after about 14 days the flavours of the roast start to flatten out and taste stale – sadly this is when coffee sees the bottom of the trash can instead of your keep-cup.
“I have seen the coffee process from start to finish and then I see it get thrown in the bin. For me, it’s about the people who made it -who a lot of the time aren’t earning a lot of money – to see their hard work tossed in the bin is upsetting,” Jordan says.
Enter Yas Body; a coffee scrub business developed by Jordan to utilise coffee which would otherwise end up in the waste.
“I want to contribute to minimising the waste. Even if it’s a kilo here and there that can be repurposed, and I can prevent from going in the bin it’s worth it.”
Jordan started the business to be more mindful of coffee wastage, but also because he accidently stumbled upon the idea when he was short of change living in Spain and in desperate need of a DIY xmas gift for friends. He resorted to the resource he knew best – coffee and has since had a lot of fun with it. The name amounted from his sister walking around always saying ‘yasss,’ and it turns out he built the website yasbody.com, where Yas Body is available to purchase one coffee wired night (disclaimer: there was also wine on this night).
The above may have sounded like a sponsored post to direct you to website. But that’s where this article is different. Jordan only wants ethical scrub sales.
“What I like about it is that I make it based on the amount of waste there is. The ONA cafes in Canberra give me their waste to make the scrubs but I don’t want to be producing more coffee for the purpose of the scrubs. You won’t see me diving through bins or purchasing coffee because then it defeats the purpose. It’s all about using coffee that wouldn’t otherwise be used.”
Currently there are three scrubs in the Yas Body range. The Signature which is nonsense and keeps it simple. The Dirty Chai for those who like to spice things up, and Mocha, a scrumptious scrub which combines natural cocoa with coffee.
Jordan knows his way around a coffee machine, which is why he also knew that baristas are known for coffee stained hands. For this reason, he knew the scrubs needed a little something extra to make you feel squeaky clean. While Jordan doesn’t claim to be a skin expert he says he is a coffee scrub convert because it aids his eczema.