The Time I Accidentally Joined A Cult (Part 1)

It was a grey overcast day with a slight drizzle.

A steady stream of people clad in dark, damp clothes shuffled into the small building.

I wasn’t quite sure where I was, Waze was the only thing keeping me from being totally lost, and I was surrounded by strangers.

I took my place in line.

No one talked or even looked at each other while waiting. You could dimly hear short exchanges as people got to the front of the line, uttered a few well-rehearsed, often repeated words.

I noticed the symbol of a Raven on the peoples' shirts. Written on the wall were the three guiding values… “quality”, “simplicity”, “experience”.

As I got to the front it was my turn, a woman on the other side of a counter was staring at me expectantly. Having practiced silently while waiting for my turn, I said, “Large coffee, iced.”

She smiled and said, “Great that’ll be seven dollars!”

It was done!

I was in!

I had placed my first order at Rook Coffee!

Rook Coffee is kind of the anti-Starbucks.

Located primarily in New Jerseys' coastal towns this is no one's “third place”.

There’s no free wifi, no leather couches to lounge at, or tables with built-in cellphone chargers where you’ll find someone journaling about their travels during their gap year.

You can’t get a no-fat-half-caf-double-pump-mochaccino-with-whip.

And they actually give you real plastic straws…sea turtles have had it too easy for too long!

You can get a coffee, hot or cold, with or without milk.

That’s what they do, see value #2 above…simplicity.

The thing about Rook coffee is that it’s expensive, it’s a place you’re in for a few minutes tops at it’s solely to-go, and the patrons are crazy loyal.

As you drive around towns like Seabright you notice Mercedes, Lincoln Navigators, and BMWs proudly displaying the raven symbol sticker in the back window of their cars and SUVs like others display little oval 26.2 stickers or (I don’t know why) airport codes.

On my third trip back to Rook (I went every day while out there for two weeks working on a product launch) I bought a t-shirt with the symbol which I wore several months later down in Florida at a Tony Robins event.

I can’t tell you how many people at this event gave me a high-five (not uncommon in-and-of-itself at a Tony Robbins event because he has you do that every 9 seconds) and then pointed at my shirt at said “Yeah Rook!”

I was definitely in!

I’m pretty sure that if you suggest going to Starbucks around a Rook Coffee disciple they are dutybound to immediately stab you right then and there without feeling a bit of remorse. (Maybe that’s just the New Jersey in them though.)

If you Google ‘What is Rook Coffee?’ here’s what comes up first:

“Rook Coffee is a brand with to-go coffee shops and a very loyal fan base. Even if you have never stepped foot into a Rook store, you probably recognize their logo, thanks to fans that proudly display their stickers and branded coffee cups.”

These people are freaking fanatical!

And now I was one of them.

But how did these people become such ‘Raving Fans’?

Why not some other local coffee place…maybe one that sells coffee for just six bucks a cup? Or one with a seat…or a bathroom for the public?

How do YOU create fans that’ll pay you more than they’d pay your competitors, be a loyal patron for years, wear your logo proudly as a status symbol, and will feel like they are a part of a brotherhood no matter where they go?

Well, my friend, you’ll have to join me for part two of this story.