Behind the Cans: The Story of Blue Hound Brew

Every can of Blue Hound Brew starts with two names: Cole Koeberer and Jackson Winum. Here's how a farmers market side hustle turned into Nashville's only canned latte company — and why giving back has been part of the plan from day one.

Where It Started

Cole's path to coffee wasn't exactly a straight line. He studied Animal Science at Colorado State University and spent two years working as a veterinary technician, building a deep appreciation for the bond between people and animals along the way. Coffee was the other constant in his life — specifically, his frustration with it. Like a lot of people who love a good cold brew, Cole kept running into the same letdown: ready-to-drink coffee that tasted overly processed, bitter, or packed with ingredients he couldn't pronounce. So instead of settling for it, he set out to build the can he actually wanted to drink — one made with real, natural ingredients and nothing to hide.

Jackson's road to Nashville was a little more winding. After growing up in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, he enlisted in the Air Force and spent four years as an active-duty firefighter in North Dakota, earning a degree from the Community College of the Air Force along the way. From there he headed south to the University of Tennessee, studied political science and international relations, and even spent a semester in London interning at a think tank. When the plan to work in the intelligence community lost its pull, Jackson did what a lot of UT grads do — he moved to Nashville.

His first job out of college was at an agtech startup helping farmers manage direct-to-consumer sales. It didn't last long, but it lit a fire: Jackson found himself surrounded by hardworking, self-starting people building things from scratch, and he couldn't shake how contagious that energy was. One of those self-starters was a coworker named Cole, who already had a mobile bartending business gaining traction on the side. Coworkers became roommates, roommates became friends, and late-night kitchen conversations about canned cold brew eventually became a business plan. Jackson left his day job to go all-in, and Blue Hound Brew had its second founder. (Read Jackson's full story with NashvilleVoyager.)

Farmers Markets, One Cup at a Time

Blue Hound Brew didn't launch with a big investment or a slick rollout — it launched with a folding table. To fund the dream of a shelf-stable canned latte, Cole and Jackson hit farmers markets across Middle Tennessee, pouring cups of cold brew and roasted coffee for anyone willing to give it a try. The response was overwhelming enough to convince them there was something real here, and that grassroots, face-to-face approach became the backbone of the brand. Meeting customers in person, letting them taste the product on the spot, and hearing their feedback directly turned out to be worth more than any ad campaign — people simply respond differently when they can connect with the actual person behind what they're drinking.

The Hard Part Nobody Sees

The road from farmers market favorite to national canned product was anything but smooth. After perfecting recipes and hitting every market and event they could across Middle Tennessee, sales nearly tripled in a single month — a great problem to have, and also a wake-up call. The production methods that worked for a folding table didn't scale, and the product wasn't yet shelf-stable. So last fall, Cole and Jackson made the tough call to pause production entirely and spend the winter rebuilding their manufacturing process from the ground up, with a goal of launching real, shelf-stable canned lattes in early 2025.

Then the universe threw nearly everything else at them too: coffee prices hit a 50-year high, equipment broke down, milk shortages hit, and delays piled up. Despite all of it, Blue Hound Brew's canned cold brew lattes officially launched in July 2025 — smooth, balanced, and made with 100% organic, pasture-raised milk and specialty-grade coffee. Today, Blue Hound Brew is proud to be the only brand in Nashville producing canned lattes, and one of the few in the category using real dairy instead of alt-milk and highly processed ingredients.

More Than Just Coffee

Behind every can is a mission that goes beyond caffeine. Cole's years working in veterinary medicine left him with a lasting commitment to animal welfare, and that shows up directly in how the business runs: a percentage of every sale is donated to local and regional animal charities and shelters. It's a simple equation — great coffee, real ingredients, and a coffee habit that does a little good in the world along the way. (Cole shared more on this mission in his NashvilleVoyager community highlight and his CanvasRebel feature.)

The commitment to quality runs the same way. No artificial ingredients or preservatives. 100% grassfed, pasture-raised milk. Coffee beans sourced directly from farmers who share the same values around fair compensation and sustainable practices. And a deep, ongoing connection to the Nashville community that raised the brand up one farmers market at a time.

From Cans to a Community Hub

The story didn't stop at the can. Blue Hound Brew now runs a Nitro Bar taproom in Nashville, where nitrogen-infused cold brew creates that signature cascading pour and velvety, frothy texture nitro fans love. But guests keep coming back for more than the tap system — they consistently point to the welcoming, no-pretension energy behind the counter as the real reason it's become a neighborhood favorite. Whether it's a straight nitro cold brew, a salted caramel iced latte, or a seasonal matcha, the Nitro Bar has become a place where Nashville locals and visitors alike pull up a chair, talk shop with the baristas, and find their new go-to order. (Read the full rundown in Why Nashville is Buzzing About the Blue Hound Brew Nitro Bar, or get directions and check taproom hours.)

Making Their Own Luck

Ask Cole about luck, and he'll tell you: you make your own, and you just have to roll with the punches. That mindset has carried Blue Hound Brew through a pause in production, a brutal run of supply chain setbacks, and the everyday grind of building a company from a folding table at a farmers market to cans on shelves across the country. Nearly two years in, Cole and Jackson are the first to say they're still a long way from where they want to be — but they're proud of what a little stubbornness, real ingredients, and a shared love for animals and coffee has built so far.

Blue Hound Brew is a Nashville-based, founder-led coffee company committed to real ingredients, ethical sourcing, and giving back — one can, and one cup, at a time. Shop our cans, learn more about us, or visit the Nitro Bar next time you're in Nashville.