Boston Marathon champ Des Linden’s coffee venture up and running
Washington Township — Winning is good for business. But for Desiree Linden and her husband, Ryan, the aftermath of her historic Boston Marathon victory required more coffee. A lot more. And not just because they were lacking sleep.
The couple’s specialty coffee company with friends and fellow endurance athletes Ben and Sarah True was a bit of a lark until they launched their Linden & True brand in Boston over Patriots’ Day weekend.
“And then someone decided to win the race,” said Ryan, a competitive triathlete from Rochester. “We put everything up for sale on the website (coffeebylt.com) last week and we sold out in the first four hours.”
So now the two master roasters are scrambling to fill orders — Ryan working out of the Lindens’ cottage in Charlevoix and Ben True, the American record-holder in the 5K road race, from his home in New Hampshire. And what started as coffee “nerds” roasting beans in a popcorn popper — “We set off a lot of fire alarms,” Desiree laughs — is now a fast-growing business in need of a new employee or two.
“You don’t want to grow too fast, and we had done zero sales and zero marketing,” Desiree said. “But it’s a good problem to have.”