Bulletproof coffee – a topic that so few people know about, and quite frankly, sounds pretty weird when you explain it. Putting butter in your coffee? Who would do that, and why? That is the question we tried to answer for our audience, yet it wasn’t the simplest to explain.
From the get-go, our group was interested in bulletproof coffee. It is a fad that hasn’t quite caught on as much as you think it would. The people in LA know all about it, but in SLO? Not so much.
The initial step of creating this story was making sure that this was a valid topic to be writing about, and social media helped us out with that. Based on the Instagram poll and Snapchat story that I posted, we learned that not many people understand understand what bulletproof coffee is, so we learned that the audience needed to be informed first and foremost, about the topic , before getting into the benefits it can have, or why it is controversial.
Multimedia team member, Kassidy Clark was surprised to see the effects of bulletproof coffee on people around her.
“I didn’t realize how much more energy some people have who drink Bulletproof coffee. Also, how much fat you can burn by having a little bit of good fat in the morning.” Clark said, “For me it was very educational. I think it was a fun topic and overall a great way to tell an interesting story. ”
When investigating this topic further, and talking to Lena Bidley, our group member behind the video for the project, I learned that at first not many professors responded with interest in getting involved with the project. Whether this was due to time being short with the end of the quarter, or professors not knowing much about it, when reaching out to all of the professors in the food science/nutrition department, one professor responded.
Luckily with that response, we were able to get information from Cal Poly’s Science and Nutrition Professor Scott K. Reaves, Ph.D.
“I think to get up in the morning and just have fat and coffee is unhealthy,” Scott K. Reaves, Ph.D.
Bidley followed up with her thoughts, and commented on her experience and perspective, after interviewing our main source.
“This project was fun to report on, because there was a lot of information to be learned about Bulletproof coffee. I started the project with a certain mindset, and after interviewing experts on the topic, I had a completely different view.” Bidley said, “My favorite part about this topic was that I learned a lot, and the angle of the story presented itself when I began reporting.”
Bidley was able to hear the facts straight from Professor Reaves, and was influenced by what he said through their discussion.
Additionally, Ethan Roman, our team member who write the story, had a lot to say about the topic.
“Writing this story on Bulletproof coffee, I got to dig deep into the world of coffee, which was fun and pretty tasty. Moreover, I got a glimpse into the seemingly endless world of coffee varieties and preparation techniques.” Roman said, “People are super passionate about their coffee, to an almost overwhelming extent. I didn’t meet too many people who were jazzed about putting butter in their coffee, though.”
Overall, this was an awesome story to work on. Our entire group leaned a lot, and we look forward to seeing how bulletproof coffee evolves as a product in the future.