Digital Social Hour
Danny Evans: Why Starbucks Doesn’t Connect With Gen Z Anymore | DSH #1711
27 Dec 2025
Chapter 1: Why is Gen Z drinking less alcohol?
there's so many kids out there now like the world's evolved and kids want something different like they're looking for a void in the coffee space and especially now you look at the statistics and the youth is drinking less and less alcohol they're looking towards other beverages that can kind of still provide them with a fun lifestyle and a connection to the product so yeah it's an exciting time i think for us it is interesting when i was younger i never drank coffee never even craved it but now i love it and i don't like alcohol anymore
All right, guys. First episode of ComplexCon. We got Danny Evans. Of course, we got to get some coffee. It's nice and early, right? 27 Coffee is your company, right?
Yeah, 27 Club, started by Machine Gun Kelly. I'm running the business for him now. It's been exciting. Lots of stuff happening. We're excited to be here at ComplexCon. We've done the Family Food Fest in LA last year, but this is our first time at ComplexCon.
Nice. Quite the transition from apparel, right? From Ethica?
Yeah, so I have a history in the apparel business, which I think works well with what we're trying to do with 27 Club, just with like blending a little bit more of, you know, the streetwear style, the streetwear culture into coffee, making coffee fun, doing cool collaborations, making it as much about, you know, the quality of the product and also visually and stuff like that.
So complex art is hiding. I think it's the perfect blend.
Yeah, absolutely. I'd imagine it's a pretty competitive industry. I guess. How do you stand out from all the other coffee companies?
Yeah, so, I mean, at the top of the list is just quality, right? Like, you want to make sure you have a quality product, and that's what's going to keep people coming back to be repeat customers. So, we focus on, like, we've got coffee pods, these K-Cup pods launching in a couple weeks that we're really proud of this product. Like, no plastic, all natural, compostable.
And so, those are, you know, they stand out from the other pods that are on the shelf. And then... On the aesthetic side, we try to create something that appeals to kids that just care a little bit more about culture and music and fashion and just want something that's just not as bland and boring as maybe some of the traditional coffee brands.
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Chapter 2: How is coffee becoming a lifestyle choice for younger generations?
That's a good point, man. I actually stopped using my Keurig because I found out about the pods, how they have plastics and metals, right?
Yeah, most of them are not good for you.
Crazy. It's so convenient, but at the same time, you got to value your health.
Yeah. So that's something that we're super excited about to be able to launch that product here in a couple of weeks.
Yeah. That's, there's a big movement against plastic right now. It seems like, right. Yeah. Yeah. Even in apparel, I noticed some brands are kind of stepping up.
Yeah. If you can avoid it, why, like, why not? You know? Um, so.
So you guys got one physical location, right?
Yeah, the first location is in Cleveland, the first and only location right now. We have another location. We haven't announced where it is yet, but we're going to open that probably Q2 of 2026. And then we're looking at a number of other cities.
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Chapter 3: What makes traditional coffee brands feel outdated?
So we're going to have some pretty rapid expansion here in the next couple of years with the physical locations. But the Cleveland location is awesome. Machine Gun Kelly's from there. He puts on for that city really, really hard. It's a full cafe. So we have a menu with some amazing food items, breakfast, brunch, a full bar with cocktails.
Chapter 4: Why are plastic coffee pods considered a problem?
And it's just a really vibed out, awesome location. If anybody's ever in Cleveland, they should really go and try and check it out.
I'll definitely stop by, man. Sounds better than Starbucks.
Yeah, absolutely.
It'll be a place you want to spend some more time in and hang out. There's so many Starbucks. There's got to be thousands of them, right? Yeah, exactly. I mean, they've grown. Same with Dunkin'. Dunkin's a big one.
Yeah, and you have people that live and die by Starbucks, but there's so many kids out there now. The world's evolved, and kids want something different. They're looking for a void in the coffee space. Especially now, you look at the statistics, and the youth is drinking less and less alcohol.
Like they're looking towards other beverages that can kind of still provide them with a fun lifestyle and a connection to the product. So yeah, it's an exciting time I think for us.
It is interesting.
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Chapter 5: How is 27 Club Coffee blending culture and quality?
When I was younger, I never drank coffee, never even craved it, but now I love it and I don't like alcohol anymore.
Yeah.
You know?
I mean, especially as you start getting older, you're like, oh, this doesn't really make me feel as good.
Yeah. No, these days it's all about health. I've had some guests on the show talk about how there's some mold in certain coffees.
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So for me, good quality coffee is super boring.
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