“Our mission at Big Guns Coffee Farm is to create a massive paradigm shift in how coffee is grown. By merging the innovations of indoor farming and technology with the roots of traditional agriculture, we aim to build a more transparent, sustainable path forward—one that nourishes and empowers the incredible community we serve.”

Where It All Started

Who is Big Guns Coffee?

Big Guns Coffee is the brainchild of daughter and father duo Charli & T. Shane Johnson.

T.Shane Johnson is a Marine Corps Veteran, serial entrepreneur, motivational speaker, madman, author, world record athlete, and philanthropist. He has always been an innovator, willing to take the risks and lay the groundwork for a new venture knowing it will not be perfect initially.

Four years ago, Charli, a budding entrepreneur pitched to her father the idea to, “create a coffee brand that reflects their fast-living, risk-taking attitude”. T.Shane was on board and Big Guns Coffee was born. That business plan contained another big, bold idea – What if we could grow coffee hydroponically?

Big Guns Coffee provides a caffeine hit with unique flavors. The team spends Sundays in the
garage blending, roasting and crafting fresh, high-quality coffee from a selection of 38 blends
sourced globally. And they also grow their own coffee – hydroponically.

Hydroponic Coffee

Big Guns Coffee is the first indoor North Carolina Hydroponic Coffee Farm!
We know that hydroponics isn’t new. In fact, it’s a well-established technique in modern
agriculture, known for its efficiency and sustainability. But coffee? Coffee had never really been
part of that conversation. That’s what made it so exciting. The vision wasn’t just about growing
beans, it was about reimagining the entire farming experience.

Hydroponically grown coffee trees have a ‘curve appeal’ involving the customer all the way through the process. We are educating people about vertical farming and how they can grow coffee trees in their own communities using automation.

We believe that vertical farming is more than just a commercial venture—it can spark a paradigm shift. One where farming is transparent, community-driven, and sustainable. With its universal appeal and cultural significance, coffee is the perfect vehicle to drive this vision.

Coffee is a luxury self-care that people make or buy for themselves to take care of themselves every day.

And our system is simple enough that a 10 year-old can look after the coffee growing at this scale.

Challenges We Had to Overcome

As innovators we are laying the groundwork and know that not everything will go perfectly
straight away. It’s taken hours of testing, learning, and evolving, from calibrating nutrients to
controlling environmental variables.

Then came the bigger question: is this viable or just a showcase? We wrestled with that one.
And our answer is this—while we’ll never compete with mass-market coffee, we’re not trying to.
We’re carving out a niche that’s both scalable and meaningful. We’re creating a sensory experience. The Big Guns Coffee brand isn’t just about drinking coffee—it’s about seeing how it’s grown, understanding the process, and tasting the difference when it’s ultra-fresh, straight from the source.

Where We Are Now

We haven’t released our first batch yet, but we’re close, hopefully in the next six months. The
coffee trees are thriving—at least, if not better than traditionally grown coffee. We’re focussing
on maximizing freshness and crafting a flavor that goes far beyond your average “coffee
product.” Big Guns Coffee is a sensory overload – taste and aroma, right from the source.
We are still trying to work out whether this is scalable but our customers love the ‘experience’ of
this.

But the product is only part of the picture.

The Bigger Vision

At Big Guns Coffee, we want to bring transparency back to farming. Vertical farming has always
had potential, but sometimes it needs to be smaller, more human, more connected – change
starts at the grassroots.

We are looking at the potential for a series of Micro cafes or farms to set up and collect data for
R&D. This community-centric idea is a bit like a community orchard for coffee, bringing people
together. By building micro farms customers can have an experience and help the farmers drive
a sustainable cash flow.

We’re educating communities on how to grow their own food, integrating automation to make it
accessible, and proving that sustainable coffee doesn’t have to be a corporate-scale operation.
So, is it viable? Absolutely. Is it perfect? Not yet. But we’re teaching and proving as we go.
Big Guns Coffee is about more than coffee. It’s about changing the system and showing people
that we can grow something truly extraordinary with a little innovation and a lot of heart.

“This business is a testament to the incredible power of a parent believing in their child’s dream. My daughter’s company is not only paving the way for the next generation of young entrepreneurs, but it’s also helping shape a brighter future for our children’s children.”