In Shadow of the East—the third film in the Outskirts series directed by his brother Gus—Lachlan Morton talks to the camera, explaining his morning coffee routine. Pictured pouring coffee granules directly into a mug—there’s not an espresso machine in sight—it’s perhaps unsurprising that for the past few years he’s been working with coffee brand Pretty Great Instant.
With his wife Rachel Peck now also on board, the couple explore their coffee journeys over a call from their home in California. A conversation threaded through with laughter and offering up intriguing insights into their respective roles before addressing the really important issues: whether there’s a right or a wrong way to make the bed, the final word on automated coffee machines at the breakfast buffet, and who gets to wear the ‘design genius’ crown.
cyclespeak
You’re back home after a road trip and I was wondering whether Pretty Great Instant is just a ruse and there’s actually an altar to coffee in your kitchen with grinder, scales and plumbed-in espresso machine?
Rachel
Absolutely not. We have a….what’s it called?
Lachlan
We have a Moccamaster that we use to make filter coffee.
Rachel
But I don’t know how to use it.
Lachlan
And it’s probably fifty-fifty at home between that and a cup of instant. Which usually depends on how much time I have and how quick I want to get out of the door. And to be honest, coffee doesn’t last that long in the house [laughs].
Rachel
There’s me saying, please stop drinking all the coffee.
Lachlan
Rachel tries to hide it.
Rachel
I’ll bring some Pretty Great home so I can shoot with it and when I go to the cupboard it’s all gone.
cyclespeak
So are you one of those people, Lachlan, who’s able to keep drinking coffee throughout the day and still sleep at night?
Lachlan
Most mornings I’ll have two cups before I get started on whatever it is. And that’s usually followed by another one or two cups throughout the day. Maybe after three or four o’clock I’m a little more mindful…
Rachel
But then we’ll go out in the evening and you’ll still have an espresso after dinner. And I could never do that.
cyclespeak
So you consciously limit yourself, Rachel?
Rachel
One cup before midday. I wish it was more….
cyclespeak
Looking back to when you were both growing up in Australia, do you remember a social coffee scene?
Lachlan
Big time for me.
Rachel [to Lachlan]
How old were you when you started drinking coffee?
Lachlan
Twelve, thirteen?
cyclespeak
That seems quite young?
Lachlan
Our local bike shop had a café which was where all the rides started and finished. So coffee was a big part of that scene.
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cyclespeak
I’m picturing you sipping on a double espresso.
Lachlan
I’d usually go for a long macchiato: a double espresso topped up with some foamed milk. And then mid-ride, I’d get a flat white.
cyclespeak
Was this part of the attraction, Rachel? This cool, Euro-coded cyclist drinking his coffee at the counter?
Rachel
Right? I was like, this guy is way ahead of me. But once I finished school, one of my first jobs was working in a café so I caught up fast. Just a little local place but with this big focus on specialty coffee. They imported beans from all over and prided themselves on the quality of each cup. Which, on occasion, would cost up to $18 if it was an especially rare batch of beans. And what’s funny, is that when I first started working there I didn’t really know anything about coffee and my order was generally a cappuccino. But the barista, who was super into it, told me that I’d soon be drinking an espresso. Which was why I graduated to drinking a piccolo before the start of each morning shift.
cyclespeak
The first visual reference of your fondness for instant coffee, Lachlan, was when you were in Albania filming Outskirts 3. There you were, talking through your coffee methodology as you poured the coffee granules, by eye, into a cup before adding some water.
Lachlan
The free pour [laughs].
cyclespeak
Is that because you didn’t put much store in the process or maybe it was the limited resources you had to hand at that particular moment in time?
Lachlan
I don’t see myself as a coffee snob by any means. I enjoy good coffee but any coffee is better than no coffee.
Rachel
I think you swing wildly between coffee snob and coffee slob when you have to.
Lachlan
I guess it’s that whenever I was travelling, I would always take some instant. There’s the convenience of something that’s easy to transport and one part of the packing puzzle that’s set.
Rachel
I remember when I was studying graphic design, our teacher saying to us that now we know what good design is, unfortunately we’ll also be able to recognise bad design for the rest of our lives. An insight that maybe you can apply to coffee?
cyclespeak
I have this ongoing issue with hotels and their automated coffee machines at breakfast. Where, rather than pressing a button, I’d much rather have a simple French press of fresh coffee.
Lachlan
Automatic machines do my head in. And especially the ones that use a pod.
Rachel
You really hate those.
Lachlan
If you’re on a road trip in the States and go into a gas station, they generally have a big vat of filter coffee that they switch out every couple of hours or so. But they’re slowly being replaced by the automatic machines and I don’t know what happens during the process of making your cup of coffee…
Rachel
I’ve never had a cup from a machine like that and thought, nice!
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cyclespeak
So how did Pretty Great Instant first come onto your radar?
Lachlan
It was during Covid. Mike, who’s our partner at Pretty Great, was sending me whole bean coffee. And then, in one of the packs, he included some sachets of instant that he’d been playing around with and it was head and shoulders above anything else that I’d tried. And right then and there, I knew I wanted to get involved.
Rachel
Even before that, with you travelling so much, you mentioned to me whether it would be possible to make good instant coffee.
Lachlan
And I started to research it and look into the equipment needed…
Rachel
Before realising you need quite a set-up to start production and putting the idea to bed. But when Mike sent you those instant coffee samples, you were like wait a minute, this is really good.
Lachlan
At that point, they were just using a pretty small freeze-dryer that would fit on your kitchen countertop. So when we approached them to come on board, we set up a separate business that would focus exclusively on instant.
Rachel
Traditionally a lot of instant coffee is prepared by burning the shit out of it. But our process at Pretty Great is a lot slower and more controlled. We start with really high quality beans and then extract in much the same way as you pour an espresso shot to retain all that amazing flavour. The liquid produced is then freeze-dried so when you add hot or cold water, you’re basically rehydrating a perfect espresso shot.
Lachlan
Which is why we stepped up from the little freeze-drying machines to the industrial-scale machine that we’re using now. And when I say we, I mean Mike [laughs].
cyclespeak
So you were both investors right from the start?
Rachel
I only came on board as a partner two years ago.
Lachlan
Initially it was three of us. Ryan, Mike and myself. But Rachel was absorbing more and more of the workload until there was a point where I was, hang on a minute.
Rachel
I guess I kind of muscled my way in.
Lachlan
You did so much of the heavy lifting that we couldn’t not make you a partner and it’s been great. I think we struggled executing all of our ideas and Rachel helps keep things more on track and has a really good eye for detail.
Rachel
I’m the one who gets upset over small details that they don’t even notice.
cyclespeak
Would you say that’s innate to you or maybe it stems from your design education?
Lachlan
That’s a good question.
Rachel
Probably both? It’s a little bit me and maybe design appeals to that type of person. You’re by nature detail obsessed…
Lachlan
But it’s not exclusive to design. It goes way beyond just that and it’s the reason I can’t make the bed [laughs].
Rachel
No, you’re not allowed to make the bed.
Lachlan
Because I will think it’s made correctly but it needs to be done in a certain way that only Rachel knows.
Rachel
You’re macro and I think in details.
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cyclespeak
Does this extend to how your house is decorated and furnished?
Lachlan
I got the garage.
Rachel
Lach’s allowed to do whatever he wants in the garage if that answers your question?
Lachlan
The garage is my domain and if you were to compare that to how the inside of the house looks, there’s a pretty stark contrast.
cyclespeak
So your personalities are writ large in each of those different environments?
Lachlan
I actually function really well in ordered, clutter-free spaces. I just struggle to maintain that myself. Which means I feel very comfortable in the home that Rachel has created…
Rachel
I’ve got to the point where I’ve redone Lach’s wardrobe and labelled every drawer: gloves, base layers, everything in its proper place.
Lachlan
Which is something I would never do but when it’s done, it’s amazing for me.
cyclespeak
Looking at the visual branding and appeal of Pretty Great Instant, is that all your work Rachel?
Rachel
When we came on board, the branding was already established. But what I have done is grow that into other things. We’ve made merch which has been super fun and we’ve been pretty fast and loose with our social media. We don’t have a marketing team. We don’t even have a budget. Which means we have to really lean in on other ways of getting people’s attention.
cyclespeak
A prime example being your banana water reel which was comedy gold.
Lachlan
She’s good at it.
Rachel
Normally I’m forcing Lach to do all the videos. So that was me, taking my turn in front of the camera.
cyclespeak
Which brings us very nicely to the big suit and where the inspiration for that character came from?
Rachel [to Lachlan]
Aren’t you responsible for the big suit?
Lachlan
I just find it comical. Because the idea of me having any kind of responsible position in a functioning business is really very funny.
cyclespeak
I’m guessing you didn’t just reach into your wardrobe?
Lachlan
I went to our local Goodwill store—we were planning to shoot that night—which is where I found the suit.
Rachel
Originally, it was let’s just go buy a suit. But then you decide to get one five sizes too big.
Lachlan
The guy behind me in the line was giving me a hard time.
cyclespeak
What was he saying?
Lachlan
He was questioning whether I would ever get to wear it. But what was actually the most annoying aspect of the big suit series was when Rachel was really insistent that I take it with me to Australia so we could shoot a follow up video and it took up literally half my suitcase.
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cyclespeak
Who scripted the classic Black Friday Sale line?
Lachlan
We usually start with an idea and then drive over to the roastery from our house. But when we start shooting, any structured plan quickly falls away and we just start riffing and having fun. Very much a collaborative approach between us all with Rachel taking on most of the direction.
Rachel
But then you guys will say some funny shit. And we’re all super good friends so it’s very easy to be silly in front of each other. There was one time when I thought I was pressing record but was actually stopping the camera. And then you looked at me as if to say, you forced me to put on this big ass suit and you’ve not even filmed it.
Lachlan
There was just enough to make the reel.
Rachel
The takeaway from that experience being that I shouldn’t be filming. I’m just the director.
cyclespeak
Can I mention that your family already has a very accomplished cinematographer in Lachlan’s brother Gus?
Lachlan
He’s expensive though. We can’t afford him [laughs].
cyclespeak
Talking of marketing and building your brand, is there ever any push back—tongue in cheek or maybe serious–from coffee connoisseurs towards Pretty Great Instant?
Rachel
I’m generalising but if there is, it tends to come from older people who maybe have quite a rigid idea of what coffee means to them.
Lachlan
And going by people’s previous exposure to the instant coffee that’s out there, you could be forgiven for thinking that it’s not great. But I’d say the people in the coffee industry are generally really impressed. Because we’re not trying to pretend that this is the best cup of coffee you’ve ever had. But you know what, it’s pretty close. The vast majority of instant coffee has a kind of burnt flavour profile but the way we manage our process helps to avoid that. So the feedback’s good and we’ve changed how we set up at events. Previously we had individual packets with a choice of hot or cold water. Now we pre-make a batch of instant and just ask if people want a coffee. So they’re trying it before they realise what it is.
Rachel
I love watching that. You can see them, standing there drinking it, and then they’ll read the signs and figure out who we are. And then they go, but this isn’t instant is it?
Lachlan
It’s fun to see them mentally figuring out all the times it would prove super useful: on a hike, in the caravan…
Rachel
And the people who fly in or drive to the expo, they always mention how they made a coffee in their hotel room and it definitely didn’t taste as good as ours.
Lachlan
And it’s not like we’re trying to take away anyone’s coffee routine…
Rachel
Or the ritual of coffee making because that’s important to a lot of people.
Lachlan
But Pretty Great is there to fill in the gaps with a good cup of coffee on the fly. Like a mate of mine who lives in Utah with two young girls and his life is completely flat out. He’s a subscriber, gets a bag once a month, and that’s all he and his wife drink at the moment. They can get up, make a coffee, and get straight into it. And I love that.
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cyclespeak
For Pretty Great, where’s the balance between people wanting a good cup of coffee, the story behind it, and the lifestyle the brand represents?
Rachel
Our customers tend to be people who spend time outdoors. In a Venn diagram of people who like good coffee and enjoy doing exciting things, there’s a lot of overlap.
Lachlan
But the really good product came first. And the brand was then built around that.
Rachel
At the end of the day, the product is the hero.
cyclespeak
If you were to sit down together and design the perfect coffee shop where you could serve and sell Pretty Great Instant, what would that look like?
Rachel
Oh my God, that’s such a hard question and you’ve caught me off guard. But my first thought is…do you know Wes Anderson?
cyclespeak
Not personally but this sounds intriguing…
Rachel
Well, he designed a café in Milan called Bar Luce and it’s beautiful and has the same visual style as his films. Not to say that I would want to copy what he did but I love how he’s applied his personal visual language to this other setting. And in terms of Pretty Great, that could be a café interior that conjures up an outdoor space?
Lachlan
I have this idea in my head of a Pretty Great vending machine situated out in a trail network. A communal space with a source of hot and cold water that you could use to make your cup of coffee.
Rachel
That’s a good idea. A vending machine makes a lot of sense. Instantly accessible which ties in nicely with our brand.
Lachlan
I don’t make espresso at home. For me, that’s something I get when I visit a café because that’s what they do well—better than I could—which is why a vending machine in a shared space…
Rachel
Lach, you’re so right. Are you sure you’re not the fucking design genius [laughs]?
cyclespeak
Rachel almost seems annoyed that you got that idea.
Lachlan
But that’s as far as it goes. An idea. I don’t know what it would look like and how it would work…
Rachel
This is why you’re the macro guy and I’m the one that works on the details.
cyclespeak
In general terms—and there’s absolutely no rush, Lachlan— but what are you both looking forward to when there’s the eventual transition to less racing, different racing, or even no racing?
Lachlan
Speaking for myself, our life together can feel very hectic but also rewarding at the same time. And there’s an element of us making it up as we go. Which doesn’t mean we don’t somewhat have our shit together. But at some point I can see us taking that ethos into something new; whenever that reveals itself. And maybe I used to have a little more anxiety around it but when you think that we’ve been married for 11 years now, it seems to always work itself out.
cyclespeak
Reading between the lines, you both appear to share an attitude that whatever comes along, you’ll figure it all out together?
Rachel
A lot of relationships might have five year plans. But, with us, it’s more like five months. And I really can’t see that changing anytime soon.
All photography with the very kind permission of Karter Machen / kartermachen.com
