Why Rainblow exists.
Rainblow exists because we wanted to build our own lane. A brand with taste, point of view, and real relationships behind it. A brand where queer identity is not decoration, community is not an afterthought, and Colombian coffee is not reduced to a pretty backdrop.
We built something different. Where Colombian grower partners earn 40% above fair trade rates because that is what fair actually means, not what a certification requires. Where queer-owned businesses get genuine partnership, not just Pride month marketing. Where every shipment spotlights a queer-owned business or creative in Madison, turning each delivery into a real channel of discovery for the community.
Connection is what matters most. At one end, a community in Madison that deserves exceptional coffee and a brand that shows up for them year-round. At the other end, partner families in Colombia whose knowledge, land, and labor make that coffee possible. In the middle: Rainblow. Carrying something real between two places that both matter.
We built Rainblow to connect exceptional coffee with something bigger: culture, character, pride, and a more reciprocal way of doing business.
It starts with coffee. But it moves through people. Through growers we know. Through communities we care about. Through the belief that what we buy can say something about the world we want more of.
Eight years in Jardin, Jerico, and Oriente, Antioquia. That is where it became real.
Rainblow is bright, grounded, delicious, and fully itself. That is the point.
Who built this.
My name is Maria Clara Ruiz Zapata, and I go by MC. I am Colombian, queer, and a rising Gemini, so moving between two worlds is basically in my chart.
I am a large animal veterinarian and biomedical scientist. For seventeen years I worked in the field with animals and agriculture, learning the land from the inside. Ten of those years were in top-level international scientific research. But it was the time I spent walking through the Colombian mountains that changed the direction of everything. The people I met there, working the land, staying, taking care of the biodiversity and the water in that lush country, made me want to build something with them, not for them.
Since 2012 I have been a social entrepreneur, building businesses alongside women and communities, connecting them with people from all over the world through agritourism. That is also how, over the last eight years, the coffee growers of Antioquia and I became friends and business partners.
Coffee, for me, starts before the cup. It starts with the smell of the flowers on the coffee bushes, that moment when the bloom tells you a great harvest is ahead. I grew up in the Colombian Andes, surrounded by mountains that are lush and generous and full of life. The people who live there tend to be the same way. The land shapes you whether you are paying attention or not.
In our culture, coffee is the pause, several times a day. The moment you stop, gather with the people around you, and take in what is happening before moving forward. It is how we share our lives, how we laugh together and keep going. It is family. It is sweet memories. It is one of the most honest things I know.
I built Rainblow in Madison because this is where the queer community welcomed me, supported me, and gave me the space to find and claim my identity fully. That is not something you forget. That is something you build for.
Where the coffee comes from.
Rainblow sources from three regions in Antioquia, Colombia. Each one distinct. Each one chosen because of a real relationship built over eight years, not because of what they offered on a catalog
Jardín, Antioquia
One cooperative. High altitude, volcanic soil, and over two hundred years of coffee history in this land. The same region that supplies some of the most demanding buyers in the world. True Chameleon and Wild Tiger start here.
Jericó, Antioquia
One cooperative. Steep slopes and cool nights that slow the ripening process and concentrate natural sweetness in the bean. Deep Octopus starts here.
Oriente, Antioquia
Five families. The smallest and most exclusive nucleus in the Rainblow supply chain. Valleys and altitude that produce coffees with natural softness and balance. Quiet Flamingo starts here.
All of our grower cooperatives hold Rainforest Alliance certification. Their farming practices are pesticide-free. They are paid 40% above fair trade reference prices through a direct trade relationship that has been running for eight years without a broker, a platform, or an intermediary. These are not vendors. They are the people who made Rainblow possible. And they are the reason the coffee is what it is.
We will help you to ideate, design and implement
What Rainblow is building.
Rainblow is not just a coffee brand. It is a structure for community investment, built into how the brand operates from the beginning.
Every bag sold funds wholesale partnerships with LGBTQ+-owned businesses, intentional queer hiring throughout the supply chain, and a monthly spotlight program that turns every Rainblow shipment into a channel of discovery for queer-owned businesses in Madison. Starting November 2026, Queer-Led Cultural Journeys bring our community to the farms in Colombia, where queer people can travel, meet the growers, and experience the country as their full selves.
The coffee does not get donated. The farmers grew it. It has value. What Rainblow does instead is sell it at its real worth and use what comes from that to build something that lasts. The growers get paid fully. A portion of what remains moves toward community programs that build real economic infrastructure for LGBTQ+ people in Madison. That is the model.
Our commitment to creativity, collaboration, and excellence ensures every project reflects our dedication to quality and client satisfaction.
We support the community with what is ours to give: money, platform, time, and relationships. Not someone else’s harvest.
What Rainblow stands for.
- Queer-owned and women-owned, year-round, not just in June
- Eight years of direct trade relationships in Jardin, Jerico, and Oriente, Antioquia
- Growers paid 40% above fair trade reference prices
- Rainforest Alliance certified cooperatives
- Pesticide-free farming
- Washed specialty process, 83 points and above on the SCA scale
- 100% Colombian Arabica
- Four coffees, each with a distinct character
- Queer-Led Cultural Journeys to Colombia, starting November 2026
- Community programs active from day one
Coffee with a clear sense of self. That is the tagline. It describes the coffee. It describes the brand. And if we are being honest, it describes what we are trying to build: something that knows exactly what it is and does not apologize for any of it.
