Dolly Parton sang about pouring herself a cup of ambition in 1980, and she spent the next four decades hoping to put one in your kitchen. That wish came true on Tuesday. Her Cup Of Ambition coffee line launched online on National Coffee Day, five weeks after her death on August 25 at age 80. According to People, the launch arrived with a commercial she filmed in July, the first of three she completed.
The name comes from the opening verse of ‘9 To 5.’ “I thought the Cup of Ambition would be a fantastic name for a coffee brand, and I’ve been working towards this for over 40 years,” Parton said in June, as quoted by People. She developed the line with Community Coffee, a family-owned roaster based in Baton Rouge. Louisiana station WAFB reports that the coffee comes in light, medium and dark roasts and that a wider retail launch is planned for spring 2027. “Dolly had a warmth that made you feel like you’d known her forever,” Donna Saurage, a third-generation owner of the company, told People.
Dolly Parton’s Coffee Supports The Imagination Library
True to form, she made sure the project would help children. Both People and WAFB report that sales support Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, the program that mails free books to young children. It is one more piece of work she left ready for the world, much like the final recording that will appear on an upcoming album. Seeing her smile in a brand-new commercial is bittersweet for anyone who loved her. It is also exactly how she would have wanted to greet the morning.
