Crack Open an 805 Beer for Conner Coffin’s New Podcast, ‘Cold Beer Surf Club’

After 15 years of surfing professionally on tour, Santa Barbara’s Conner Coffin is trading in his surfboard for a microphone as he sets out on a new venture in podcasting in partnership with the World Surf League (WSL) and 805 Beer. Coffin is getting into the nitty-gritty of it all — from his adventures on tour to growing tomatoes in his garden. So, crack open an 805 and chill with Coffin and his guests as they connect over surfing and tell stories that inspire.

Coffin caught his first wave at just 4years old and joined the tour in 2008. As a Santa Barbara native, he grew up surrounded by surf culture and spent most of his childhood and adolescence in the ocean or with his extended family. “I think it’s probably one of the best places you could grow up,” Coffin said. With 805 Beer as a staple of the Santa Barbara landscape, Coffin shares “many of the same values and pursuits” with the brand, so the collaboration was a natural fit.

Episode One of Cold Beer Surf Club features Foo Fighters lead guitarist Chris Shiflett, a longtime friend of Coffin and a fellow surf enthusiast. Shiflett also grew up in Santa Barbara, and the two discussed the parallels of surfing on tour and playing music on tour and bonded over the healing power of the ocean. “That was probably what I enjoyed talking to Chris about most: that feeling of coming down from a big event or a big show,” says Coffin.

For Episode Two, Coffin sits down with Chris Malloy to chat about surfing, of course, but also to dive into fishing, share wisdom for younger surfers, and dissect the process of surf filmmaking. As part of one of the most notable families in surfing, Malloy stresses the importance of respecting how sacred surfing is to the veteran surfers and holding peers accountable for “putting in the time” to work their way up the ladder. “For the guys that have been born and bred in that world, [respect] is all they’re really asking for,” Malloy said.

With his innate attraction to lighting, composition, and storytelling, filmmaking felt like a natural side project for Malloy while he was injured. Thinking that his first film Thicker than Water would be a “fun little thing” to pay homage to the surf legends like Bruce Brown, Malloy never expected to continue to pursue filmmaking as part of his career until he received such positive feedback for the project. After Coffin and Malloy unpack more wisdom on surfing and filmmaking, they spend almost the entire second half of the podcast geeking out about fishing.

As part of his collaboration with 805, Coffin has dipped his toes into film as well. Most recently in 2023, they worked on a short film called Convergence, a documentary that follows Coffin along with fellow surf icons Nate Tyler and Greyson Fletcher as they make their way up the Golden Coast surfing, skating, and reflecting on their journeys. “We all came from pretty different backgrounds but obviously have a shared love for surfing and California,” Coffin said. “It was so fun to all get on the road and hang out for the whole week and just surf and talk and share where we’re at in our lives.”

During his days on tour, Coffin had the opportunity to travel the world and develop a taste for art, culture, and especially food. “I’ve been so lucky to go to so many awesome places and meet people and share great meals,” Coffin said. “But I think my favorite food in the world is in Italy.” With fond memories of his Italian grandparents who cooked big family dinners, pasta and pizza feel like comfort food to Coffin.

Coffin’s grandmother also sparked his love for gardening. As he discusses in his episode with Shiflett, days when the waves are flat have implored him to find other hobbies. During the summers, Coffin “remember[s] being out there with [his grandmother] growing tomatoes and all kinds of food and canning tomatoes.”

After taking a hiatus from gardening while out on the road, when Coffin finally moved into his Carpinteria home, he planted a big garden in the front yard. “One of my favorite things to do is grow tomatoes in the summer and make a few big — like really big — batches of sauce and then I’ll can it and then I’ll have that for the next few months through the winter to use for pasta,” Coffin said, taking after his grandma.

Another thing that comes along with surfing and traveling is partying. The fans who come out to watch the competitions tend to rally the surfers to party with them because they’re on vacation, according to Coffin. While noting Portugal, Australia, and Brazil as some of the biggest party hot spots, Coffin smiled as he revealed the best post-competition celebration he’s had was at a party following the U.S. Open. “I was at a party at my hotel and met her waiting to get a drink. And now we’re married,” Coffin said about meeting Sierra, now his wife.

While getting caught up in the temptation of partying too much, Coffin’s mindset is all about moderation. “I think it was just finding that balance. You don’t want to go through all of it without having fun and enjoying it and meeting people and going out and partying,” Coffin said. “I was really driven. I had goals and I wanted to accomplish certain things, so I think that was what always kept me sane.”

As someone who started out on the tour as one of the youngest of the bunch and had the guidance of legends like Joel Parkinson and Kelly Slater, Coffin used his experience to give advice to some of the newcomers as he got older. Now, with the platform of a podcast, Coffin hopes to be able to share that wisdom with his audience and continue to learn from his guests.

“My goal with the podcast is to connect with those people. Some [guests] I’ve known for a long time, and hopefully some of the people I don’t know at all. But I get really into the idea that surfing spans so many different types of people and different cultures and different walks of life from all over the world.”

Cold Beer Surf Club is available anywhere you listen to podcasts, and the short film Convergence can be found at 805beer.com. Look out for future guests such as Sage Erickson, Coffin’s brother Parker Coffin, and more.