Hey it’s Chase and Jimmy here!

St. Patrick's Day emails usually fall into one of two camps: generic green graphics with "20% off" slapped on top, or Irish-themed puns that make you cringe.

Death Wish Coffee took a different route.

Instead of leading with a discount, they led with a Frozen Irish Coffee recipe using their Chocolate Hazelnut flavor. It's useful, on-brand, and gives people a reason to engage beyond "buy now."

The content is solid, but the execution leaves some conversions on the table. Today we're breaking down what works, where they could tighten up, and what you can steal for your own seasonal campaigns.

Also inside:
✔️ This is what happened when ESP execs tried migrating to their own platform…
✔️ Stop guessing. Start growing. Get certified in email & SMS marketing.
✔️ Hiring vault: 10 New retention marketing job ops

Let’s get into it.

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Death Wish Coffee's St. Patrick's Day email: Giving value before asking for the sale

Death Wish Coffee has always leaned into its edgy brand voice. This St. Patrick's Day email keeps that energy but leads with value instead of a discount.

The whole thing is built around a Frozen Irish Coffee recipe that uses their Chocolate Hazelnut flavor. It feels useful, which is a good way to stand out when everyone else is just throwing percentage-off promos at the holiday.

Let's break down what's working and where there's room to improve.

Header Block

Right up top, Death Wish hits you with the product and the payoff; a boozy coffee recipe perfect for the weekend.

What We Love

• "Frozen Irish Coffee" is immediately clear. You know exactly what you're getting into before you scroll.

• The quick-hit details remove friction. "4 ingredients, boozy & brewy, easy as hell" tells you this won't be complicated.

• Featuring a specific flavor (Chocolate Hazelnut) is smart. It gives the email focus and drives traffic to a specific SKU instead of just "coffee."

• The brand voice stays consistent. "Easy as hell" and the skull branding remind you this isn't your average coffee company.

What We'd Do Differently

• There's no CTA above the fold. Adding a "Shop Chocolate Hazelnut" button near the hero would give people who want to buy immediately a faster path.

• The layout feels a little cramped. More white space around the main image would help it breathe and make the email easier to scan.

• The product callout could be stronger. Right now it's small and tucked into the corner. Making it bigger or adding a "Shop this flavor" link would connect the recipe to the product more clearly.

Body Block

The middle section does the work explaining why you should care and giving you an easy out to get the full recipe.

What We Love

• The copy connects to St. Patrick's Day without being cheesy. "St. Patrick's Day is only a day away. You need to prepare your liver and mind for the alcohol Olympics..." It's funny, on-brand, and creates urgency without feeling pushy.

• They acknowledge versatility. "This recipe can easily be modified to use any flavor, not include alcohol & is just as delicious" opens the door for people who don't drink or don't have that specific flavor on hand.

• The CTA is clear and action-oriented. "READ THE RECIPE" tells you exactly what happens when you click.

What We'd Do Differently

• There's no direct product link in the body. A "Shop Chocolate Hazelnut" button or inline link would give people an easy path to purchase without clicking through to the recipe first.

• There's no urgency around timing. A line like "Order by [date] to get it before the weekend" would help convert people who want to make this recipe but don't have the coffee yet.

• The second paragraph buries the lead. "This recipe can easily be modified" is helpful, but it takes focus away from the featured product. Moving this to the end or making it smaller would keep attention on Chocolate Hazelnut.

Footer Block

Death Wish closes with a subscription push and standard navigation.

What We Love

• The subscription CTA is bold and impossible to miss. "NEVER. RUN. OUT. SUBSCRIBE & SAVE NOW" is direct and benefit-focused.

• The tagline "Ruining all other coffee since 2012. Sorry, not sorry" reinforces brand personality all the way through.

• Social links are clear and accessible.

What We'd Do Differently

• The subscription CTA feels disconnected from the rest of the email. This whole email is about a recipe, but the footer is suddenly pushing subscriptions with no transition. A line connecting the two (like "Love this recipe? Never run out of coffee to make it") would bridge the gap.

• There's no final product link. If someone scrolled all the way down without clicking "Read the Recipe," they have no easy way to buy the Chocolate Hazelnut flavor.

• A trust signal would help. Adding "Free shipping over $X" or "Pause or cancel anytime" under the subscription CTA would reduce friction for hesitant subscribers.

Where This Email Works

Let's zoom out and see where this fits in the bigger email strategy.

Seasonal Content Marketing: This is a great example of using a holiday to create value instead of just running a discount. It positions Death Wish as more than a product—it's part of your routine.

Engaged Subscribers: Perfect for people who already know the brand and want ideas for how to use the coffee. New subscribers might need more education before this lands.

Recipe-Driven Brands: Smart for any food or beverage brand that can create content around usage. This format would work just as well for protein powder, tea, alcohol, meal kits, etc.

Final Thoughts: Good content, needs better product integration

This email does a lot right. The recipe is useful, the visual is strong, and the brand voice stays consistent. It's the kind of email people might actually forward to friends or save for later, which is rare.

But it's leaving conversions on the table. The product (Chocolate Hazelnut coffee) is featured but not easy to buy. There's no direct path from "this looks good" to "add to cart" without clicking through to the recipe page first.

Adding a product link or two in the body, tying the subscription CTA back to the recipe, and creating a little urgency around timing would turn this from a nice content piece into something that actually drives revenue without losing the helpful, non-salesy vibe.

3 Quick Wins to Steal Next Time

✓ Use seasonal recipes to create value instead of just running another discount
✓ Feature specific products in content, but make them easy to buy inline
✓ Connect your footer CTA back to the main content so it doesn't feel random

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The Hiring Vault

• Director of Retention Marketing, Cerritos, CA: REVOLVE

• Lifecycle Marketing Manager, United States: Birdy Grey

• Sr. Retention and Lifecycle Marketing Manager, Glendale, CA: Posh Peanut®️

• Director, Lifecycle Marketing, Los Angeles, CA: True Classic

• Manager, Digital Commerce & Retention, Culver City, CA: Morphe

• Retention & Lifecycle Marketing Manager (Email + SMS), United States: Goldie Locks® | Luxury Hair Care

• Retention Marketing Associate, Denver, CO: Halfdays

• CRM, Email & SMS Marketing Manager, White Plains, NY: Godiva Chocolatier

• Retention Manager , Curlsmith, Boston, MA: Helen of Troy

• Senior Manager, Retention, El Segundo, CA: Liquid I.V.

That's a wrap for today!

Appreciate you hanging with Chase and me. We hope you found something you can put to work ASAP.

If you did, don’t keep it to yourself! Send ecomemailmarketer.com to your favorite DTC marketer and get them in on the action.

Catch you next time!

🤘 Jimmy Kim

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