Coffee is more than a business - it can also be about change.
Last year, we committed to supporting the women farmers of the Sopacdi Coffee Co-op from the Democratic Republic of Congo. They produce a top national grade — Kivu 2 — fully washed Arabica bean with notes tangerine and maple syrup.
It took far longer than anticipated to get the beans into our warehouse due to the ongoing conflict . According to the co-op’s website, many of the farmers had to leave their land for their own safety; an average of 1,000 coffee farmers were murdered each year. Those who chose to stay had to sell their coffee to smugglers or smuggle it themselves into Rwanda, both dangerous options.
Sopacdi’s female members receive a price premium for their coffee. solidarity and price premiums enable them to provide for their families. One woman wrote: “With our first women’s coffee premium we purchased salt and soap. This was a joyous occasion.”
So it is with great joy that we have been successful in obtaining significant enough quantities of this year’s crop to continue offering it, here in Spokane, to our coffee friends as a brand new blend.
It is such a wild, exotic, crazy orange tasting coffee that while nibbling on chocolate covered orange jelly sticks
I wondered if we blended it with our intensely dark chocolate tasting Mexican beans could we create a cup full of sunshine, warmth and happiness?
Our Smithsonian certified Bird Friendly, organic, Fair Trade Mexican coffee is so incredibly delicious, has such exceptional body, little to no acidity and strong aromatic notes of dark chocolate that we refer to it as ...
Having unlimited access to the beans, we began the process of blending, sipping, changing roast profiles, sipping, changing blend ratios, sipping and totally whacking out on all the caffeine - with quick trips to Spokandy for more of the chocolate orange jelly sticks for comparison.
And since it such a complex coffee, with great social value - it was hard to give it a simple name i.e. Breakfast Blend, Sunshine in a Cup Blend - so when Bill Bloom suggested the following - it was perfect.
AN EPIC BLEND OF SUNSHINE, WARMTH & HUMANITY
It is available at Huckleberry’s on the South Hill and Main Market Co-op.
It is available in full 1 pound, compostable bags in whole bean or ground for drip.
Oh, and by the way - it is delicious as a cold brewed coffee!
