Coffee: Get the Good Stuff and Really Start Your Day Right

by Andrea Millar — May 16, 2008

Not that it's good to be addicted to anything, but I am OK with the fact that I start thinking about coffee before I even wake up in the morning. It's so trusty and brown. I didn't think I liked coffee much until I had the good stuff, but coffee lovers everywhere will know what I'm talking about when I say it makes a huge difference in what you experience with that first sip. Settling into the golden years of coffee enjoyment, you may be a drinker of good coffee, but are you a good coffee drinker?

Your choice here can make a big difference. While wheat and rice farmers are finally seeing some of the cash that they deserve, coffee prices remain low even after a February spike. Although organic is a great first step, springing for fair trade coffee is one more way to acknowledge the reality of what and whom your purchases affect. And it won't set you back much; in fact, Starbucks offers brewed free-trade coffee by request at no extra charge--you just have to ask for it. When you make that effort, you force Starbucks to engage with farm collectives who have more purchasing power. They might see more than a few pennies of that "$3 latte."

Another tag to look for is shade-grown. All coffee used to be shade-grown, but USAID-based funding in the 70s directed coffee production away from forest-integrated shade-grown coffee and towards massively productive plantations that had higher output and relied on pesticides. Is it any accident that with this scale, coffee remains cheap and difficult to be profitable in? At any rate, shade-grown coffee utilizes the old methods, and many people swear up and down that it tastes better too.

Green Mountain Coffee is a current favorite of mine, although you can also check out Fort Bragg-based Thanksgiving Coffee Company for a fine selection as well. Besides a fine array of organic coffees, Green Mountain features a National Wildlife Blend. Shade-grown and organic, it supports family-owned farms that raise coffee while providing habitat for migratory birds. There's also Tanzanian Gombe Reserve, which is one of the only products Jane Goodall has her mug on because it supports the coexistence of humans and chimps on the refuge. The brew gets rave reviews--I want to try coffee that tastes like mangoes!--but is sadly not organically or shade grown. Sometimes even coffee is a tricky decision when it comes to conscious consuming.