Relationships Nurtured with Farmers and Brokers
The wild fruit of Ethiopia, the smooth earthiness of Timor, the bright spice of Guatemala, the dry citrus of Kenya, the dark chocolate of Peru - this is the map of our world.

A decade and a half after we began buying green coffee, we know the farmers and brokers who deliver consistently good coffee year after year, and these relationships guarantee a special cup of coffee from a single-family Nicaraguan Estate, from an Indian farm in the Ghiri Hills, from the slopes of a former sugar plantation on the Hawaiian island of Kauai. 

We have relationships with a Colombian co-operative, a Costa Rican co-op, a Peruvian co-op, a Kenyan importer and the Komun Tribal Plantation of Papua New Guinea.  In short, when we find a great coffee, we search for its source.  And when we find the source, we cultivate a friend and a partner. 

Fairly Traded and Organic Offerings

As you would imagine, much of our coffee carries Fair Trade certification.  But more importantly, most of it is fairly traded.  We directly purchase from the source at every opportunity, and all of our favorite coffees come from farmers and farm representatives that have become fast friends.

Organic
Organic coffee is certified according to USDA rules to be pesticide and artificial fertilizer free in its production, and free from those and all other contaminants, including non-certified organic coffee, in its handling by shippers and roasters.

Fairly Traded
Fairly traded coffee is coffee that is bought and sold between roasters and co-operatives or individual farmers that exceeds the "Fair Trade" minimum pricing, and is traded in the spirit of TransFair's rules, but without a third party certifying the deal.

Shade Grown
Shade grown (or bird-friendly) coffee is certified by the Rainforest Alliance, the Smithsonian, or another environmental organization to have been produced under a canopy of shade trees, not in clear-cut conditions. Most Arabica coffee, and certainly all older Arabicas, are optimally grown under a canopy.

Certified Fair Trade
Certified Fair Trade coffee is coffee that is sold above a certain minimum price, under stringent rules governing coffee-producing cooperatives as certified by TransFair,  USA.