What the heck is she talking about now?

A couple of days ago I read a poll on Facebook by one of my distinguished colleagues in the coffee biz, asking the population if they prefer Fair Trade Coffee. Now I voted on the ground floor at 2 votes in but I could tell where this was heading. Of course coffee drinkers prefer Fair Trade coffee but do they really understand what that term means? Same goes for Organic, Bird Friendly, Rainforest and the new term from Intelligensia Coffee Company, Direct Trade?

Without entering into a glossary issue (look them up if you want), my point is, folks ask these questions about their coffee but then use other products in their home that basically commit mass murder or slavery. My recent obsession with grass-fed delicious steak led me to an article by accident about the kosher slaughter of cows. Let me tell you, Mr. and Mrs. Goldstein should pray their son Herschel should grow up to be a doctor not a “Shoychet” (a butcher who kills animals in a kosher slaughterhouse). Yechh. And what of the child or labor who makes your clothes? Enough talk about that. Time for cheerier talk!

When you enjoy a rare coffee from a specific place such as Jamaican Blue Mountain, Hawaiian Kona, Komodo Blue Dragon, the Fair Trade issue is off the table. There is not enough of the stuff to require price fixing or unions to harvest it. Usually a small group of growers, perhaps a co-op, sometimes families, grow it and that is it. It may be only available once a year. We may be lucky enough to get it at all. That is what makes it special. The care to harvest it and ship it is at the level of fine wines and cigars, and that is why the price is at a premium. Oh, but the taste is so worth it!

Now many of these wonderful coffees, like Panama Carmen Estate, also bear the mark of Rainforest Certified. This coffee is so wonderful if it had a symbol that said it was from the moon it would just be a bonus. We should drink a coffee because we love it. After all, it may the start of our day, right?

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