Introducing Café Hope an all womens coffee from Peru

Colorado Springs, Colo. ‐‐ BuyWell Fair Trade Coffee introduced a new product to its line of extraordinary coffees: Café Hope, a dark roast single origin coffee, grown on all‐women farms in Peru.

This Fair Trade Certified© organic coffee, to be added to BuyWell’s main offerings, will give a larger proportion of sales to be paid directly back to the women farmers.
“It’s important we know our famers and how they live, it reminds us why buying Fair Trade Certified© coffee and other fair trade products is so important,” said Bob Perrine, CEO of BuyWell International.

In July 2010, two BuyWell employees traveled to Peru to meet with the farmers who will be providing the coffee for Café Hope. Located hundreds of miles northwest of Peru’s capital Lima, the co‐op Naranjillo is nestled in the small town of Tingo Maria. The cooperative, founded in 1966 with just 32 members, has grown today to over 5,000 members now located in four regions of Peru.

Speaking with BuyWell employees, four farmers told their personal struggles in life and the struggle to run their farms. When asked if it gives them hope knowing people in the United States are actively seeking their coffee, they said they are proud of their product and it gives them hope they will be able to expand their production thus growing their income and sustaining their farms for their future and children’s futures.

“Meeting the women face to face, gave so much more meaning to the coffee, this is really all they have and they put everything into farming the best quality coffee they can,” said Christopher Aaby, sales and marketing manager of BuyWell International.

BuyWell Coffee will pay a premium of at least $0.10 more per pound to go directly back to the women farmers. The goal being with this extra income is to allow the farmers to improve their farms and production by purchasing more land, plant more coffee trees, hire the labor during harvest to hand pick the coffee and pay bills that have long been piling up. Buy purchasing this coffee, consumers are directly supporting this cooperative while also receiving a high‐quality coffee grown with great care and love.

This is the first time Naranjillo has sold an all‐women grown coffee. Naranjillo wants to increase the amount of women who contribute their crops and also encourage the women to take free courses at the co‐op main offices in leadership in hopes one day more women will be in leadership roles within the co‐op. Naranjillo believes in the quality of their products and the lives of their farmers and BuyWell is honored to have this new partnership and look forward to great things in the future.

To purchase Café Hope whole bean or ground Click Here.

Add a Coffee Twist to Thanksgiving.

Adding a coffee twist to thanksgiving isn't just about pumpkin spice lattes, here are a couple other ideas to add a coffee twist to your turkey day festivities.

Roast Turkey with Coffee Rub

Ingredients:

• 12-lb turkey, giblets removed, rinsed well (inside and out) and patted dry with paper towels
• 2-oz Homemade coffee rub*
• 1 tsp finely chopped garlic
• 1/2 cup olive oil

* 2 tbsp ground fair trade coffee, 2 tbsp ground white pepper, 1 tbsp ground Tellicherry black pepper, 1/4 tsp ground cloves, 1 tbsp sea salt or kosher. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix coffee rub with garlic and oil and coat entire turkey. Truss bird and place it breast side up in a shallow roasting pan with a snug fit. Place turkey in oven. Rotate pan twice (every 60 minutes) to ensure even browning. During the second rotation, tip turkey forward to release cooking juices, then baste frequently, about every 10 minutes. Begin checking after 2 1/2 hours, until a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 170 to 175 degrees. Transfer to carving board and cover loosely with foil. Don't carve until ready to serve. (Turkey will stay warm for at least an hour.) Reserve pan drippings for gravy. Serves 8


Coffee Pumpkin Pie

Ingredients:

• 3 eggs, separated
• 2/3 cup white granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups unseasoned canned pumpkin, drained well
• 1/3 cup BuyWell Fair Trade Coffee, brewed strong
• 1/2 teaspoon EACH: salt, ground ginger, ground cinnamon, and ground nutmeg
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup BuyWell Fair Trade Coffee, brewed strong , chilled
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 9-inch ready-made baked pie crust or graham cracker style

Directions:
Brew 4 cups of coffee; chill 1/4 cup, reserve 1/3 cup and keep room temperature, drink the rest while you make the pie! Heat water in the bottom of a double boiler to hot, not boiling; simmer until ready to use.

In a medium-size bowl, beat the egg yolks then add 1/3 cup of the sugar plus the pumpkin, and the 1/3 cup of brewed coffee. Add the salt and all the spices, stir, and then transfer the mixture to the top of a double boiler. Stir it constantly, until the pie filling is hot.

In a small bowl, pour in the 1/4 cup chilled coffee and sprinkle in the gelatin. Mix until dissolved then add to the hot pumpkin mixture and stir thoroughly. Pour it all out into a large bowl, cover, and chill for about 30 minutes or until slightly thickened. When the pumpkin mixture is thickened, remove from the refrigerator and begin the rest of the steps.

In a very clean, very dry medium bowl (glass or copper works best) beat the egg whites until stiff then add the remaining 1/3 cup of sugar, all the while beating to keep the whites stiff. Gently fold the egg whites into the pumpkin mixture.

Beat the cream until peaks form then gently fold them in until fully incorporated. Pour the mixture into a ready-made pie crust, smooth over evenly, then cover and chill for two hours.

To serve, brew up some more BuyWell Fair Trade Coffee, whip the remaining 1/2 cup of the cream, and garnish the pie with it.

YIELD: 8 generous servings

We hope this inspires you to try something new with coffee. Its not just for drinking and can add a kick to a traditional dish that might become a new family favorite!

Coffee art

We came accross this clip on YouTube. Some artisits at the The Rocks Aroma Festival in Sydney, Australia produced a masterpeice using only cups of coffee and milk as their medium.



This inspires us to do more then just drink our coffee, what ideas do you have for other ways to use coffee as art?

Shower with your coffee?

Coffee is well known to give the body antioxidants when you drink it, but here is another great way to utilize the antioxidents in coffee, take a bath with coffee! Coffee Mint Body Wash by Wash With Joe is a invigorating body wash where the #1 ingredient is Coffee!

We just thought this was too cool and had to share!

From the Wash with Joe Site:

PROVEN SKIN CARE TECHNOLOGY TO THE BATH & SHOWER

DID YOU KNOW THAT COFFEE IS AN AMAZING HEALTH & BEAUTY AID?
IN FACT, IT MAY DO MORE FOR YOUR OUTSIDES THAN IT DOES FOR YOUR INSIDES!

GOOD FOR YOUR SKIN
Coffee with caffeine has both anti-inflammatory and tightening and firming qualities. For years, caffeine has been used in to reduce cellulite because it dehydrates fat cells; skin on buttocks and thighs become smoother.

GOOD FOR YOU – THE NEXT BIG ANTIOXIDANT
Coffee with caffeine is starting to get lots of attention for its antioxidant properties when used topically. In fact, research suggests that topical caffeine may offer powerful anti-carcinogenic benefits and repair UV damage - it may be a stronger antioxidant than green tea.

BALANCING
WASH WITH JOE™ gives you an invigorating jumpstart to your day. The uplifting blend of pure coffee and triple distilled peppermint essential oil helps revitalize body and mind. A richly foaming body wash, this re-charging formulation leaves you superbly refreshed and clean. Coffee is a natural deodorizer that absorbs odors, which makes this an effective body wash for people with active lifestyles.

UNISEX
WASH WITH JOE™ is unisex, perfectly suited for both men and women

INGREDIENTS
Coffea Arabica (Coffee),Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Kosher Vegetable Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol, Calcium d-Pantothenate (Pro-Vitamin B5), Limnanthes alba (Meadowfoam) Seed Oil, Tetrasodium EDTA, Citric Acid, triple Distilled Peppermint Essential Oil

WASH WITH JOE™ is Paraben Free, Certified Vegan and never tested on animals

MADE IN USA"

What do you do with your old coffee grounds?

Here are just a few ideas we liked, they are a great way to use coffee grounds so they don't end up in a landfill somewhere.


10. Deodorizer. Dry them out on a cookie sheet and then put them in a bowl in your refrigerator or freezer, or rub them on your hands to get rid of food prep smells.

9. Plant food. Plants such as rosebushes, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreen and camellias that prefer acidic soils will appreciate the leftovers from your morning cup. Also, grounds can add nutrients to your compost bin.

8. Insect repellant. Sprinkle old grounds around places you don’t want ants, or on the ant piles themselves. The little buggers will move on or stay away. Used grounds are also said to repel snails and slugs.

7. Dye. By steeping grounds in hot water, you can make brown dye for fabric, paper and even Easter eggs.

6. Furniture scratch cover-up. Steep grounds and apply a bit of the liquid to furniture scratches with a Q-tip.

5. Cleaning product. As they’re slightly abrasive, grounds can be used as a scouring agent for greasy and grimy stain-resistant objects.

4. Kitty repellent. To keep kitty from using the garden as her personal powder room, sprinkle grounds mixed with orange peels around your plants.

3. Flea dip. Follow up Fido’s shampoo with a coffee ground rub down, working them down to his skin. Not only are the fleas suppose to vamoose, but puppy’s hair will feel soft too.

2. Dust inhibitor. Before you clean out the fireplace, toss wet coffee grounds over the ashes to keep the ash dust under control.

And, finally, the #1 use for used coffee grounds....drum roll here....

Cellulite reducer. Mix 1/4 cup warm, used coffee grounds and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. While standing over an old towel or newspaper, apply the mixture to your "problem areas". Next, wrap the areas with shrink wrap and leave on for several minutes. Unwind the wrap, brush loose grounds off your skin and then shower with warm water. For best results, it is recommended to repeat this procedure twice a week. A little weird to be sure, but as high priced cellulite creams have coffee in them, it just might work.

Café Femenino fair trade coffee will be in Kroger brand stores nationwide by the end of July:From Boulder Coffee Examiner

Café Femenino fair trade coffee will be in Kroger brand stores nationwide by the end of July

Peru Alta Gold, a BuyWell fair trade Café Femenino coffee, will hit the shelves of select Kroger brand stores nationwide by the end of July. It will also be sold in some Whole Foods stores in Colorado, and is already available in H-E-B stores in Texas. This is certainly a coup for women coffee growers in Peru. And it’s a boon for consumers with a social conscience who love good coffee. READ MORE

Love and Hate: The Starbucks Effect on Coffee Consumption

Heard from a couple of you about my last post, in which I attributed a rise in Chinese coffee consumption to the presence of Starbucks. Thanks for the feedback! But, please, don't assume I love Starbucks. I'm just giving a bit of credit where credit is due.

The Love and the Hate
Let's be clear: Local cafes with accomplished baristas serving locally roasted and Fair Trade coffees rule. Compared to a real pull of espresso from an indie coffee house like Pikes Perk, Starbucks drools an overly bubbled milk foam of drool.

Though I question aspects of the Starbucks business model, I do salute them for pledging to double their Fair Trade coffee purchases to 40 million pounds in 2009. This is a victory for Fair Trade, but even with the increase, Fair Trade will comprise but a sliver of the Starbucks coffe pie at 3.7%.

Starbucks, like Walmart, is a big player. So, whether we like it or not, what they do matters. Today's announcement of deep Starbucks job cuts suggests economic recession is meeting up with trends like DIY espresso at home:

Starbucks plans to close 300 stores, including 200 in the United States, and eliminate about 6,000 store jobs. The company also plans to eliminate about 700 corporate jobs, including about 350 at its corporate headquarters in Seattle.

Ouch.

I think we all love and hate big players. Starbucks is a worldwide coffee giant that does promise a consistent (if bland and overroasted) espresso. They offer a 100% Fair Trade roaster like us a big corporate foil against which we can hone our message and mission. (Love to hate them!) In spending the marketing dollars to raise coffee awareness and appreciation in undeveloped coffee markets, they help the rest of the coffee industry grow. Like, for example, the way that Starbucks is boosting latte quaffing in Tea Capital of the World, China.