Just Coffee

The Gardeners of Eden East Timor Seed Project is calling for support for its 2009 program. You can help by sending seeds or making donations. With global food stockpiling and rising prices, Timorese families need to renovate their traditional farming systems organically and address the annual hunger and nutrition gaps, as well as invest carefully in other crops (forestry and small-commercial farming systems) sufficient to support trading. To do this, they need seeds, tools, supplies, and training.

One of the most commonly overlooked ethics of fair trade is transparency. We at JC are committed to it and in order to show this we have posted our Profit and Loss statements since 2002-- our first year of business.

To summarize the P&Ls, we have grown quickly and shown a slight loss or slight profit every year. Our accountant would call us a textbook "break even" company. We have shown small losses for the past two years, this year we are committed to turning that around. Thus far we are running at a slight profit for the year, so we'll see. The important thing for us-- as a worker cooperative-- is to provide a decent income stream to all people who work at our co-op as well as to the growers that we work with. In this we have been fairly successful.

The purpose of this exercise is to show you exactly what we are doing with our company. This is why we post our contracts with the growers we buy from as well as all of the transaction documentation for getting the coffee from the farmers to us. We will also soon have balance sheets on line as well as salary information for people working at JC.

Just Coffee in conjunction with Terra Experience and Escape Java Joint is premiering the new documentary Voice of a Mountain featuring the Santa Anita grower cooperative in Guatemala. The movie looks at the difficult path for this community from being guerillas in the Guatemalan civil war to organic farmers. There will be a presentation after the film by a member of the Santa Anita community.
Join us at Escape Java Joint on Saturday the 26th of July at 7p.m.

The Honorable Matthew Cameron Earley has been commissioned a Kentucky Colonel!!!

Join Just Coffee in welcoming our own Matt Earley to the distinguished ranks of such pomperosers as Barry Manilow, Ronald Reagan, and Dr. Hunter S. Thompson.

This venerable achievement ushers in a new era of prestige to Just Coffee as well as to the entire fairtrade coffee roasting industry, as Matt is, we believe, the first coffee roaster to have been bestowed this estimable title.

When reached for comment, Matt slowly set his mint julep on the railing of the veranda while his misting eyes looked out over his vast estate surveying all that was his. He then thoughtfully straightened his string tie, brushed the dirt of the shoulder of his seersucker suit, and cleared his throat in a classy southern way. What he said next was lost in the loud chirping of a thousand cicadas and the syrupy goodness of his stately Kentucky drawl.

Then he smiled widely, tipped his white hat, and sauntered into the humid evening to find another refreshing bourbon drink.

On June 5th the Dane County Board of Supervisors adopted the following resolution (below), establishing the official relation of Dane County with the Municipality of Andres Eloy Blanco in the State of Lara in Venezuela. Many thanks to all of you who have supported and advised the process so far.

The exciting work begins now, it is the hope of the organizing committee to have a delegation to visit Andres Eloy Blanco within the next year. Much will need to happen in the meantime to build a more formal organization and explore the possibilities that are now open to our communities. We will keep you posted of upcoming meetings and events to further this effort.

Sincerely,

DASA, the Dane-Andres Eloy Blanco Sistering Alliance

Check out this trailer for "Voice of A Mountain". The film is about Santa Anita La Union-- the co-op featured all over this site. Our relationship with the people of Santa Anita is one of the strongest that we have with any farmer co-op. Please watch this and, when you want to see more, visit the film site here.

This is a truly moving look at an amazing group of people.

Just Coffee introduces our latest blend: Early Bird Summer Blend, and we couldn't be more excited. This incredibly rich blend pairs together our Harrar and Colombian coffees with artwork by our good friend Rebecca Peebles. This blend will only be available for a limited time, so get it while you can. Look at more of Rebecca's work here, and check out her finish time here!

With summer's heat imminent Just Coffee is releasing our Ice Coffee Blend. This full city roast is a pre-roast blend of Dominican, Bolivian, and Mexican coffees. Our preferred method for cold brewing results in a thick, viscous, ultra smooth full flavoured beverage that titillates the tongue and consciousness: add 1/2lb of medium ground Ice Coffee to 5 cups of room temperature water, allow to sit for 12 hours, pour through a coffee filter and refrigerate. Serve mixed 1 to 3 with water or milk, and be sure to use coffee ice cubes. This method produces a more stable extraction than hot water brewing, resulting in a refrigerated shelf life of up to 2 weeks.

Try using your french press: use twice the normal amount of grounds, room temperature water, and let it sit overnight.

You can also brew double strength coffee, cool to room temperature, and refrigerate. And don't forget the coffee ice cubes.

Check out this great article by Susan Kepecs on La FEM's Jitzy Ruiz in this week's "Isthmus"-- Madison's weekly arts and news mag.

"Organic feminist coffee? Check."

Pretty cool, eh?