A Funny Thing Happened…

My wife, kids, and I spend eight, usually sweltering, days in western Pennsylvania at the New Wilmington Mission Conference. This is a gathering of Presbyterian missionaries from around the world. The purpose is to tell their stories, bring us up to speed on hapenings in their corner of the world, and tell young and old alike how they, too, can be missionaries in their own land.
As we returned to our dorm hall after lunch a hall-mate of ours was sitting on a folding chair, talking to another gentleman. When they saw us approach our friend said, “Here’s the guy you want to talk to!” which immediately made me nervous.
The stranger said his name was Robert, he was from Uganda, and he was looking for a market for his villiage’s goods. Intrigued how I was to play a role in this, I asked, “And what goods might this be?”
He mentioned that his villiage makes beads and baskets. “Uh-huh,” I thought… And they grow coffee.
You, my friend, have my attention.
He told me of how the farmers aren’t getting a sustainable wage for their labor, and how direct buying would be possible and best for those involved. Through this direct-buy program the farmers would get much needed money to fund their families, schools, and farms.
We excanged emails. I started making phone calls that very day to friends in the coffee importing business. We have gone through more red tape than I care to think about.
It’s taken almost a year and we’re in the final stretch. In about a week we should have everything in line for our first shipment of Ugandan coffee. Finally.
For more information on the New Wilmington Mission Conference, click www.nwmcmission.org

From Uganda, with love…

For the last year I have been working with a pastor in Uganda to directly import coffee from his villiage for roasting and sale through Mister G Coffee. How this came about and steps needed will come about shortly, but I wanted to give an update on where we stand.
Currently, we are arranging shipment, which is no small feat from East Africa. The poor beans will have more air miles on them than I care to think about, and several transfers will be required. All that to say, we are looking forward to our first installment by the first of July.
Why go through the trouble? Simple. Our philosophy is founded on helping our local and global community. By buying from a specific villiage we can get funds directly to those people for what they need. Period. Call me a romantic. Call me crazy. Call me Ishmael. But this opportunity was too important to pass up. Like I said, more on the process later.
Actually, that and other important happenings on the horizon.
Till then, Enjoy the Coffee!

….as time goes by…..

It seems to me that no matter what else is happening in the world, people keep talking about time. Lines take too much, family gets too little, recharging ourselves gets little if any.
We’ve heard the story of the jar; first the big stones, then the smaller ones, then the sand, then the coffee. (Actually, I heard it using water, but what fun is that?! Besides, this is a COFFEEE blog..) Since each of these represent amounts of time and priorities, we must decide what gets put in the jar, and in what order. Choose wisely. Those seemingly little adjustment in where you invest your time today can have huge repercussions down the road.

Enough philosophy; lets get down to coffee. This blog’s feature is a favorite of some and an unknown by many; Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. (That’s YEER-guh-shef or Yeer-guh-SHEF-ay depending on who you ask.) Ethiopia is commonly understood to be the birthplace of coffee, and the legend of Kaldi, the goat herder who discovered it, leading the way. I don’t know much about goat herders but I understand why todays people are so attracted to the coffee of this region; clean, sweet, fruity.
A light to medium/light roast Yirg is known by the vast majority of my customers for its cleaness. There are little, if any, lingering aftertastes and this coffee cuts through heavier flavors in entrees or desserts. This attribute also lends itself well to being a great morning coffee.
The natural sweetness of the coffee is the second dimension. A high percentage of people who try this coffee at an arts show are party comment on its sweetness, even to point that “I wouldn’t have to put sugar in this coffee!” That may be extreme but it seems as though this is a quality that catched people off guard.
Finally, I am always amazed at the fruitiness of this coffee. The citrus/lemony aromas and background flavors make pairing this coffee a joy. Aside from the pairing mentioned earlier, other ideas include fruit desserts, fish and shellfish entrees, as well as chicken dishes.
For those of you out there who are in it for the caffeine, here’s your fix. Remember; the lighter the roast, the more the caffeine.

‘Til next time, think about what you drink.
Cheers!

Welcome!

This blog was designed as a place for people to share their ‘over coffee’ experiences.  Feel free to recount stories that come to mind where coffee was involved; stories of friendship, hope, tragedy, family, community, romance.  Everything is fair game if coffee’s involved.  (Remember, however, it’s a family show… ’nuff said.)