Yellow Dog Coffee Company

A number of years ago, I read a book by Julie Clawson titled Everyday Justice and wrote a blog post about it. In it, Clawson focused on how we can help bring equality, justice, and fairness to other people of the world by purchasing fair trade and organic items whenever we can. It’s a very moving book that made me realize we can help others on a daily basis by purchasing common, everyday products that are committed to treating the workers and the earth with fairness and compassion. And it’s getting easier all the time as more and more products are coming to market that are labeled as “fairtrade” and “organic” or “ethically harvested”.

Because of that book, my family decided to change our food purchasing habits. We had become vegetarians a few years earlier and determined to purchase only fair trade, organic, and locally grown food whenever we could. Fortunately for us, our town is a little more progressive than others in our state (for Oklahoma, that is) and we had a couple of organically-focused grocery stores come into the area that were also committed to locally grown produce. And, some major chain stores and companies have noticed the trend that people were wanting more “real” foods instead of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and have responded by stocking more of those items in their stores.

One of the products that I really wanted to focus on purchasing goes by many names —

Coffee.

Joe.
Java.

Go Juice.

Morning Jolt.

The list goes on and on.

Coffee’s the third most consumed beverage in the world (after water and tea, respectively). Because of that, you’d think it wouldn’t be all that difficult finding a good cup of coffee.

But you’d be mistaken.

A good cup of coffee, like just about everything else, is subjective. What one person thinks is a good another person think is crap. I know that’s the way I feel about Starbucks coffee. That is, I don’t care for it.

At all.

It always tastes bitter and burnt. I don’t think I’ve ever had a good cup of coffee from Starbucks.

In our quest to find good, organic, fair trade coffee we had a few missteps. Some were bitter. Others were pretty flavorless.

Recently, though, a friend of ours, Rob Wilson, took to roasting coffee beans. He’d spent a few years traveling and learning all sorts of stuff about coffee. He attended several roasting schools and, after returning home, decided to roast coffee beans on site at his farm. And Yellow Dog Coffee Company was born.

For us, his company ticked all the right boxes — locally owned and some of the coffees are organic and fair trade. Plus, part of the proceeds goes to Annie’s Rescue Foundation, a local non-profit that rescues dogs and adopts them out to loving families. I mean, what’s not to like?!

We tried sample bags of Rob’s different coffees: Brazil Mogiana, Ethiopia Sidamo, Mexico Altura, Nicaragua Segovia, and Sumatra Bener Meriah Mandheling. Each one had their own distinct nuances. But the common factor in every one was that none of them were bitter. Not one. After tasting each one (brewing a different pot each morning), we settled on the Nicaragua Segovia as our coffee of choice. Even though it’s a dark roast, it’s extremely smooth. It’s hands down the best coffee I’ve ever had.

Recently, we opted in for YDCC’s subscription service. You selected the coffee you want and sign up for how often you want it delivered. And here’s the cool bit: The coffee comes packed in vacuum sealed Mason Jars! When it’s time for the next order, you leave the old jar on the porch and it’s swapped out for the new jar; just like milk deliveries of old. How cool is that!1

So, if you’re a fan of the mighty bean and are always on the lookout for a great cuppa, I highly recommend trying Yellow Dog Coffee Company. You can get the Super Duper Sample Pack of 5, 2oz. bags for $15. And if you live in the area, Rob will deliver it to your place free of charge.

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In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

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1. I’m pretty sure this is only for local customers and Rob delivers the orders himself.