Articles in the In Community Category

A new brew(ski) just in time for the holidays

Salt Spring Coffee •  05 December 2011

In stores now.

A heady ale with chocolate and roast coffee flavour, this beer is wonderfully balanced and we think a great addition to the R&B Brewing Co. line up.

Infused with Salt Spring coffee purchased by direct trade from the Aceh Gayo region of Sumatra, Indonesia, we love the cool twist the roast coffee flavour brings to this porter.

Pick-up the Spirit Chaser, Sumatra Coffee Porter at the following cold beer and wine locations in Vancouver:

• Brewery Creek – 3045 Main St.

• Firefly – 2857 Cambie St.

• Legacy – 1633 Manitoba St., Olympic Village

• Coal Harbour - 1212 West Pender

• Steamworks – 375 Water St., Gastown

• Viti - 900 Seymour

Why the name Spirit Chaser?

In Sumatran tradition a spirit chaser is a carved wooden totem that, like a Native American dreamcatcher, is used to protect sleeping people from subconscious negativity. While dreamcatchers filter the bad dreams from the good, spirit chasers (which can take many forms, from dragons to monkeys to the strangely gallant flying pig that you see on the beer label) are supposed to ward off evil spirits from harming dreamers. They guide their charges from the dream world to the real world, ensuring that those who leave reality at night awaken safely in the morning.

Category: In Community

Giving Grounds

Salt Spring Coffee •  02 December 2011

Next time you stop into one of our Coffee Houses, we want you to take home a little something coffee-related for your garden (or home) too: our used coffee grounds.

For a handful of years (and free of charge) we’ve been sending used coffee grounds home with our employees, customers and with green thumbs who want to put our leftover grounds to good use in their homes and gardens. And now, you can too!

No need to bring your own container either. The coffee grounds come pre-packaged in upcycled Salt Spring Coffee bags.

Here's a few tips on how you can you make the most of our used coffee grounds:

• Tip 1# - Add the coffee grounds to your compost. Coffee grounds help speed up the decomposition process and add trace minerals, like calcium, that may not have otherwise been present in your pile.

• Tip #2 - Used coffee grounds are a great all-natural fertilizer. Sometimes our gardens #needalift. Used coffee grounds are chalk full of nutrients like nitrogen, calcium and magnesium – which are great all natural, environmentally friendly fertilizers.

• Tip #3 - Keep pesky pests out of your garden. Put used coffee grounds around the perimeter of your garden (and potted plants) to help keep cats, slugs and ants away.

• Tip #4 - Fuel for your earthworms. To earthworms this stuff is about as good as it gets.

No garden? No worries. Coffee grounds can also be used in a number of cool 'do-it-yourself' home concoctions.

• Tip #5 - Deodorize the all-natural way. Rub a small amount of dry coffee grounds between your hands to get rid of food prep smells left by onions and garlic. Or, place dry coffee grounds in a bowl to deodorize your fridge or freezer.

• Tip #6 - Mask scratches in wood and dark leather furniture. Steep the coffee grounds in warm water (a French Press is perfect for this) and dab a bit of the coffee-infused liquid onto wood or dark leather furniture to help conceal scuff marks and scratches.

• Tip #7 - Scrub your tub. Used coffee grounds are slightly abrasive and work well as an earth-friendly, biodegradable cleaning agent. When it comes to tackling bathtub, sink and stovetop grease and grime used coffee grounds work like a charm.

Category: In Community

To Consider: What's a Fair Price to Pay a Farmer for his or her Coffee?

Mickey McLeod •  20 September 2011

As I write this, we are on our way back from another incredible trip to Peru.

As a part of Fair to Farmer Direct we regularly visit the coffee growing communities that we buy from. This year Robbyn, Banks and I were excited to visit with producer friends and co-ops in Peru and to get updates on the season's harvest, which we did. Only while visiting CAC Pangoa, one of our first Fair to Farmer Direct co-ops, we were also able to get into deeper discussions about our direct trade relationship.

The conversation with the co-op's General Managers shifted to pricing and the impact that tying green coffee pricing to the global commodities market has had on a "fair" return for all of our trade partners. And with this one conversation a Fair to Farmer Direct project of tremendous value started.

The idea.

We proposed to the General Managers at CAC Pangoa that one of Salt Spring Coffee’s seasonal containers of coffee (we have a long-term purchasing contract in place with CAC Pangoa) come specifically from San Juan de Pueblo Libre - a small area in the San Martin de Pangoa region that's home to just 18 coffee farmers.

The intent? To set a baseline.

Over the course of a year, we intend to work with the 18 farmers in San Juan de Pueblo Libre to define the real, day-to-day cost of coffee production in the area and to discover what the price (per pound) of green coffee should be.

So, what is the cost to produce coffee in the Pangoa region of Peru?

The co-op’s answer: production costs are rarely, if ever calculated. But this comes as no surprise. Over the years what we’ve learned is that most coffee farmers do not know their seasonal production costs for things like organic fertilizer and compost, labour or processing.

The end result is that when it comes time to sell their seasonal harvest many coffee farmers do not know if they’ve made a profit, or if in fact they’ve lost money. The cash market (versus a futures market) determines what a coffee farmer sells their seasonal harvest for. This leaves them with no real incentive to learn what their ‘true’ selling cost should be.

Why do this?

Our team discusses the proposal for the sustainable pricing model with CAC Pangoa representatives.After years of visiting farmers and co-ops at origin we know income security is a constant challenge, and that access to credit is also limited without a sustainable income. Once co-ops and farmers have a true understanding of what their income should be, our hope is that they will become less reliant on the coffee commodities market and better able to forecast and plan for their future.

The goal.

If the project works in San Juan de Pueblo Libre our hope is that CAC Pangoa will adopt the financial management program on a wider scale, extending it to hundreds of coffee farmers outside of San Juan de Pueblo Libre.

In the long-term, we want to establish a sustainable pricing model that we can adapt to other origins where Fair to Farmer Direct operates, like Nicaragua.

To us, this is “fair” trade.

Category: In Community

Are you @ EPIC?

Salt Spring Coffee •  14 May 2011

Roaming around EPIC? Come say hello.

Our drip bar is now serving...

Single Origin, Guatemala - co-op Comal

Single Origin, Nicaragua - co-op Cecocafen

Single Origin, Sumatra - co-op KBQB

Category: In Community

Mickey to take main stage at EPIC on May 14.

Salt Spring Coffee •  09 May 2011

From left: Byron Corrales Martines and Mickey McLeod

We'll be tasting exclusive new brews like our Nicaragua Cecocafen May 13 - 15 at EPIC, Vancouver's Sustainable Living Expo.

Also, don't miss Mickey McLeod when he takes to EPIC's main stage Saturday, May 14 at 1:00p.m. to talk about our work at origin, Fair to Farmer Direct and to share video footage from our most recent visit to Nicaragua.

Don’t miss out - visit vancouver.epicexpo.com to buy tickets and for more information.

** Helpful tip: buying tickets online can save you a few dollars on the price of admission.

Category: In Community