Fair Trade Organic Nicaragua

Today I wore boots for the first time. I know that it’s supposed to warm right up again, but the last couple of days with highs in the seventies and a steady breeze have felt like fall to me. If you look hard, you can find leaves starting to change color, and the kids and I crunched through the dried stacks in the corner of the parking lot this morning. It has felt like leaf stomping weather for sure.

Do we look alike?

I think that at least twice this week Becky and I came to work in nearly identical outfits. One day it was dark wash jeans and polka dot button down shirts (what are the odds?), and today it was nearly matching shirt dresses with a wide belt. It’s a twins kind of week. After it happened more than once, the staff said we must have a picture, so here you go.

For our coffee this week we have one of our most popular organic beans: our Fair Trade Organic Nicaraguan. This comes from a coop, PRODECOOP, in the northern part of Nicaragua. You can read more about them on the FairTradeUSA page here. I love that 30% of the farmers in this coop are women–according to the UN Women page, “if women farmers had the same access to tools and credit, there would be 150 million fewer hungry people.”

I know that’s just one statistic, but helping women does help families, and this coop helps women in particular. They focus on business development and education, and emphasize women’s roles. Their leadership is required to be at least 40 % women. Together they are able to bring their beans to a centrally located dry mill where their coffee is processed.

As a woman I love to support organizations that empower women. On top of that, this is a stellar coffee, rewarding their labor with a great bean. This light roast coffee had sweet tones of chocolate and nuts, with a medium to full body and a clean finish. You can try a cup on us with the code twin week*.

It’s good to think of those who labor to grow our coffee with Labor Day coming. We will be open from 7 am – 3 pm, if you’re in town Monday. For those of you traveling, I hope you have a lovely three day weekend. You can come try the Nicaraguan later in the week. Whatever you do, drink great coffee. Cheers!
–Holly Fike

*Code good for one free 12 ounce cup of Fair Trade Organic Nicaragua. Code expires on 9.10.15. Limit one free cup per customer please. Valid only at Carolines Coffee Roasters, 128 S. Auburn Street, Grass Valley, CA. Code/Offer has no cash value.