Simple Coffee

Conscious consumers are increasingly turning away from processed, unnecessarily complex foods. They want their food to have fewer ingredients, and to be prepared simply and cooked so that the intrinsic flavors within the food come out.

More and more coffee drinkers feel the same way. They don’t want their daily coffee to be a blend of coffees imported from the four corners of the world according to market prices and the dictates of the coffee roaster.  Rather, they want to taste the real essence of the coffee—the unique flavors inherent in a coffee from a place they know something about.

A drinker of single-origin shade-grown organic coffee knows a lot about what they are drinking, because there is transparency. They know where there coffee is from and that their choice is environmentally responsible—that forests are not cut down to produce it, that birds thrive where it is produced, and that harmful chemicals were not used in its production. After a short while drinking a single-origin coffee, they come to appreciate the subtle yet distinct flavors of the region where it is grown. For example, coffee from the Chiapas, Mexico highlands is known for a fuller body, pleasant acidity, and subtle hints of cocoa.   

By contrast, drinkers of coffee blends such as “Breakfast Blend” get entirely different, and completely unknown, blends with every bag, depending upon the market price of the different coffees and other supply factors.  They don’t know where their coffee café from, what pesticides and fertilizers were used to cultivate it, and what environmental practices were used in growing it. All they know is that the roaster roasted their beans until they became dark and shiny. Their roaster, not them, makes the decisions about what the coffee they are drinking, and it makes those decisions behind an entirely opaque curtain.    

Some coffee roasters claim that blending a number of different coffees allows them to achieve a certain “balance,” but good coffee is a natural product that doesn’t need to be artificially “balanced” with coffees from another part of the world. This artificial “balancing” is part of the practice of unnecessary over processing of food which affects so much of our food supply.  

Good organic shade-grown coffee is perfect the way it is, and should be enjoyed in its most natural and simple form. Over time, you will fall in love with its distinct and consistent aromas and flavors, and it will become a treasured and trusted part of your life.

Written By: Matthew Metz