Daily Shot Of Coffee Blog Your Coffee Blog | Coffee Reviews, Coffee Product Reviews, Coffee Tips And More
The Drink: Congo Coffee Project By Equal Exchange
Type: Whole Bean Blend
Overall Rating: 3.75 Out Of 5 Coffee Mugs
Where a lot of our coffee comes from is not a perfect place. It’s the reason that I don’t mind spending a little bit more for Fair Trade or similar certifications. The coffee farmers that grow the beans for our delicious cups of coffee are often dirt poor, struggling to get by and in some places living with the routine threat of violence. One of those places is Congo, where today’s coffee from Equal Exchange comes from.
One of the first coffees that I saw with the Fair Trade label was Equal Exchange. From everything that I read, they’re trying to do their part to make sure that farmers, their families and their communities aren’t left in the dust by our coffee addiction. I was excited to hear about their Congo Coffee Project.
The Congo Coffee Project was created by Equal Exchange in partnership with the Panzi Foundation to support the medical programs of Panzi Hospital in the D.R. Congo, one of those coffee growing countries country plagued by violence. The Panzi Hospital provides life-saving treatment, counseling and aftercare programs to more than 2,000 survivors of sexual violence each year. Two dollars from every bag of the Congo Coffee Project sold through the Equal Exchange retail website goes to help the victims of violence.
The coffee is a blend of East African beans, that they describe as smooth and balanced, with rich chocolate, sweet vanilla, brown spices and a hint of fresh berry.
As I was doing my own research, I detected an aroma that was a mix of nuttiness, chocolate and vanilla. It was the kind of aroma that made me want to learn more about this coffee.
My tongue discovered a smooth coffee with a medium-heavy body. It had a nutty taste, with a distinct sweetness. It was followed by a creamy chocolate taste and hints of vanilla and spices. It was the kind of taste that made me want to keep going back for more.
A pound of the Congo Coffee Project is $12 on the Equal Exchange website. Not a bad deal, considering two dollars of that goes to help the Panzi Foundation.
Overall, a great coffee that I could drink every day, especially knowing that part of the proceeds go to a good cause.
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Fine Print.
I love bold flavor coffees. Your description here plus the fact that a portion goes to a worthy cause makes me so intrigued to look for it here in my side of the world. Thanks so much for sharing this.
Greetings:
Thanks for supporting the Congo Coffee Project, there is a lot of information available on our webpage about the origin of the coffee http://www.equalexchange.coop/congocoffeeproject. The blend is certified organic right now, but as we expand our partnerships with producers that are not yet certified organic, we will likely change this. Our goal is to support the coffee farmers as they transition to organic and work with them to produce delicious coffee.
And of course- I am glad you like the coffee!
Beth Ann- EE QC Manager
Thank you for the additional info Beth Ann.
http://shop.equalexchange.com/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=21020
didn’t mention methods of cultivation so i assume
it’s conventional grown.
wonderful cause Mike.
you get to be the MAN for championing these causes.
I have a lot more of the info about the coffee at home, more than could fit into the article. I’ll have to dig thru it, could’ve sworn I saw more about it.
I can’t take too much of the credit. They’re kind enough to send me the coffee to review, the least I can do is share word of their projects.