A greener bean

As we learned earlier this week in Karen Siegel-Maier’s article “Five Ways to Save $500 a Month,” buying coffee is a huge money sucker. Cost aside, I prefer to prepare my brew at home, as it saves a paper cup and is reliably delicious.

If ever a product has proven that making responsible choices at the market does not mean sacrificing life’s little indulgences, Pachamama Coffee Cooperative does so. The company has one only mission: to improve the lives of the family farmers who grow its 100 percent certified organic coffee. Oh, and to deliver kick ass coffee to American consumers.

Pachamama takes the concept of fair trade to the next level; in a nutshell, the company’s six employees work for the farmers, not the other way around. The cooperative is owned by its members, who operate small-scale coffee farms in Africa, Nicaragua, Peru, Mexico and Guatemala. The coffee is hand-roasted and then packaged and shipped directly to retailers and online customers.

Considering that the average American consumes 3.1 cups of coffee per day, according to the National Coffee Association, choosing a coffee with a responsible business model is crucial. Available in cans, bags or in bulk, online and in stores, Pachamama is a triple bottom line company whose product is a reminder that it is possible to do good and have your cup runeth over as well.

I like to brew my coffee at home using a French press, which eliminates the need to use a paper filter and therefore creates less garbage. I asked Byron Auker, Pachamama’s Bay Area sales rep and coffee making aficionado, for tips on brewing the perfect cup of French press coffee:

• For each 8 oz of water use three to four level tablespoons of coffee.
• Boil water in a kettle.
• While water is boiling, grind your coffee. Byron recommends the Conical Burr grinder, which allows you to adjust the grind to suit your coffee brewing method.
• French press coffee requires a semi-course grind. If the grind is too fine, you’ll find coffee residue in the bottom of the cup. (Note from Heather: Too fine a grind can also be dangerous. The stem of the French press can get stuck when you are plunging it, spraying boiling water and coffee grounds on you. You won’t make this mistake twice. Just ask the scar on my arm.)
• Add ground coffee to the press pot, and pour boiling water in a thin stream over the grounds.
• Gently stir the coffee with a small wooden spoon or chopstick, and place the stem on the pot with the filter about a 1/2 -inch from the grounds.
• Wait three minutes for the coffee to steep. It’s a good idea to time this step, especially if you are new to the French press method.
• Gently and slowly push the grounds down to the bottom of the pot. When you have pushed the plunger as far down as it will go, serve the coffee immediately.

Heather O’Neill is the founder of Eco to the People, a green living blog.

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