Musings from Graceland

AROMATIC COFFEE STRAIGHT FROM ECUADOR

A package arrived today from one of Anna's friends, missionary to Ecuador Jake Bikham. To support Anna's efforts to go to Thailand this summer to minister to women and young girls trapped in or escaping the sex trade and human trafficking, he sent her a variety of Ecuadorian items to auction off. When we opened the package, the delicious, aromatic smell of coffee beans escaped.

This coffee is fair trade coffee produced by a cooperative of farmers living near the Cloud Forest of Ecuador. It is grown beneath the canopy of banana and other native trees with no pesticides or herbicides used. This particular bag of coffee is labeled "Expreso". Apparently, each of the farmers who is part of the cooperative also sets aside part of his land as protected forest.

SO all in all, this coffee rocks! It is grown in a way you can feel good about and if the smell is any indicator, you'll feel good about drinking it, too!

You can read more about Rio Intag coffee at these websites:

http://coffeetour.ec/2010/04/20/caffe-rio-intag/

http://tedandsarah.com/category/apuela/

http://www.bundascattery.com/RioIntag.htm

This coffee, which weighs 450g or approximately 1 pound, comes in a cute, agave-fiber, woven bag made by women who are part of the Rio Intag cooperative. We will start the bidding at $12. To bid on this fabulous, fair-trade coffee, leave a comment with your name, contact information, and the amount you are bidding for this item.

Thanks and we'd love for you to have a look at our other items for auction if you haven't yet. We've got some great items including jewelry from Thailand, painted eggs from Ukraine, hand-crocheted baby items, and purses from Asia and Swaziland.