Where's my coffee?

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received product and/or compensation in exchange for my honest opinion.

It's been a rough morning. A morning when I really needed a good cup of coffee. I was ready for it, but then I poured my organic milk in it and ewww... it was sour. NO!! Unlike conventional milk, apparently organic milk does not warn you that it's bad by curdling in your coffee. It disguises itself and then BAM, you drink it and gag. Yep. That's what happened to me today. Not fun.

I admit it. Coffee is a big part of my morning routine. I'm not one who can't function without my first cup, but I sure do enjoy it. 

That's why I was thrilled when Equal Exchange offered to send me some of their organic fairly traded coffee to review. They sent me three boxes of single serve cups to try. The problem was, I don't use a single serve brewer, mostly because of the environmental impact. I choose to use an old fashioned percolator -- no BPA, no waste. But I figured I could open the single serve cups and dump them into my percolator. And that's what I did. The result? Really good coffee. 

Now, it doesn't make sense for me to review single serve cups that way, so I joined forces with my daughter, Bethany, to review the coffee. She, too, received three boxes of coffee to use with her Keurig coffee maker. This review contains both of our opinions about Equal Exchange Coffees. 




Flavor

Let's start with taste. Equal Exchange offers three varieties of single serving coffee: 

Organic Breakfast Blend

Organic French Roast

Organic Unwind Decaf

Starting with the decaf, here's what Bethany had to say: 

The decaf was really good. I have trouble finding good decaf in a K-cup. 

I agreed with her about the taste of the decaf. It's really good. Since I love the taste of coffee, I enjoy a cup in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, within the past year, I can no longer drink coffee after 1:00 or so and still enjoy a good night's sleep. A good decaf is the answer to this problem and the Organic Unwind Decaf is perfect.

We both also enjoyed the Organic Breakfast Blend and the Organic French Roast, although I preferred the French Roast. So did Bethany's friend, Amanda. Here is what Amanda said about it:

Love, love, LOVED the French Roast coffee. It had the great taste of that first cup from a freshly brewed pot. I don't think I've had a K-cup that has that rich taste, so, Bravo!

That's quite an endorsement.

Environmentally Friendly

So, let's address the environmental factor -- the reason I don't like K-cups to begin with. The fact of the matter is that one quarter of Americans already use single serve machines already, whether at home, work, church, or school. So Equal Exchange decided to give them a better option. Their single serving cups are made with recyclable plastic with filters that are 88% compostable. Plus the lid is recyclable aluminum as well.

That's the plus side of this. However, I found it to be a bit inconvenient and wondered whether or not people would even bother with the process. After the coffee brews, you have to remove the lid and dump the grounds into your compost bin. Then you have to remove the filter, which is glued to the side of the cup, and add that to the compost. You have to rinse out the cup and, finally, you can toss the aluminum lid and plastic cup into the trash.

I found it to be tedious, but Bethany managed it without an issue.

The bottom line with this is whether or not you care enough to do it. For me, there's no question. I would go to the extra trouble to keep yet one more plastic K-cup out of the landfill.

Socially Conscious 


Here's where Equal Exchange Coffees rise above the rest. The coffees are not only organic, but they're fairly traded as well, and that is important. When you choose fairly traded coffee, you are supporting small-scale farmers and their communities. And for those of you who have been following me for even a short time now, you know how much that means to me.

Please note that while these cups work with most single serve machines, they are not compatible with the Keurig 2.0 or the Vue.

Overall, Bethany and I give Equal Exchange Fairly Traded Coffee a green thumbs up. If we've piqued your interest, then you can take advantage of the current offer for free shipping in the contiguous US through 11/30/2014. This offer is limited to one coupon code (FREE25) per customer with any order of $25 or more. And all the single serve coffee is currently on sale, which makes this a perfect deal for holiday shopping.

Also, through 11/16, Mambo Sprouts is running a Greener Cup Giveaway. There are 3 winners per week and 3 winners at the end of the promotion. The Grand Prize is a $200 online gift certificate for the Equal Exchange website!

Coffee... it's what mornings are all about for so many. Now, if only we can turn the tide from wastefulness to environmental and social consciousness. 

Reviewing it for you,

 



Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. I received product and/or compensation in exchange for my honest opinion. 

A fresh idea in K-cups -- the people have spoken

Every once in awhile you come upon a company that, for a multitude of reasons, you simply love. Rogers Family Coffee Company is exactly that, for me. Why? Because they're

• socially conscious
• environmentally conscious
• family owned and run
• conscientious
• affordable

This family is the real deal. As a coffee company, they're not importing coffee from farms with slave/child labor. They own their own coffee farms and believe their farmers should be treated fairly. They care about the environment. That's why they developed an eco-friendly alternative to standard K-cups. As a family, they oversee and participate in every phase of production for each box/bag of coffee shipped. And they do something else that is becoming a thing of the past with many companies these days -- they take pride in all they do and will not settle for anything less than the best they can offer. Oh, and they care about cost. They work hard to make sure their coffee is affordable. What's not to love?

Not convinced? Here is an excellent video with further explanations of all I've already said. Meet the Rogers family.





I was happy to review some of their single cup coffees for them. Since I don't personally have a Keurig or other single cup coffee brewer, I took the boxes of coffee to my church, where I shared it with congregation members. I brewed a cup in the Keurig machine in the back of the Sunday School room, as did several others. I also allowed people to take coffee home with them to try on their own.

I received feedback from a variety of folks. Of course, much depended on which of the flavors they tried. For me, I liked some, but didn't like others, which is to be expected. Generally, on a scale of -5, the coffee rated a 3.5 - 4. That was a bit disappointing, because, quite honestly, I would give it a 5, but I'm looking at the whole picture.

Bethany shared her thoughts:

Overall, my rating would be a 4. Some flavors were better than others. Yes, less waste is always good. Depending on the price, we would likely purchase this coffee over another K-cup brand. Overall, I like coffee dark and bold. One of the flavors fit the bill, but most of the others I tried seemed bitter and weak. I was concerned about freshness. Since we usually buy in bulk (boxes of 80), I don't know how we would keep them fresh after we opened the bag.

Hmmm. Freshness. That issue was addressed by Daryl, too, who wrote:

The coffee I sampled is the San Francisco Bay Breakfast Blend single serve. I do have a Keurig brewer and the cups performed flawlessly in the machine. The coffee has great flavor, and, after opening the biodegradable inner bag, great aroma. However, that's where the negatives begin. 

I drink coffee, on average, less than once per day, so a box of 12 K-cups lasts more than two weeks. The inner bag is not resealable so, unless you remove the cups and place them in an airtight container, the quality of the coffee quickly degrades. Either the inner bag should be a "zip lock" type bag, or the base of each K-cup be encased in a "peel away" bottom made of the same biodegradable material. The latter solution would eliminate the inner bag all together, reduce the amount of material used, but increase the cost and complication of individual cup production. 

If I have to use my own zip lock bag to guarantee freshness, you've partially defeated the "green" goal of the product.

Okay. Interestingly enough, as I had to put all the coffee pods in zip lock bags of my own, I had the same issue with the coffee. There was a level of wastefulness I didn't like. I do like Daryl's suggestion of taking the biodegradable bag material and creating individual encasements or bags for the coffee. Of course, if I had a single cup brewer and ordered large quantities of the K-cups, I would simply purchase a large sealable container to keep them in. Problem solved.

Jess told me she and her husband liked the coffee for the most part (rating it a 3-4), although she thought some of it was a little bitter. However, she usually buys flavored coffee, so adjusting to regular coffee may have tainted her taste slightly. She tends to not buy things online, but would definitely consider buying this coffee if it was available where she shopped at a decent price. 

Erin (who rated the coffee on a scale of 1-10) added her thoughts:

I tried 2 of the coffee flavors, Rainforest (organic) and the Donut Shop. I would rate the coffee a 5 because, for me, there was not enough flavor. However, the coffee was smooth and the flavor wasn't bad. I just feel I would not spend money on the product. I do love the idea of the packaging and I would say that is the product's most redeeming quality. 

Her last statement was mimicked by others, who all agreed the biodegradable/compostable aspect of the K-cups was most appealing.

For me, that was the aspect that most interested me when I was initially approached to do this review. I've been quite vocal about how much I hate the waste of individual K-cups. It makes me cringe to think of the thousands that are tossed into the trash each day. Seriously, folks. If you care about the growing problem existing in the landfills, this is simply unacceptable. 

So, here is a solution to that. As far as the taste of the coffee, there were some I enjoyed and others I did not. For example, as excited as I was to try the organic Rainforest coffee, I found it to be too bitter for my taste. On the other hand, my husband and I both loved the San Francisco Fog Chaser and I plan to buy that particular flavor from Rogers. I'll be buying it for my drip coffee maker, however. Since I don't have a single cup brewer, I brewed the coffee at home by cutting open the bottom of each K-cup and pouring the grounds into a filter. Then I tossed the cup into my compost bin. Loved that! As we both like light to medium roasts, we also enjoyed the Breakfast Blend and the Donut Shop coffee.

I'm not a flavored coffee drinker, so the Hazelnut and the Pumpkin Spice did not appeal to me. However, the aroma is amazing, so I've actually thought of hanging one of them in my car as a chemical-free air freshener!

As far as the cost, there are different price points for the coffee. A 12-cup box of K-cups is just $6.99 plus s/h. If you would like to try the bagged coffee, you can do that for a mere $1.99 for a 2 oz. bag, and shipping is included! You can also try a 3 pack of single serving cups for the same price!

The more you buy, the more affordable the coffee -- 

• 18 cups -- $9.99
• 36 cups -- $18.99
• 80 cups -- just $34.99 -- that's less than 50 cents a cup

 

Right now, for orders over $50, you receive free shipping and, while supplies last, a free San Francisco Bay travel mug if you type FREEMUG as the code.

They also have a coffee club you can join for additional specials and savings. Click here for more info.


Bottom line for me: I love this company and will support them, not only because I believe in what they are doing, but also because right now, I'm craving a cup of San Francisco Fog Chaser. It's that good! 

Reviewing it for you,