Life is just too short to drink bad coffee!
We believe that life is simply too short for bad coffee. Why compromise on taste or quality when great coffee is so easy to find? And, when you opt for top quality whole bean or ground coffee you will taste the difference in every cup.
Everything starts with the bean. Top quality beans make the best tasting coffee. But a lot can happen to them on their journey from seed to cup. Broken beans spoil the flavour because those broken little edges tend to get burnt in the roasting process leading to a bitter flavour. And the same happens when beans that have damage due to bugs on the crop as the holes and marks they leave behind causes them to roast unevenly.
At Salt Spring Coffee we work with farmers using organic methods to eliminate bug damage without the use of harmful pesticides. We are proud to foster relationships with farmers who strive for excellent produce. While some other coffee companies have been found to have up to 20 times more bug damage to their whole beans, offering their customers an inferior tasting product.
It is also important to harvest the beans at the right time. Under-ripe beans lack that rich taste you associate with good coffee. And while you can’t avoid them completely, having too many in the blend can spoil your drink. Many companies are less fussy about this than us and some have up to three times more under-ripe beans in their coffee.
But even the best beans need to be roasted with care to bring out the full flavour. That rich taste comes from the natural sugars in the coffee being caramelized as they are roasted. Overheating can result in an unpleasant burnt taste. Unfortunately some coffee producers over roast in an attempt to hide the bland taste of poor quality beans.
What goes into you mug
But we also believe there is more to it than that. We are as passionate about our values as we are about great tasting coffee. That’s why we are proud to have been a Bcorp certified company since 2010. This recognizes Salt Spring Coffee’s efforts to maintain the highest standards of social responsibility and environmental accountability. We also think it is important to give something back. That’s why we have signed up to the 1% for the Planet scheme. As members, we are committed to donating 1% of our annual sales to non-profits whose work helps to protect the planet for future generations. This gives us another opportunity to put our values into action in a very practical way.
And we are always looking for new ways to make our products more environmentally friendly. From decreasing our energy consumption to increasing our recycling year on year, it is all part of the bigger picture which matters to us as a truly Canadian and truly international company.
Because the way we see it everything is connected - from bean to cup. And that means that what goes into your mug is a lot more than just great tasting coffee – although we would be the first to agree that that’s important too, of course. But it is just as important to know that when you sit down and enjoy a mug of fair trade coffee with your friends and family you are also making sure that the farmers who grow your coffee beans are getting a fair price for their crop so that they can support their families.
Mugs make magic moments
So, you can keep all that in mind on Family Day as you fill those mugs and enjoy the chance to spend a little time together and make some magical memories. What’s more, you can make the occasion even more special by warming your hands around one of our classic campfire style mugs which celebrate the truly west coast spirit that goes into our coffee. The retro-style design, which comes in a choice of black, white or red, is just perfect for sharing those special family moments.
