the better world Shopping Guide by Ellis James

We just took delivery of some copies of this excellent guide. Here’s what Dr Jones has to say about the guide on his website (www.betterworldshopper.com):

“The only comprehensive guide for socially and environmentally responsible consumers available, this book ranks every product on the shelf from A to F so you can quickly tell the “good guys” from the “bad guys” — turning your grocery list into a powerful tool to change the world. Representing over 15 years of distilled research, data is organized into the most common product categories including coffee, energy bars, computers, gasoline, clothing, banks, cars, water and more.

Also included is a summary of the essential information about particular product categories, profiles of the best and worst companies, practical buying tips and the most useful online resources available. Whether you believe in environmental sustainability, human rights, animal protection, community involvement or social justice, you’ll want this book.

Small enough [4″x6”] to fit in a back pocket or small purse and organized in a shopping-friendly format, The Better World Shopping Guide will help you change the world as you shop! For just 10 bucks, how can you NOT get one?”

the better world shopping guide is available now in our store in downtown Springfield, Missouri or online at www.globalfayre.com.

On scanning through, it’s great to see some of our suppliers mentioned, although in truth most of the producer groups that we buy from are too small to get a mention:

Chocolate – an “A+” goes to Equal Exchange and Divine amongst others, with an “A” going to Shaman.

Coffee – the only “A+” to Thanksgiving Coffee and an “A” to Equal Exchange

Olives and Pickles – the only “A+” goes to Canaan

Nuts – the only “A+” goes to Equal Exchange

Tea – an “A+” for Equal Exchange

Mothers Day Fair Trade Food Basket from Global Fayre

If you think the title to this blog is a mouthful, you should check out the basket itself!

We’ve tried to replicate for the online store what it’s like when you come in to the Global Fayre store to put a gift basket together – so many goodies to choose from!

Here’s what the basic basket looks like:

So what do you get?

Inside the standard basket is a cookie mix (you get to choose from 6 wonderful options from Soups of Success, based in Indiana) a soup mix (a choice of 4 from the Women’s Bean Project and Soups of Success), a scruptious Cornbread Mix from the Women’s Bean Project and a pack of tea from Equal Exchange (choose from Earl Grey, Green, Irish Breakfast, English Breakfast or Rooibos).

Think you’re finished? What about the basket….you can stick with the standard, or upgrade to a mini-Bolga market basket

or you could super-size and go for the full-size market basket:

or you could go for the Freeset options:

Global Fayre and Kickapoo Coffee

We’ve made a great discovery this week; 100% handcrafted artisan fair trade coffee from Kickapoo Coffee in Wisconsin.

It all began when our main coffee supplier, Equal Exchange, flagged up that there was a shortage of Columbian coffee due to adverse weather conditions in Columbia over the past year. We have a regular number of Columbian coffe drinkers, so knew that we needed to find a back-up supplier.

Where to start? As members of the Fair Trade Federation the starting point was to check out the coffee roasters on the member list. This list is available to non-members as well as members, and is a great place to start if you are trying to source Fair Trade products of any kind, whether as a retailer or consumer. So a search of the member list flagged up 15 coffee wholesalers in North America. Panning down the list, some names familiar some not so familiar, one named just jumped out – Kickapoo Coffee! Here in the Ozarks, the name Kickapoo is found everywhere, as it was a major settlement area for the Kickapoo. Turns out that the Kickapoo actually started in the Wisconsin area before moving (voluntarily or not) progressively southwards (check out Kickapoo history here).

So the next task was to find out more about Kickapoo Coffee. They describe themselves as a family-scale enterprise situated near the scenic Kickapoo River in the driftless region of southwest Wisconsin. The foundation of our business is our shared values: connection to the land, consideration for our local and global community, and commitment to our families and those of our trading partners. From our telephone conversations I found out that they take orders each Monday, then roast on Tuesday and Wednesday before shipping out towards the end of the week. So the coffee that we order on a Monday arrives at Global Fayre around a week later as fresh as it could be.

The next step was to find some third party reference about the quality of Kickapoo’s coffee. There is a really useful site called Coffee Review that reviews coffees in a similar way to wines, even giving them a score out of a possible 100. You can read the review of organic Columbian from Kickapoo Coffee here.

organic Columbian from Kickapoo Coffee

Since the samples arrived earlier in the week we have been brewing the Columbian every day to gauge customer response. Everyone seems to have really liked it. It’s a light roast, not at all hard-hitting, with a flavor to savor. Another great feature is the packaging; it comes in a wonderfully re-usable old coffee can!

We’ll be placing our first order next Monday, so might even have our first batch here by the First Friday Art Walk!

The plan is to stock it in the 12oz can, but also to have it in bulk, so that you can  bring your can back and refill it (for a discount of course).

Iced Coffee

Since summer is upon us (in theory at least), it seemed a good time to share these tips and recipes for Iced Coffee from our main coffee supplier, Equal Exchange. Equal Exchange led the way in introducing Fair Trade coffee to the USA over 20 years ago, and we stock around 20 of their fine coffees at Global Fayre.

The following is an extract from the June/July newsletter edition of What’s brewing

Iced coffee is tricky business. Making a refreshing summer coffee drink might sound easy, but it actually requires some technique. For best results, you can’t just brew your coffee, pour it over ice and kazaam! Iced coffee is made! So, what is the best way to make iced coffee?

We knew that regardless of the method, the principles for brewing great coffee would be the same: clean water, proper grind size, proper brew temperature and, of course, great coffee. Our team discovered that temperature shock was a primary challenge, but we found that leaving the coffee at room temperature before icing or refrigerating had the best tasting results.

Each iced coffee method recommended below is suited for light and dark roasts and will bring out the attributes in each coffee.

Method: French Press

Preparation: Use a coarse grind for your coffee. Boil water and set aside for 2 minutes to achieve the proper brew temperature (195-205 degrees Fahrenheit). Infuse ground coffee with hot water and wait for the coffee to steep for 4-5 minutes.
Brew Time: After the 4-5 minute steep, transfer brewed coffee to a glass or ceramic decanter and leave the brew at room temperature for 6 hours. Then add ice and serve or refrigerate the decanter.
Tasting Notes: The weight and texture of this method is unsurpassed and provides an almost espresso-like consistency. The temperature of the hot water used to brew the coffee is crucial to making a great French press for this iced coffee method. In addition, we found that delaying the transfer of the brewed coffee into another vessel produced a dramatically more bitter cup.

Method: Automatic Home Brewer

Preparation: Use 1 unbleached paper filter, 1 well rounded tablespoon of ground coffee per cup of water and begin brewing.
Brew Time: Brew and leave coffee at room temperature, off the warming plate for 6 hours. Add ice and serve or refrigerate.
Tasting Notes: We found that the flavor produced from a home brewer with a paper filter was superior to that of a gold metal filter. The paper filter produced crisp and bright attributes, while the metal filter muted these same flavors and created an almost stale effect on the coffee. In addition, we strongly recommend using a home brewer with at least 850 watts of power to achieve the proper water temperature for brewing which heavily impacts the way the coffee tastes.

Method: Americano

Preparation: Pour a 1-ounce, properly prepared shot of espresso into 3 ounces of cool water and then add ice. Be sure to add the ice last to reduce the temperature shock for the espresso.
Brew Time: 30 seconds
Tasting Notes: This method requires a professional grade espresso machine, but the flavor of the espresso is well preserved and the crema is still in tact.

Method: Toddy Method

Preparation: Using a Toddy brewer, combine 1 pound of ground coffee with 72 ounces of cold water. Let the coffee and water combination stay at room temperature for 24 hours and filter the grounds when the brew cycle is complete.
Brew Time:12 hours
Tasting Notes: The Toddy method produces a very mellow cup of iced coffee that can be stored as a concentrate for up to two weeks in the refrigerator.