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Coffee can be a supremely personal experience. Whether you heat water to a specific temperature in a gooseneck kettle then delicately swirl it on top of single-origin coffee beans that have been ground to a particular size, or heave scoops from a Costco-sized jug of Folgers into a 12-cup brewer, I’m not here to judge. On the other hand, I am here, steaming mug of joe in hand, to highly recommend you interrupt your caffeine routine this month in order to try my absolute favorite beans from Peace Coffee.
I’ve written about Peace Coffee and noted their organic, fair trade and sustainable bonafides before, but the main reason you should try a 12-ounce bag of their beans — start with the Birchwood Breakfast Blend — is simply because they produce the best cup of coffee I’ve ever made at home, the kind you dream about when you go to bed and whose toasty aromas quickly sand the edges off of any stress about the day ahead. (Can you tell I’m drinking some while I write this?)
So that’s two great reasons to try Peace right there: ethical production and an unbeatable cup, whether you’re brewing espresso (my preferred method), a pour-over or plain coffee. However, for the month of April, they’re offering a third fantastic reason: through the 30th, 3% of your purchase price will be donated to the nonprofit of your choice, selected from four organizations they’ve partnered with.
To be clear, Peace Coffee always gives you the choice to donate 1% of your sale to a nonprofit, but since it’s Earth Month (yes, apparently Earth Day is now a whole month — you can complain about people who want their birthday to last 30 days, but we’re all for this particular holiday extension) the company is bumping up that donation to 3%. Two of the nonprofits are tied into environmental causes (Grow Ahead is planting trees through small-scale farmer organizations, Food 4 Farmers is helping coffee-growing families implement sustainable farming practices) and two are tackling other issues the Peace team cares deeply about (Pillsbury United Communities is providing bikes to housing insecure kids, Reclaim is offering mental-health services for LGBTQ+ youth). Once you add some coffee to your online cart, you’ll be able to select one of these four causes to send your percentage to.
A better mug of joe and the good vibes you get from supporting sustainable coffee production and a nonprofit doing amazing work? It’s a rare win-win-win.
Stuff We Swear By: My Love Language Is a Mug of Peace Coffee
The coffee beans I recommend most just happen to be organic, fair trade and sustainable. But it’s the taste that’ll win you over.If you’re looking for a recommendation and aren’t super keen on the aforementioned Birchwood Breakfast Blend, a medium roast with tasting notes of bittersweet chocolate, honey and cedar, then I’d suggest fans of dark roasts pick up a bag of their Twin Cities Signature Blend and all you floral-inclined light-roast goofballs should try the Pollinator Blend, a seasonal offering that just got added back to the lineup for a limited time. (I bought a five-pound bag of this blend last month, so I include myself among the goofballs who can get down with that coffee’s tasting notes of nectarine, black currant and cane sugar.) You can also buy all of those beans whole or in a number of different grinds to suit your preferred brewing method.
The splash of milk to top it off (if you’re into that)? If you happen to be reading this on April 15, Peace Coffee is also offering $3 off 12-ounce bags with code Garden24.
If you came over to my house and I brewed you an Americano with a couple velvety shots of Peace Coffee espresso, I’m convinced that would be the only reason you need to try a bag for yourself. But since you can’t, these donations and discounts will have to be the things that convince you to add a new bag of beans to your rotation.
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