Cause Coffees

What Is a Cause Coffee?

This is a method for you and our company to show our support for a worthy cause. As coffee drinkers we have to purchase coffee anyway, so why not let our passion for fresh roasted coffee help support these causes? Midwest Coffee Company is working with two Indiana organizations that have two very different missions. Both organizations promote education and a healthier lifestyle. We believe we are doing the same thing with our coffee business. We provide earth friendly, people friendly and chemical free products. Many of the chemicals that are used throughout the growing and production process before you get your coffee are harmful to the body and our environment. We are proud to be providing freshly roasted, 100% chemical free coffees, grown with fertilizers and/or pesticides that are strictly of animal or vegetable origin. Our coffee has been protected in warehousing, shipping and handling processes, both abroad and in the US, from cross contamination from chemicals. We also package our coffees in biodegradable packaging and purchase many fairly traded coffees.

Our first cause coffee is the Teal Ribbon Collection for Ovar’coming Together. There are two coffees available to support this cause. Knowledge is Strength Blend is a regular full bodied coffee and Peace of Mind is a Swiss Water Process Decaffeinated Blend. The big kick off for the sale of this new coffee is at the 2009 Ovarian Cancer Run & Walk, Saturday, September 26, 9 a.m., at City Market in Indianapolis. You can pre-order your coffee to be delivered the day of the race at the registration tent, by placing your order on the registration form or order online: Teal Ribbon Collection. Then you can continue to show your support throughout the year as you purchase your regular coffee supply. A larger percentage of the proceeds will go to Ovar’coming Together on all coffee pre-ordered and picked up the day of the race.

Ovar'coming Together is the nonprofit ovarian cancer education and resource organization serving the communities of Indiana through partnerships with the medical community and other cancer-oriented organizations. Go to their website to learn more about this great organization.

Our second cause coffee is Greenway Coffee. The current offering is Greenway Fall Blend. Watch for the ever changing seasons of coffee. As new freshly harvested coffees come on the market we will introduce a new Greenway Coffee Blend for that season. A percentage of the proceeds from the Greenway Coffee will go toward the expansion of the Grant County Cardinal Greenway. Grant County's section of the Greenway is part of a much larger Rails to Trail expanding out to parts of Indiana and eventually becoming part of the American Discovery Trail.

Cardinal Greenways is a private, not-for-profit organization. The Cardinal Greenway is the longest rail-trail in Indiana and spans almost 60 miles from Marion through Muncie to Richmond in East Central Indiana. One of the goals is to join the Marion portion of the trail to the Sweetser Switch section. Creating a completed section 14 miles long.

The Cardinal Greenway receives no public funds to help with trail maintenance. Therefore the Greenway depends on trail users and interested community members to support the many trail enhancements with gifts of time, talent, and financial resources. One more way to show your support is to purchase Greenway Coffee for yourself and your coffee loving friends. Order on-line at Midwest Coffee Company, Marion, Indiana. Greenway Fall Blend will be introduced at October Fest, October 3, downtown Marion and will be served at the upcoming Greenway auction in Gas City on October 24.

In the near future we will be introducing one more cause coffee. We will be working with two of Grant County’s own Taylor University graduates who are working with a Chicago intercity youth ministry. Watch for details.

Passion for Coffee in Your Cooking

I met a fellow blogger (Elisha) recently that has some of the same passions I have, well I didn’t really meet her, she lives in California and live in Indiana. So I don’t think we will be going for coffee any time soon, but maybe we can drink some at the same time and have an internet girls coffee night. Any way she loves the idea of cooking with coffee and likes to experiment with combining them to create something wonderful and unique. She found my Chocolate Cookie recipe during an internet search, she loved it so much she contacted me to see if she could post it on her blog. I told her, well of course, just give me credit for this wonderful creation and all the profits for the mega company she could start in California just from this cookie alone. Kidding about the mega company part. Elisha shared several cookies that night with friends under the stars in LA, read what she has to say at her Hands Down article. Don’t stop there, read the whole blog, it is good.

We agree that the cookies need to have a rich, full body coffee in them and we both used a Kenyan coffee.

On with what I wanted to share with you. Elisha has started a really cool blog. It is call The Caffeinated Culinarian. She has started collect recipes that use coffee and tea, that is where the caffeine comes into play. She has an Earl Grey Shortbread Cookies I would love to try, even though it doesn’t include chocolate.

Last weeks coffee cooking experiment.  We had friends over to try one of our new coffee experiments, a marinate made with coffee. We put chicken breast, pork tenderloin and beef in the marinate for 24 hours and then grilled it. Everyone thought the chicken and pork was great, the beef was just ok. We are still working on the recipe. We will post it when we are happy with what we have created.

Today's coffee cooking experiment.  I took a chocolate chip muffin mix, I don’t usually use box mixes but I was in a hurry, I replaced the water for a cup of strong brewed Mocha Java, added a few white chocolate chips for looks, 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal to pretend the muffins are healthy, put it in paper lined muffin tins and sprinkled a few almond slices on top before baking. Baked them per the box instructions. When they where done I sprinkled them with a little powdered sugar. I will serve them to some late night guess that are coming in from Chicago. If they think I work hard on the muffins, I will let them. Did you notice, chocolate and coffee, it is not dessert to me if it doesn’t have chocolate.

If you have a coffee cooking experiment you would like to share, I am sure other would like to read it. Send it to me.

Do you want to learn more about coffee? You might like to read, The French Roast Coffee Conspiracy, Parts 1-3.

French Press It!

Some writers would address this article to coffee fanatics and connoisseurs, but I am telling everyone, if you haven’t tried it, you have a new coffee experience waiting for you.

The French Press

There are two reasons I can come up with to use a French Press:

TASTE, what the French Press does to the coffee is unique to pressed coffees.

The press makes just enough coffee to fill my travel mug and I don’t have to worry that I forget to turn off the pot before I left.

Any coffee will work in a press; the grind and water are the most important elements. You will need to use a course grind (about like cornmeal) and of course good filtered water.

Well I guess you need to have a French Press. You can get a press at Wal-Mart, Target or Meijer. Name brand, off brand, I don’t believe it really matters that much. I do really love the looks of the Eileen by Bodum and it would make me feel very elegant to share a pot made in the Eileen, but I am not willing to pay the price. I will stick with my boring $20 press.

The whole process is this simple:

Grind two tablespoons of your favorite coffee (course grind)

Heat your filtered water to about 200°

Pour the hot water over the coffee in your press

Stir, smell, Ummmm! Put the lid/plunger on

Let stand 3-5 minutes (length determined by what you like.)

Give it a swirl and then plunge it

Drink it black or pour it over cream & sugar. (I am a cream & sugar person, which just about kills some coffee fanatics.) Oh well!

Short and simple. I could have given these instructions all wordy, but it will still come out the same. One more hint to make it better, pour it slow, drink it slow, relax, think good thoughts and Take Time to Taste the Coffee. Share a pot with your best friend or any friend; they will think they are your best friend after sharing this special coffee moment.

What is the best coffee to use in the French Press? Any coffee that you already love will do well in a press, but I have several that I am fond of right now: French Mission Bourbon, Colombia Serra Nevada, Nicaragua and Sumatra Half-Caf. Ask me in a few months and see if I still am hooked on those. Some press users prefer a dark roast and some prefer a medium roast, which is really just a taste preference. What I have found as a coffee roaster to be of the most importance is; high quality, fresh roasted coffees make the best cup no matter how you brew it. I look for a medium roast, full body with deep earthy, chocolate or nutty undertones, with just a hint of sweet fruitiness. A little of an Ethiopian coffee added will give you that fruit.

So if you have not already ran out and bought yourself a French Press, Press Pot, Coffee Press or Plunger go get one for your home and one for your office.

Create some fun tastes by adding other elements in the press like spices, cocoa and dried fruits. Make an extra cup and chill for an Iced Coffee later.

Why do you like to use a French Press?

Other articles you may want to read: Iced Coffee, the Better Way

BuzzNet Tags: french press,coffee,fresh roasted coffee