Wise Coffee Club Launches in LA Area!

Live in the L.A. Area?  Want to have Wise Coffee at home?  Finally!  Starting this week, Wise Coffee will begin Home or Office delivery of our artisanally roasted, fair trade, organic coffee right to your door! 

How does it work?

• Just fill out the form and return via email or fax  (click here for form link).
• Let us know how much coffee you’d like delivered, how often, and where.
• Look for an email confirming your membership.  On the delivery day assigned to your area you’ll receive Wise Coffee’s current coffee blend or single origin roast directly to your door!

How much coffee can you order?

• The minimum order is 24 oz (delivered in two 12-oz bags).  You can always order more if you need it! 
• Just let us know by the previous Sunday of your delivery week, and we can adjust the order.

Is there a charge for delivery?

• No!  Delivery is FREE!

Want to know more?  Visit the Wise Coffee Club page on our website.

Many Decaffeinate Teas and Coffees Are Manufactured Using Carcinogenic Solvents

According to a post by PreventDisease.com on EatLocalGrown.com's blog, most countries permit three food additives for decaffeination of tea and coffee: carbon dioxide, ethyl acetate and methylene chloride. The last two are chemical solvents that strip the caffeine from green coffee beans or tea leaves.

Green tea labeled as “naturally decaffeinated” may have been decaffeinated using carbon dioxide, whereas methylene chloride is more often used to remove caffeine from black tea or coffee.

Methylene chloride, or dichloromethane is recognized as possibly carcinogenic, and for this reason, many manufacturers have switched to using carbon dioxide or the Swiss Water process instead.  Of course, the methylene chloride is removed from the coffee or tea before it is packaged and sold, but knowing your tea or coffee has been processed using a carcinogenic solvent may influence your shopping choices.

Bottom line is if you're going to drink coffee, make it caffeinated.

Coffee Pods: A Trashy Dilemma

According to Vanessa Rancaño of the East Bay Express, "Single-cup brewing is the hottest and most lucrative sector of the coffee market nationwide, but it's also producing massive amounts of trash." Sales are projected to reach as much as $6.6 billion by 2016.  One of the main reasons this is such a phenomenon is that "single-cup systems offer a near-irresistible trifecta: convenience, consistency, and variety," says the East Bay Express. 

It is a toxic industry not just because hot, cheap plastic is released into your coffee with every serving, but the very convenience sell - the 'use it and toss it in the trash' selling point - is causing over 15 billion cheap plastic single-use containers to be thrown into the trash every year worldwide.  According to SmartPlanet.com's Bulletin, that equals 100s of millions of pounds of "pod" trash is entering landfills annually.  And this trash is NOT recyclable.  According to the website EnvironmentalLeader.com, an "estimated 9.1 billion single-serve coffee and drink cartridges wind up in US landfills alone, amounting to some 19 million cubic feet of waste."

How can we address this and make a difference?  Well, obvious answer is to wake up and (responsibly) dispose of that ridiculous single-cup coffee maker and start brewing freshly roasted, organic coffee!  (But we all know THAT's not going to happen).  Here are some more actually viable means to address this trashy dilemma:

1. Use a re-usable coffee pod made of BPA-free plastic, like the EkoBrew.  It's under $10 on Amazon.  You can put your own coffee in it (like Wise Coffee!) and it will be able to be used and re-used for a long time.  Keurig also sells a refillable K-Cup filter."
2. A company called OneCoffee is using biodegradable capsules.  Biome Bioplastics’ biodegradable coffee pods can also provide a sustainable packaging alternative.  Canterbury Coffee is a OneCoffee client.
3. Swiss Coffee Co. is also selling compostable capsules for its Beanarella brewing system.
4. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters subsidiary Keurig, "has been searching for a way to combat claims of unsustainability," Rancaño wrote. "In 2011, the company started a pilot-scale take-back program for corporate customers, where coffee grounds are sent to a compost facility and the rest of the materials incinerated in a waste-to-energy plant.

Beer v Coffee: Which Is Better for Your Brain to Be Creative?

According to Ryoko Iwata of the blog I Love Coffee, the answer might be… both! 

 

How it works:  Working in conjunction, if you have the blood alcohol level of 0.07 (about the equivalent to 2 8-oz beers), your cerebral cortex, which is responsible for conscious thought, language and interaction, frees up from its normal distractions that occupy your mind and block creative thought.  And BAM!  You’re creative.  Where does the coffee come in?  Well, when adenosine binds with its adenosine receptor, you normally will feel drowsy.  But, when you introduce caffeine, adenosine binds with the caffeine and 5 minutes later… BAM!  You have the ability to focus and the energy to act on your ideas.

What’s the best time to drink a beer?  When you’re looking for a creative thought.  And the best time to drink coffee?  When you have to have the stamina to execute those brilliant ideas!

So, what’s the downside?  Warns Iwata, “Drink too much of either and you’ll lose the benefits of both. (Everything in moderation, folks!)

Sexual Health and Coffee!

Hey, lovers!  Want a good night of sex?  Have a cuppa Joe!  According to researcher Dr. Tierney Lorenz of the Kinsey Institute at Indiana University, the caffeine from coffee stimulates your “fight or flight” reaction in your body – the same body heating, pulse racing reaction that primes your body for sexual arousal.  Dr. Lorenz explains that this reaction “potentially provides additional blood flow to your genitals.” 

Dr. Lorenz does point out some timing issues, though.  It takes approximately 15 minutes for the caffeine’s affects to surface, and they wear off in 2-3 hours.  She warns of the dangers of overdoing a good thing as well.  “Too much stimulation can suppress arousal and backfire.”  How much is good?  Stick to one [amazing] cup.*

Happy Valentine’s Day, coffee lovers!  Cheers!

______________________________

The Good Life March 1, 2014 issue, "The Link Between... Your Sexual Health and Your Morning Joe"

 

Fairtrade International introduces Standard for hired labour

Wise Coffee has a strict policy to have organic AND fairtrade certificates on file for ALL of the coffee that we roast and serve.  Fairtrade International just introduced a new Standard that makes positive steps towards making fair working wages and trade practices more achievable and enforceable.  Here is a link to an article that discusses this new Standard:

http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=primecreative

You can also read the report on the new Standards on Fairtrade International's website:

http://www.fairtrade.net/fileadmin/user_upload/content/2009/standards/documents/generic-standards/2014-1-15_HL_FINAL_links.pdf

A Year of Beginnings

2013 was a pretty amazing year for Wise Coffee!  We started the process of building out our new roastery, got our plans turned in to the County (argh!  now it begins!), added some new WONDERFUL clients, and made some pretty incredible friends along the way.  You can find Wise Coffee now brewed and served at several LA foodie hubs, like Venice Alehouse, Bank of Venice, Red Bread, and the Larchmont to name a few.  (If you're experiencing a "have to have my Wise Coffee" moment, you can even buy our beans at Venice Alehouse and Red Bread).  We've grown our family (shout out to Megan - our partner and dearest friend - and fan), and we're looking forward to an unforgettable and groundbreaking 2014.

One of the most poignant metaphors/omens for this year included the vast number of butterflies that established themselves in our garden this year!  9+ caterpillars grew into butterflies right before our eyes - and they liked flying to (and landing on) Ryu (our roaster).  What a year!