You Had Me At Tangerine

Okay - so yesterday marked an historic trip to the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market - historic because I think Starbucks' shares are about to go down. We discovered a new bean.

Now for years, we were very picky about the ethical side of our coffee. Coffee is the one of the largest export commodities in the world (and when I say "one of the largest", I am pretty sure it is still in the top 3!) That's a significant impact! So we wanted to do our part. We ordered fair trade beans online from Level Ground Trading. It was a wonderful experience - we would order the beans online and then I would get an email saying that my beans had been placed in the cue for roasting. They then shipped them within 24 hours of roasting. That was my favorite package to get in the mail. However, for whatever reason, we stopped getting the coffee from them. I saw the same brand in the grocery store so it became easier to just pick up a bag there. Then we started buying Starbucks beans because we really liked the coffee. And then we discovered the big bulk bags of it at Costco. Well, that was a pretty economical option for self-proclaimed coffee snobs like us.

Then yesterday, the whole family went to the market (which was such a wonderful way to spend a Saturday morning). We stopped at the Catfish Coffee booth, which I had been meaning to check out but hadn't bothered because we didn't need coffee yet. Well, we had a wonderful discussion about farmers and small batch roasting and ethnic seasonal flavors. He told me about the Bali Blue, which he only had a few bags left of - that would be it for several months. He said that the beans grew in between rows of tangerine trees. He told us about the farmers and how many acres they had. He said some other stuff but I said to him, "It's okay. We're sold. You had me at tangerine!"

So then as if that wasn't wonderful enough, this morning when I went on their website to grab the link to post here, I discovered that they are attached to my new favorite book store - Mandolin Books! I discovered this little used book store gem at our last book club meeting and fell in love with it. I came home and told hubby all about it - said "You have to come see this place!"

As we left the Farmers' Market, Bali Blue in hand, hubby said to me "That guy has no idea how much coffee he just sold." We brewed a pot last night to enjoy with the most scrumptious carrot cake ever and the look of euphoria on our faces was unmistakable.

They say there will be no eating or drinking in heaven. Well if God changes His mind on that, I've got a phone number for him...