Just Coffee Cooperative

We are happy to announce that Santa Anita's coffee is in shop and ready to go.

Santa Anita is a community of ex-guerrillas and their families tucked into the lush Pacific slope of the Sierra Madres near Colomba, Costa Cuca, Guatemala. The people of Santa Anita have made a commitment to build a fair and peaceful society in Guatemala and are working hard to create a better future for their children.

We went far beyond the fair trade minimum and paid over $2.00 a pound for their sought after beans. Unique in its sweet high notes and deep robust finish, we are privileged to be the only roasters in the world to offer their incredible coffee.

The coffee will feature 10 different labels, all photos taken by JC worker-owners between 2004 and 2006.

Check out the labels here or you can order it here.

When you buy this wonderful coffee you are supporting a number of innovative projects:

The Santa Anita Historical Memory Project: Jim, Eva, and our friend Beth from Mad-FTAA/USFT are working on a documentary film to tell the story of Santa Anita's transition from guerrillas to coffee farmers.

We are excited to announce that Just Coffee and Underground Catering teamed up to take first place in the coffee and sweets competition at the 2006 Madison Food and Wine Show!

Our winning brew was our light-roasted Ethiopian Yirgacheffe from the OROMIA Co-op paired with Underground Catering's pear and hickory nut cake. In the same competition we also took second place with our Revolution Roast and Renaissance Farm's cinnamon rolls.

Soon we will be trotting out some very special coffees with limited availability.

The first coffee is a light/medium roasted coffee from our partners at the ACMPASA co-op in Santa Anita de la Union, Guatemala. This coffee features all of the mellow sweetness of a great Central American bean, but has an earthy undertone much like a Sumatran arabica. We bought every bean that Santa Anita produced this year and paid them $2.00 a pound-- far above the fair trade minimum price. Try some and see what makes Santa Anita the gem of Guatemala.

The second coffee is a full-city roasted peaberry bean from the Maya Vinic co-op in Chiapas, MX. This coffee has all of the rich chocolate notes of MV's regular bean, but has a strong and nutty finish that recalls a good Ethiopian bean. Peaberries are extremely rare and sought after, and we will soon have them in limited supply. This bean is doubly special as it is naturally grown by farmers who are working through the long and expensive organic certification process. Your purchase of their coffee helps support their continued participation in this three-year odyssey.