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  • June Single Origin Club: Las Lajas

    Single Origin Club: Las Lajas from Costa Rica

    What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.

    Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted.

    This month we're sharing our Costa Rican coffee grown and honey processed by Beneficio Las Lajas in Central Costa Rica and medium-roasted here at Thanksgiving Coffee in Fort Bragg, CA.


    Las Lajas Coffee from Costa Rica

    This family owned farm is located in Central Costa Rica, at about 1,300 meter altitude. Las Lajas was born in 1936 by the Chacón family and has been in the hard-working hands of husband and wife team, Francisca and Oscar Chacón, since the early nineties.

    The Las Lajas mill is well known for their unique and exotic honey and natural process coffees and their passion for coffee is evident in the care and expertise they impart in every lot of their organic coffee. The "honey process" doesn't involve actual honey from bees, but rather leaves a bit of the sticky, sweet inner part of the coffee fruit on the bean, and that subtle, fruity sweetness is revealed with the right roast.

    Altitude: 1,300-1,600 Meters

    Processing: Honey Processed

    Farmer: Beneficio Las Lajas

    Varietal: Caturra - Catuaí

    Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of our Las Lajas Costa Rican coffee.

    From the Roastery

    June Single Origin Club: Las Lajas

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  • Roastmaster's Select Club: Coffee for Peace

    Roastmaster's Select Club: Coffee for Peace

    Once a month, members of the Roastmaster’s Select Coffee Club have the opportunity to sample unique micro-lot coffees from around the world. “What is a micro lot,” you ask? Read up on how we source the beans and what happens when they reach our roastery.

    Following the harvest cycle, Roastmaster’s Club Members have exclusive access to these one-of-a-kind coffees at their peak freshness, and now it’s your turn!


    Coffee for Peace from Colombia

    From the Coffee for Peace website:

    "Colombia is in the middle of a historic peace process, after fifty plus years of violence. The success of this monumental task rests not only on the political will of the government of Colombia and former rebels, but also on the willingness of the international community to support Colombia economically during this transition. For the thousands of farmers who live in post-violent regions of Colombia, this is an opportunity to leave behind the violence of the past, where production of illicit crops was the norm, and embrace a peaceful future through the production of specialty coffee."

    In the regions of Antioquia, Bolivar, Caqueta, Cauca, Meta and Valle del Cauca, Coffee for Peace in Colombia, the initiative is to make specialty coffee a key component in the transition to peace. Through targeted technical training to improve coffee quality, as well as market linkages, thousands of coffee farmers are tapping into specialty markets, thereby increasing their incomes and helping to sustain the fragile peace process.

    Coffee has been a faithful companion of Colombia for more than 350 years. Today it continues to support the construction of a new future for the coffee farmers.

    Altitude: 1,500 meters

    Processing: Fully washed

    Region: Cauca

    Varietal: Castillo

    from-the-roastery

    Roastmaster's Select Club: Coffee for Peace

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  • May Single Origin Club: Flor de Jinotega

    Single Origin Club: Coffee from Nicaragua

    What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.

    Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted.

    This month we're sharing our Flor de Jinotega coffee grown in Nicaragua by SOPPEXCCA and light-roasted here at Thanksgiving Coffee in Fort Bragg, CA.


    Flor de Jinotega - Coffee from Nicaragua

    Since 2001, we have been proudly purchasing coffee from SOPPEXCCA, a cooperative representing more than 650 families in the mountains of Jinotega, Nicaragua.

    SOPPEXCCA is a global leader in the movement to empower small-scale farmers, mainly women and youth. Their youth program called "Children of Coffee" has inspired many to become baristas, coffee instructors and counselors and offers educational programs such as sports, leadership, environmental education, culture appreciation and more.

    This cooperative has won many awards for the high quality production quality of their coffee - the quality may derive from the high farmer morale. With excellent living conditions, educational programs and gender equality, SOPPEXCCA knows how to take care of their people.

    Altitude: 1,200 meters

    Processing: Wet/Washed

    Farmer: SOPPEXCCA

    Varietal: Bourbon, Typica, Caturra

    Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of our Flor de Jinotega Light Roast coffee.

    Category_Farmers & Cooperatives>SOPPEXCCA

    May Single Origin Club: Flor de Jinotega

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  • Roastmaster's Select Club: Kenya Nyeri Mahiga

    Roastmaster's Select Club: Kenya Nyeri Mahiga

    Once a month, members of the Roastmaster’s Select Coffee Club have the opportunity to sample unique micro-lot coffees from around the world. “What is a micro lot,” you ask? Read up on how we source the beans and what happens when they reach our roastery.

    Following the harvest cycle, Roastmaster’s Club Members have exclusive access to these one-of-a-kind coffees at their peak freshness, and now it’s your turn!


    Nyeri Mahiga Coffee from Kenya

    Situated between Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare Ranges, is Othaya, home to the Othaya Farmers Cooperative Society - with over 11,000 small-scale farmers, including Mahiga Wet Mill. Mahiga Wet Mill is located in Rukira Village along the Mumwe River (originating from the Aberdare Mountains), which is used to pulp the coffee cherries. Their main harvesting season runs from October to December.

    Well-drained, red volcanic soils that are rich in phosphorus make for the ideal coffee-growing environment. The coffee is wet processed, fermented, washed and dried slowly over a 2- 3 week period where the moisture content is reduced to 10-12%. The coffee is then delivered to the dry mill (Othaya Coffee Mill). What should you expect? A full smooth body and positively-interacting tones of black currant, vanilla and nutty hints.

    Altitude: 1,400 - 1,800 meters

    Processing: Washed / Dried in
    Raised Beds

    Farmer: Othaya Farmers Co-op,
    Society Limited

    Varietal: SL 28

    from-the-roastery

    Roastmaster's Select Club: Kenya Nyeri Mahiga

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  • March Single Origin Club: Gorilla Fund Coffee

    Single Origin Club: Gorilla Fund Coffee

    What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.

    Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted, making this medium roast an extra unique feature.

    This month we're sharing our Gorilla Fund coffee grown in Rwanda by the Musasa Collective and medium-roasted here at Thanksgiving Coffee in Fort Bragg, CA.


    Gorilla Fund Coffee from Rwanda

    Over two thousand farms cover 10 km of curvy terrain in the hills of Rwanda - each farm is about an acre and provides homes to families who grow a collection of vegetables and of course, coffee. These farms are managed by the Dukunde Kawa Cooperative, comprised of over 80% women! This women-run cooperative is Fair Trade Certified and has won a Sustainability Award from the Specialty Coffee Association of America in 2012. We are proud to work with them.

    This community of Rwandan coffee farmers—collectively known as Musasa after the area’s main town—produces one of the most elegant coffees in the world. During the harvest, the farmers bring each day’s ripe cherries to a central processing station. There, the fruit is removed and the beans are allowed to ferment before they are carefully washed and dried, revealing an exquisitely sweet Rwandan coffee with citric sparkle and deep chocolate undertones.

    Altitude: 1,600 - 2,000 meters

    Processing: Wet / Washed

    Farmer: Dukunde Kawa Co-op

    Varietal: Bourbon

    Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of our Gorilla Fund Medium Roast coffee.

    from-the-roastery

    March Single Origin Club: Gorilla Fund Coffee

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  • Roastmaster's Select : Bekele Heto Natural

    Roastmaster’s Select: Bekele Heto Natural

    Roastmaster

    Ethiopia Bekele Heto Natural

    Once a month, members of the Roastmaster’s Select Coffee Club have the opportunity to sample unique micro-lot coffees from around the world. “What is a micro lot,” you ask? Read up on how we source the beans and what happens when they reach our roastery. 


    Following the harvest cycle, Roastmaster’s Club Members have exclusive access to these one-of-a-kind coffees at their peak freshness, and now it’s your turn!


    JOIN THE CLUB



    Where it’s Grown

    Photo

    Our Bekele Heto natural coffee is named after its illustrious farmer, Bekele Heto with over 14 years of cultivation experience. In recent years, with the help of the single lot program, Heto has been able to sell his coffee as a micro-lot and he uses these proceeds to support his family of 14. Bekele Heto coffee is grown on a 38-acre farm near the town of Worka-Sakaro. This legendary coffee-growing region is tucked in the south-eastern corner of the coveted Gedeo Zone. This area is known for producing unbelievably sweet, and some of the most fragrant coffees in all of Ethiopia. The surrounding communities reach up to the highest growing elevations for coffee in the world.


    Ripe cherries were carefully hand sorted and floated to remove less dense coffee beans for this natural processed coffee. Next, the cherries are dried on raised beds for 15-20 days, turned regularly. Cherries are covered during the afternoons—where the midday sun is searingly intense, and once the cherries finish drying, they are transported to Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, to be milled and prepared for export through the YCFCU.

    Photo
    • Altitude: 1,800-2,100 meters
    • Processing: Natural/Dried on raised beds
    • Farmer: Bekele Heto
    • Varietal: Indigenous Heirloom Cultivars
    Roastmasters


    african coffee

    Roastmaster's Select : Bekele Heto Natural

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  • Single Origin Club : Delicious Peace from Uganda

    Single Origin Club: Delicious Peace from Uganda

    Delicious peace

    Delicious Peace Coffee from Uganda

    Single Origin coffeeare from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted, making this medium roast especially unique.


    This month we’re sharing our Delicious Peace medium roast, grown in Mbale, Uganda by the Naminyoni Cooperative.


    JOIN THE CLUB

    Photo


    About the Farm

    “Delicious Peace coffee is produced in Uganda by 250 coffee farmers of Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths who work together in their newly reformed cooperative after the last one they belonged to was corrupted by their founder who took all the coops property and a portion of their financial resources. In 2016, after a decade of belonging to the original cooperative, Mirembe Kawomera, they parted ways from the original and perhaps the only Interfaith Cooperative in the world that was fully composed of Jews, Christians and Muslims. We at Thanksgiving Coffee spent from 2006 to 2016 happily buying their coffee and telling their Interfaith story. The story of how it all ended can be found in this 10 part series “A Trip to Africa”.” -Full story by Paul Katzeff can be found here


    Photo
    • Cooperative: Naminyoni Cooperative
    • Altitude:1,400-1,800 meters
    • Processing: Wet / Washed
    • Varietal: Typica
    Delicious Peace
    Delicious Peace

    Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of our Ugandan Medium Roast.


    BUY NOW



    africa

    Single Origin Club : Delicious Peace from Uganda

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  • Holiday Coffee Collection

    Holiday Coffee Collection

    Holidy

    Holiday Blend

    Holiday Blend has delighted our taste buds since 1980, and is one of our most anticipated coffees each year. We have always used the same three origins to create this magical blend: Nicaragua, Colombia and Sumatra.



    Never exactly the same because climate, weather, and even volcanic eruptions create unique growing conditions from year to year, but always the perfect blend for the decadent foods of the Holiday Season




    Holiday

    Our Holiday Blend tasting notes from Roastmaster, Jacob Long: The Colombian origin shines in the first sip with a hint of dark chocolate, followed by a little bit of cedar from Sumatra, with bright and lively notes from Nicaragua, ending with a ripe plum or raisin sparkle and a long wet finish. This blend is perfect for your Holiday gatherings, and they make lovely gifts.


    SHOP HOLIDAY BLEND



    Holiday

    Chanukah Blend

    Chanukah is the eight-day “festival of lights,” a Jewish holiday in the wintertime. It’s celebrated with a nightly menorah lighting, special prayers and fried foods.


    We hope this brew will warm body and soul. When it’s time to send a gift to the special people on your list, give the gift that keeps on giving! Share the warmth of the Holiday season with a cup of delicious Chanukah coffee.

    SHOP HOLIDAY BLEND



    Holiday

    Christmas Blend

    Every year since 1980, we have been creating this special blend to celebrate the holiday season.


    This medium roast features some of our favorite coffees from around the world. This is a perfect coffee to enjoy on those cool winter mornings or pair with the rich, traditional foods of the holidays.

    Tasting notes from Roastmaster, Jacob Long: Milk chocolate at first sip, followed by a hint of berries, ending with a smooth finish.

    When it’s time to send a gift to the special people on your list, give the gift that keeps on giving! Share the warmth of the Holiday season with a cup of delicious Christmas coffee.

    SHOP HOLIDAY BLEND


    We can ship your gifts directly to multiple family, friends, and business contacts in one order.


    Just add products to your cart and choose “Ship To: someone else.”


    Then when you check out you can enter their shipping information, making it easy to ship to multiple people within the same order.


    To order a gift certificate, give us a call at (800) 648-6491.




    chanukah

    Holiday Coffee Collection

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  • Guatemala Guaya'b – November Single Origin Club

    Guatemala Guaya'b – November Single Origin Club

    Guatemala-Guayab-Ligh

    Guatemala Guaya’b

    What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.

    Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted since this brings out their unique aromas and flavor notes.

    This month, we’re sharing our Guatemala Guaya’b Light Roast with you, grown by the Guaya’b Cooperative in Guatemala.

    JOIN THE CLUB

    Guayab

    Tucked deep in the rainforest of northwestern Guatemala, rich volcanic soils, antique varietals, and dense shade come together in the farmers’ hands to produce small volumes of exceptional coffee. Working as family units, the farmers of the Cooperative carefully pick each day’s ripe fruit and process the organic coffee in small batches on their farms. The result is a classic example of the Huehuetenango appellation: a coffee rich with cherry sweetness, lush floral notes, and a deep wine-like body.

    • Cooperative: Asosicacion Guaya’b Civil
    • Altitude:1,300 – 1,600 meters
    • Processing: Wet/Washed
    • Varietal: Bourbon, Typica, Caturra
    Guatemala

    Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of Guatemala Guaya’b.

    BUY NOW

    Guatemala-Guayab-Ligh


    Category_Stories From Origin>Guatemala

    Guatemala Guaya'b – November Single Origin Club

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  • Byron's Maracaturra (Washed) – October Single Origin Club

    Byron’s Maracaturra (Washed) – October Single Origin Club

    Byron_Maracaturra

    Byron’s Maracaturra – Washed

    What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.

    Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted since this brings out their unique aromas and flavor notes. This month, we’re sharing our Byron’s Maracaturra washed with you, grown by Los Piños Farm in Nicaragua.

    About the Farm

    Located in the northern region of Nicaragua is Finca Los Piños. This region produces approximately 83.80% of the national coffee production and has exceptional agro-ecological conditions. They are located in the community of Aranjuez, belonging to the department of Matagalpa. Los Piños farm is part of the El Arenal Natural Reserve, at an altitude of about 1400 meters, where the waters that feed the great Apanas lake are born.

    The Corrales Family has four generations of coffee producers, preserving the best practices that have allowed them to achieve a distinctive and outstanding flavor. They continue to use the cultivation methods used by past generations, adding only organic products made on our own farm into the soil.

    “Coffee is part of our lives and it has become the way we can express to the world our effort, respect and solidarity as a family.”

    Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of Byron’s Maracaturra.

    BUY NOW

    • Farm: Finca Los Piños
    • Altitude:1 ,500 meters
    • Processing: Fully washed
    • Varietal: Maracaturra
    Byrons-Maracaturra
    From the Roastery

    Byron's Maracaturra (Washed) – October Single Origin Club

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  • Recognizing the Value of Women's Unpaid Work

    Revolutionary Fund to Recognize the Value of Women’s Unpaid Work

    A momentous action for gender equality and economic justice came into being and called to mind the roots of fair trade. Thanksgiving Coffee Company had the privilege of being at its epicenter when it began eight years ago in 2013 .

    For 20 years Thanksgiving has purchased green coffee beans from the farmer co-operative Soppexcca in Jinotega, Nicaragua. Under the leadership of Fátima Ismael who believes that ‘woman’s independence can only be achieved through economic autonomy and awareness,’ Soppexcca became the first coffee farm to enact an initiative to pay women for their unrecognized work.

    Joan Katzeff, Co Founder of Thanksgiving Coffee on left with Fátima Ismael, Director of Soppexcca on right.

    Thanksgiving Coffee Companies Co-founder Joan Katzeff wrote about her visit to Nicaragua in her post Women in Coffee part one.

    This initiative was created with Etico, the Ethical Trading Company in 2013 and was part of the agricultural cooperatives, charities, and consumer companies they work with for one common goal – to raise the quality of life for those who most need it. In this case, the focus was on the unpaid work of women who make up 49.58% of the world’s population, yet are disproportionately represented among the most marginalized.

    Despite making significant, often unrecognized, contributions to their local economies and to economic development, women face multiple and overlapping barriers in terms of access to education, information, decision-making power, or earning power.

    To understand these limitations we need to look at how gender equality plays out in the economic landscape of the 21st century. When the GDP (Gross Domestic Products) was created in 1953, the global economy has only included transactions where money changed hands. According to a recent UN Report, the monetary value of unpaid care work is estimated to be 10 to over 50 percent of the GDP. An article from B of A reported in May 2021 this total was estimated to be $11 trillion per year.

    If we look on a global scale it is estimated that 2/3 of the world’s work is unrecognized and uncompensated, and women do between 60-70% more of that work than men.

    (For a great overview take a look at this video The unpaid work that GDP ignores — and why it really counts by Marilyn Waring.)

    The Nicaraguan initiative aims to address the link between paid and unpaid work. For Thanksgiving Coffee Company this translates into an additional $0.10 per pound above the standard price paid for green coffee. As of 2021, this has totaled $30,000 paid into the women’s fund.

    2018-group-soppexcca-mercaditog

    The Cooperative uses these funds to empower women by making organizational, financial, and educational resources available to them. Here are a few examples: Independence and security of having savings in their name, more women are joining the cooperative as full members, a positive example of development for youth and the next generation.

    The groundbreaking Unrecognized Work of Women Fund is exactly the type of work that is built into the heart of our mission, to use coffee for social, environmental, and economic justice. The women of Soppexcca say it’s working, and we see the change. If you want to go deeper into the origin you can read the doctoral paper “Pricing Fair Trade Products to Include Unpaid Labour and Empower Women – the Example of Nicaraguan Sesame and Coffee Cooperatives” by Felicity Butler, Catherine Hoskyns, Nicholas Hoskyns.


    To try Soppexcca’s Organic and Fair Trade coffee from Nicaragua you can purchase the Flor de Jinotega

    We use Soppexcca in our Bee Bold Cause Coffee in Dark and Medium, which uses their coffee as the main bean in the blend.

    Category_Farmers & Cooperatives>SOPPEXCCA

    Recognizing the Value of Women's Unpaid Work

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  • Celebrating 45 Years : MacCallum House & Thanksgiving Coffee

    Celebrating 45 Years: MacCallum House & Thanksgiving Coffee

    Thanksgiving Coffee and the MacCallum House

    We’ve been in the coffee biz for a long time now and it’s time to pay homage to those who have been with us since the very beginning of it all. As you may or may not know, Thanksgiving Coffee was founded in 1972 by Paul and Joan Katzeff – you can read our full story here (it’s really quite interesting). The MacCallum House, a boutique hotel and restaurant in Mendocino Village, has an enthralling history of its own. We’ll talk about that more soon. Here’s to the MacCallum House! Thank you for serving Thanksgiving Coffee to your guests for over 45 years!


    Story of the MacCallum House

    This bit was pulled from the MacCallum House website:


    “The house itself was a wedding present from Daisy (Kelly) MacCallum’s parents, constructed in what was then called “pointed cottage” style. When first built, it was more highly decorated with cresting on the roof ridge and finials at the point of the gables. The architect and builder was John D. Johnson, who did many of Mendocino’s long lasting redwood, New England style Victorian homes.


    Finally completed in 1882, the MacCallum house got a rave review from the local newspaper, The Mendocino Beacon: ‘Hot and cold water in three different places (count ’em!) and there is a bathroom with a sprinkler overhead for family use. The house contains five airy bedrooms with lofty ceiling and corresponding breadth, a cheery dining room, a parlor with space for a library, a pantry with a washroom …it is a beautiful residence.’


    Daisy had the house moved to its present location – a little lower on the lot and a tad to the West. She added the back part at that time. She was a very social person. She needed the extra room, not only for a growing “army” of nieces and nephews, but also for a constant flow of interesting professional people to slake her appetite for “what’s happening”. Artists, writers, and musicians visited – as they still do in her absence – to enjoy the ambiance of her questing spirit.


    Her modus operandi was to seat you in her presence on her sun porch where she regularly held court, pour you a cup of tea, and hand you one of her yummy oatmeal cookies.”


    They even have their own blend. Full-bodied with dark chocolate overtones and a finish of sweet spices. Specially made for the MacCallum House Restaurant in Mendocino.


    Click here to read the entire history.

    maccallumhouse
    MacCallum MacCallum

    45 year

    Celebrating 45 Years : MacCallum House & Thanksgiving Coffee

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  • Roastmaster's Select : Sidama Refisa, Ethiopia

    Roastmaster’s Select: Ethiopia Sidama Refisa

    Ethiopia Sidama Refisa

    Ethiopia

    Once a month, members of the Roastmaster’s Select Coffee Club have the opportunity to sample unique micro-lot coffees from around the world. “What is a micro lot,” you ask? Read up on how we source the beans and what happens when they reach our roastery.

    Following the harvest cycle, Roastmaster’s Club Members have exclusive access to these one-of-a-kind coffees at their peak freshness, and now it’s your turn!


    Join the Club


    Where it’s Grown

    Refisa washing station is located in Nensebo woreda, Sidama, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. The region has a distinguished reputation for producing some of the most sought-after and characterful coffees in the world. The combination of high altitude, plentiful sunshine, unique – indigenous heirloom – varieties and an abundance of local knowledge all contribute to a cup profile characterized by clean, citric acidity, sweet chocolate notes, and floral notes.

    This coffee is fully washed at a central washing station. Farmers deliver their ripe cherries to the washing station where they are carefully sorted and floated to select only the highest quality for processing. The cherries are pulped and then fermented in water for 36-48 hours depending on ambient conditions. The coffee is then thoroughly washed in clean water grading channels, after which it is dried in the sun on raised African beds for 12-15 days, or until the optimum moisture content has been reached. In the daytime the parchment needs to be raked and turned periodically to ensure a consistent drying process. The coffee is also covered between 12pm and 3pm to protect it from the hot sun, and at night time to protect it from rainfall and moisture.

    Ethiopia
    • Altitude: 1,850-2,000 meters
    • Processing: Fully Washed
    • Family Farm: Refisa Wet Mill
    • Varietal: Local Landraces
    Ethiopia
    african coffee

    Roastmaster's Select : Sidama Refisa, Ethiopia

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  • Single Origin Club : Flor de Jinotega, Nicaragua

    Flor de Jinotega – September Single Origin Club

    Nicaragua, Flor de Jinotega

    nicaragua

    What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.

    Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted since this brings out their unique aromas and flavor notes.
    This month, we’re sharing our Nicaraguan Flor de Jinotega with you, grown by the SOPPEXCCA Cooperative.


    Join the Club


    About the Farm

    Nestled in the mountains above the regional capital Jinotega, the farmers of SOPPEXCCA grow coffee under the protective shade of bananas, mangos, and mahogany, and alongside dense forests providing home to dozens of rare orchids and winter habitat for hundreds of migratory songbirds. Jinotega is the heartland of Nicaragua’s coffee producing zone and many of the country’s finest coffees come from the thousands of small-scale family farms arrayed throughout the department’s lush mountain landscape.


    Ethiopia

    This landscape wasn’t always organized this way. Before the revolution of the 1980s many of these small family farms were actually consolidated in expansive haciendas owned by foreigners and the country’s elite and farmed with the intensive use of agrochemical fertilizers and pesticides. The farmers themselves were hired labor, invariably poorly paid. In fact, the genesis of the revolution itself traces directly to these large farms, and the thousands of farmers without access to land. One of the central demands and outcomes of the revolution was a process of land redistribution whereby farmers gained access to the land they had worked for generations. Cooperatives arose out of the need to organize these small farms in larger economic unions that could market coffee, facilitate much needed financing, and serve the community’s broad social, economic, and environmental needs.


    Though relatively small in membership, SOPPEXCCA has emerged as Jinotega’s leading cooperative. The cooperative represents 654 families and is recognized around the world as a leader in the movement to empower small-scale farmers, especially women and youth. SOPPEXCCA has built primary schools in its member communities, alongside pharmacies, cooperative grocery stores, and technical assistance centers. Extensive micro-credit programs offer members access to financing at a discount of 75% compared to locally available commercial finance. Long-term work to develop sustainable coffee production has resulted in a cooperatively-owned organic fertilizer production facility, innovative climate change adaptation efforts, and of course, ongoing coffee quality improvement programs.


    anita jinotega

    During the harvest, coffee is carefully picked, then depulped and fermented overnight before it is washed and sun-dried. Careful attention to the subtleties of processing and the farmer’s pride produce sweetly floral coffee, with notes of brown sugar and cacao, summer stone fruit, and lingering taste of milk chocolate.

    Flor de Jinotega

    Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of Flor de Jinotega.


    • Farm: SOPPEXCCA
    • Altitude: 1,200 meters
    • Processing: Wet/Washed
    • Varietal: Bourbon, Typica, Caturra
    Nicaragua
    Category_Farmers & Cooperatives>SOPPEXCCA

    Single Origin Club : Flor de Jinotega, Nicaragua

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  • Roastmaster's Select :

    Roastmaster's Select: Tanzania "Zanzibar" Peaberry

    Ethiopia

    Once a month, members of the Roastmaster’s Select Coffee Club have the opportunity to sample unique micro-lot coffees from around the world. “What is a micro lot,” you ask? Read up on how we source the beans and what happens when they reach our roastery.

    Following the harvest cycle, Roastmaster’s Club Members have exclusive access to these one-of-a-kind coffees at their peak freshness, and now it’s your turn! We were so impressed by this beautiful Tanzanian peaberry coffee that we ordered a fresh lot, just for you, for a limited time. Don’t miss your chance to try a bag of this exquisite coffee from volcanic foothills, nestled at the base of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.


    Join the Club
    • Altitude: 1,400-1,800 meters
    • Processing: Washed, Sun-dried
    • Grower Estates of N. and S. Tanzania
    • Varietal: N & KP, Kent, Bourbon
    Tanzania


    Where it’s Grown

    Towering at almost 20,000 feet above the African landscape, Mount Kilimanjaro is the highest point on the African continent and the highest “freestanding” mountain on the planet. It is in this nutrient-rich volcanic soil, at the foothills of the monumental giant, that some of the best coffee in the world in grown.

    Tanzania is enormous, bordered by a few of our other coffee producing countries, like Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Just below the equator, Tanzania is in a prime location for growing coffee, but produces less than one percent of the world’s Arabica coffee supply. This year, the micro-lot that we received is excellent, and we think you’ll love it too.


    Tanzania is perfectly situated for growing exquisite coffee, yet it produces less than one percent of the world’s Arabica coffee supply. Still, this modest production plays an important role in the nation’s economy as its third largest agricultural export. This year, the micro-lot that we received is superb and we are so thankful to be able to share it with you.


    This Tanzania peaberry coffee is a premium blend from high grown estates in Southern and Northern Tanzania. The Southern Estates (lunji, Utengule, and Kanji Lanji) are located in Mbozi and Mbeya, in the southern highlands of Tanzania. The Northern Estates (Mondul, Burka, Ngila, and Lyamungu) are located in the Karatu District on the slopes of the Ngorongoro crater, surrounded by the Ngila Forest reserve, as well as on the southern foothills of Mt. Kilimanjaro.

    african coffee

    Roastmaster's Select : "Zanzibar" Peaberry, Tanzania

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  • Single Origin Club : Las Lajas, Costa Rica

    Costa Rica Las Lajas – August Single Origin Club

    Costa Rica, Beneficio Las Lajas

    What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.


    Ethiopia

    Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted since this brings out their unique aromas and flavor notes.

    This month, we’re sharing our Costa Rica Las Lajas with you, grown and honey processed by Beneficio Las Lajas in Central Costa Rica.

    • Farm: Beneficio Las Lajas
    • Altitude: 1,300-1,600 meters
    • Processing: Honey-processed
    Costa Rica


    About the Farm

    This family owned farm is located in Central Costa Rica, at about 1,300 meter altitude. Las Lajas was born in 1936 by the Chacón family and has been in the hard-working hands of husband and wife team, Francisca and Oscar Chacón, since the early nineties.

    Las lajas

    Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Gedeb is light roasted locally at Thanksgiving Coffee and delivers peachy and milk chocolate flavor notes with a graham cracker finish.


    Costa Rica

    Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of Beneficio Las Lajas.
    BUY NOW

    Category_Farmers & Cooperatives

    Single Origin Club : Las Lajas, Costa Rica

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  • Mendocino Trail Stewards Update

    Mendocino Trail Stewards Update

    Chad

    Mendocino Trail Stewards Reflects on Progress

    by Chad Swimmer – President

    July 10, 2021, marks sixteen months since the founding of the Mendocino Trail Stewards–488 days that have changed my world irrevocably. It wasn’t just that six mountain bikers gathered around a table then somehow matured to a coalition which has grabbed the attention of the highest levels of the state government. It wasn’t only the pandemic, the acceleration of climate change, the barely averted July 6 Capitol Hill putsch. It wasn’t vapor trail-less blue skies turning apocalyptic orange, the shattering of heat records across the Pacific Northwest, the dying of billions of clams and mussels.

    Mendocino

    It was a greater transformation, a surprising ray of hope for the future, an unlikely group of strangers joining hands and hearts into an unexpectedly effective coalition, one which includes the Pomo People, young children, once-retired forest activists, and climate scientists, among others. The Coalition to Save Jackson State Forest has struck a chord with our push for accountability, tribal rights, and a legislative solution to the California Department of Forestry’s (CDF) mismanagement of our beloved public lands. Fueled by a pervasive rage at the Trump Administration’s incessantly racist crisis-mongering and by the powerlessness we all felt with Covid-19 sweeping the nation, our ranks have boomed.We have opened the door on an issue right in our backyards, one combining our love of the redwood forest with our greatest fear: climate-driven annihilation.


    Mendicino

    From 18-year old Greasy Pete, who climbed into Mama Tree’s branches and captured the imaginations of thousands on April 9, to 5-year old Jory, our youngest activist hero, to Paul and Joan Katzeff, whose Redwood Forest Reserve Blend Coffee has kept me organizing late into the night. From the prayers and blessings of Priscilla and Michael Hunter of the Coyote Valley Band of Pomo, the tireless work of their lawyer and ally Polly Girvin, to U’ilani Wesley’s proud chants echoing through the groves, the people of Mendocino County are again at the forefront of change.


    CDF has been forced to take notice and they are fighting back, but we still have the moral upper hand. Members of the Mama Tree Network and Redwood Nation Earth First! have repeatedly stopped timber harvest operations, saving thousands of trees and frustrating forest managers. Public comments submitted to CDF have delayed the approval of the controversial Little North Fork Big River and Mitchell Creek plans by months–and hopefully indefinitely. We have overwhelmed California Natural Resource Agency meetings with our calls for change.


    Where we go from here is uncertain, but our aim is high. We are drafting litigation to rewrite the Forest Practices Act for the entire State of California, righting historic wrongs and paving the way for this forest to become our ally in protecting our children’s future. Join us for our first ever Caspar Forest Fest, on July 31, from 1:00 to 7:00 at the Caspar Community Center for music, speakers, food, kids’ fun, and to find out how you can become a part of it. Hope to see you there!





    Join us for our first ever Caspar Forest Fest

    July 31, from 1:00 to 7:00

    at the Caspar Community Center



    Mendocino Trail Stewards are working to create a visionary model demonstration forest on the Northern California Coast, the Mendocino Coast Redwood Forest Reserve, 20,000 acres of second growth coast redwood forest, preserved in perpetuity for the demonstration of how humans and nature can partner to:


    • Fight Climate Change
    • Restore Degraded Ecosystems
    • Promote Spiritual & Mental Health
    • Support Sustainable Economies

    Sign the petition and add your voice to the movement to #createthereserve.




    The Coffee

    The Mendocino Trail Stewards’

    Redwood Forest Reserve Blend

    When you drink this coffee, your purchase supports Mendocino Trail Stewards’ efforts to create the Redwood Forest Reserve.

    Mendocino

    Kenya Peaberry

    Medium Roast

    A big, bold, sweet and fruity cup of coffee – with a long finish.

    Your purchase supports forest conservation efforts by Mendocino Trail Stewards.


    Buy this coffee
    Kenya Peaberry

    Dark Roast

    A bold, sweet blend with hints of nuts, chocolate, and caramel.

    Your purchase supports forest conservation efforts by Mendocino Trail Stewards.


    Buy this coffee
    Kenya Peaberry

    Decaf

    Complex and sweet enough to enjoy straight, yet bold enough to punch through milk.

    Your purchase supports forest conservation efforts by Mendocino Trail Stewards.


    Buy this coffee
    Category_From the Roastery>Featured

    Mendocino Trail Stewards Update

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  • Roastmaster's Select: Sumatra, Sara Até

    Roastmaster’s Select: Sumatra, Sara Até

    Sumatra, Sara Até

    Each month, our Roastmaster, Jacob Long, hand-picks fresh and unique micro lot coffees that we deliver straight to your doorstep. “What is a micro lot,” you ask? Read up on how we source the beans and what happens when they reach our roastery.


    Sumatra

    Jacob’s selection this month is a medium roast from the Sara Até Cooperative in Sumatra. By roasting the Sara Até to a medium roast level, he coaxed out a rich, full body, and discovered a maple syrup sweetness and a lingering complex finish.


    Join the Roastmaster’s Select Club to begin your coffee journey around the world.

    • Altitude: 1,000-1,500 meters/3,280-4,920 feet
    • Processing: Wet Hulled, "Giling Basah"
    • Producer: Sara Até Cooperative
    • Region: Villages near Takengon, Aceh
    Sumatra


    About the Farm

    At an altitude of about 1,500 meters sits the Sara Até Cooperative in the Villages near Takengon, Aceh, northern Sumatra. Sara Até was founded in 2011 and consists of 500+ members. The coffee is processed in a technique called ‘wet hulling’ or ‘giling basah’ in Indonesian. This is not to be confused with wet processing. Wet hulling is similar to wet processing initially – with the first steps of picking and pulping the coffee beans, then fermenting in order to break down the fruity layer of the coffee cherry called the mucilage, which is washed off the next day. The difference is, the drying process is much shorter in wet-hulling and it’s only dried until 50% of the moisture remains, resulting in lower acidity levels and more flavor and aroma.

    Sumatra



    Category_Farmers & Cooperatives

    Roastmaster's Select: Sumatra, Sara Até

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  • Ethiopia Yirgacheffe – July Single Origin Club

    Ethiopia Yirgacheffe – July Single Origin Club

    Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Gedeb

    What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from.


    Ethiopia

    Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted since this brings out their unique aromas and flavor notes.

    • Cooperative: Worka Cooperative, YCFCU
    • Altitude: 2,000+ meters/4600-6,500+ feet
    • Processing: Washed, dried in raised beds
    Ethiopia


    About the Farm

    Located in southern Ethiopia at about 2,000 meters above sea level sits the Worka Cooperative, comprised of around 411 members, and is part of the larger Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperatives Union (YCFCU). The Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Gedeb coffee is picked and pulped and washed on the same day, then to be dried in raised beds for no more than seven days.

    Sumatra

    Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, Gedeb is light roasted locally at Thanksgiving Coffee and delivers peachy and milk chocolate flavor notes with a graham cracker finish.


    Ethiopia

    Not ready to join the Single Origin Club? Make a one-time purchase of Ethiopia Yirgacheffe.
    BUY NOW



    Category_Farmers & Cooperatives>Yirgacheffe Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union

    Ethiopia Yirgacheffe – July Single Origin Club

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  • Pollinator Week Partner Post

    Here is a post from our Bee Bold Alliance partner Conservation Works, with a highlight on our collaborative efforts to restore biodiversity and support local food systems with youth.

    Bee Bold

    Stitching Together Bee Patches of Pollinator Habitat

    By Oona Heacock, Executive Director of Conservation Works
    Bee

    On a foggy morning along the Westport Headlands Park, Conservation Works volunteer Joan Wier sets up tools for a group of Bee Bold Youth Core teens and their parents as they gather to plant a new habitat garden for bees. As the teens arrive at this dramatic seaside park, Joan guides them around the perimeter of the future garden, hanging string around wooden stakes that the group pounds into the mowed grass to form the shape of a whale in honor of the Westport Whale Festival held each year at this site. A Bee Patch is being created.


    “The trick is to plant 3 foot blocks of the same kind of flower to attract pollinators and plant four seasons of bloom,” Weir explained. She went on to demonstrate how to hand grub the grassy headlands site to expose soil and then directed one mom and daughter pair to cast native lupin seeds directly onto the soil while others mixed seeds with clay to form little seed bombs which later would be rolled onto the site at the end of the day.


    Bee Bee

    Bees are struggling. Multiple factors are causing this decline, but coming together as a community and involving youth to plant a “Bee Patch” of native flowering plants along with clean water and places to rest and nest along our farms, parks and homes can make all the difference in restoring healthy bee populations.


    Conservation Works believes that the likelihood of long-term environmental sustainability of our pollinators needs to involve the next generation. Our Bee Patches program energizes youth to choose to be environmental stewards throughout their life, and nurtures them to become the change-makers for taking direct action to reverse the downward spiral in pollinator populations.


    Bees inspire a sense of wonder and fascination in most of us and can be a good way to introduce youth and community groups of any age and background to the larger natural world. Bees can be found in any landscape. We will never see most of these furry little wildlife because they’re fast, often small, and nest underground. But take a summer stroll out in your garden or at a local park and you’re likely to spot more bees than you can count. Other beneficial insects and hummingbirds use a garden, too, as it’s a busy oasis of year-round habitat and food resources. Planting a garden is a powerful way to take local action and provide an offset to mounting, worldwide pollinator declines.


    Bee Bee

    Everyone can take action with Conservation Works and the Bee Bold Alliance during National Pollinator Week by growing pollinator-friendly flowers, providing nest and rest sites, avoiding pesticides, and spreading the word. And don’t forget to make your commitment official by becoming a Pollinator Protector. Make your pledge.

    bee bold

    Pollinator Week Partner Post

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  • Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and the Mustangs

    I met my first wild horse in a movie theatre in Greenwich Village in 1963.

    Paul Katzeff

    The story behind Wild Grounds Coffee

    By Paul Katzeff, Co-Founder & Roastmaster Emeritus

    He was on the wrong end of a lasso being held by Clark Gable. The horse was bucking and raising up on his hind legs, pulling desperately away from his capture. Marilyn Monroe was pulling on Clark’s hand pleading for the horses freedom. Clark was determined to get his horse and another payday. The Name of the Movie was The Misfits and was about three Aging Cowpokes who once made their living capturing Mustangs and selling them into the slaughter houses for meat. In this movie they complained about how the horses were no longer in abundance , hard to find and it was impossible to make a decent days pay capturing the ‘things’. Maralyn was as beautiful as the horses eyes, fierce now but with long lashes and deep deep soft eyes. Marilyn was beautiful but it was the Mustang, fighting for her freedom, that stole my heart,

    Today, 58 years later there is a similar story playing out on the millions of square miles of rangeland between the western slope of the Rocky Mountains and the Eastern slope of the Sierra Nevadas. Today it is not aging cowboys in Pick up trucks and lassos , but Federal Agents in Helicopters rounding up entire herds of free horses and burros and their children, often in the chaos separating family members or driving the horses to their death in the frenzy. Hay Feds, what’s the problem?

    The round ups gather the horses into corals so they wont compete for the space grassland feed out there on the range. Thet range is for the Beef Cattle ! Our government leases our citizen owned land to cattle ranchers they can make money selling beef to our meat eating society of which I must admit , I am one. The cost of feeding jailed Mustangs is estimated to be in the billions. And why, when the 1970 Congress afforded Mustangs America’s protection, has all the Bureau of Land Management continued to harass the best symbols of freedom we have ?

     

    A horse has eyes that tell a story. Each of us who have looked into the eyes of a Mustang will never forget the moment , never.

     

    Yes, it happened for me long ago in a movie theatre but last October, on the way from Northern California to Phoenix to play baseball , I pulled my car onto a a sandy dirt road to nowhere and drove into the dessert just to see what was out there on that dirt road to nowhere. About five miles in, there they were ! Three magnificent free roaming Mustangs …and they were looking at me from a hill about a home runs distance away. I stopped, my heart jumping , I exited my car and laid down on the very hot sand and stared back. Finally, the circle was complete. I saw them alive and free.

    Who belongs on that land we, as citizens own but have delegated the responsibility for their safety to The Bureau of Land Management to secure ? And why has the BLM chosen to represent the Cattle Industry and not our Mustangs?

    When I discovered that others of my kind were fighting for them too, we joined the American Wild Horse Campaign and created a coffee package to tell coffee lovers whose side we were on. As with our other Cause Coffee programs, we wanted to empower our customers to help raise funds and awareness for this important work.

    Horse and stuntman in the 1960 film "The Misfits"


    Every time you purchase a package of AWHC coffee, Thanksgiving Coffee Company donates $3.00 to the AWHC.

    When we are a bit further past this COVID-19 Pandemic we are planning a visit, jointly with AWHC staff, to visit and see these magnificent spirits up close. I hope you will be able to come with us. Until then, buy their coffee and know you are on the bus with us. And let me use that old expression , “The steak is as good as the sizzle “ when I say that the coffee inside the package is as good as it gets. You be the judge.

     

    Wild Grounds Coffee
    supports the American Wild Horse Campaign

    The American Wild Horse Campaign (AWHC) is dedicated to preserving American wild horses and burros in viable free-roaming herds for generations to come, as part of our national heritage.

    Since 2004, this organization has been raising awareness and making change for America’s wild horses. Thanksgiving Coffee Company has partnered with them to create Wild Grounds, a cause coffee to save the wild horses.

    all-blogs

    Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and the Mustangs

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  • Roastmaster's Select: Finca La Cabaña

    Roastmaster's Select: Finca La Cabaña

    Roastmasters Club Columbia

    Finca La Cabaña (June 2021)

    Each month, our Roastmaster, Jacob Long, hand-picks fresh and unique micro lot coffees to bless your taste buds. “What is a micro lot,” you ask? Read up on how we source the beans and what happens when they reach our roastery.


    This June, some of the finest Colombian coffee is making its way to your doorstep, straight from the Thanksgiving Coffee roastery! Join the Roastmaster’s Select Club to begin your coffee journey around the world, this month with our Finca La Cabaña Colombian coffee.


    • Altitude: 1100-1300 meters/4500-6000 feet
    • Processing: Fully washed, dried in solar dryers
    • Producer: Dario Delgado – La Cabaña
    • Region: Magdalena, Colombia
    Roastmasters-Colombia_La_Cabana


    About the Farm

    In the mountains of Northern Colombia sits the La Cabaña farm at about 4500-6000 feet, which is an ideal micro-climate for growing the highest quality Arabica. The farm has a dense over story of native trees allowing for sanctuary of migratory song birds and has been certified by the Smithsonian as “Bird Friendly”. -Roastmaster, Jacob Long

    Bird Friendly



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    Roastmaster's Select: Finca La Cabaña

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  • Kenya Nyeri Peaberry – June Single Origin Club

    Kenya Nyeri Peaberry – June Single Origin Club

    Kenya Nyeri Peaberry

    What is a Single Origin coffee? Simply put, these coffees are defined by the place they come from. Single Origin coffees are from a specific farm or group of farms that make up small cooperatives. You’ll find that most of our Single Origin coffees are light roasted since this brings out their unique aromas and flavor notes.


    We are thrilled to share the fascinating stories behind each coffee. This month, Roastmaster, Jacob Long, hand-picked our Kenya Nyeri Peaberry coffee, which also happens to be one of our 2017 Roaster of the Year award winners! Join our Single Origin Club now to have only the finest of coffees delivered to your doorstep each month.


    Kenya Kenya mahiga red cherry guys at gate

    About the Farm

    This Kenyan coffee is grown on the eastern slopes of Aberdares mountain ranges in Nyeri County, Kenya by the family-owned farms of the Othaya Farmers Co-operative Society Limited (FCS). Established in 1956, FCS has more than 14,000 members who generally have half acre plots averaging 250 coffee trees.


    Kenya Peaberry

    Kenya Nyeri Peaberry has a unique mouthfeel with hints of milk chocolate, ripe orange and caramel.

    Altitude: 1400-1800 meters/4600-5900 feet

    Processing: Washed, dried in raised beds

    Cooperative: Othaya Farmers Co-op, Society Limited



    Category_Farmers & Cooperatives

    Kenya Nyeri Peaberry – June Single Origin Club

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  • Giving Tuesday, October Recap

    Giving Tuesday Recap – October 20th

    Thank you for your #GivingTuesday support!


    Together, we raised 339.90
    for The Southern Poverty Law Center.

    Thanksgiving Coffee Company stands in solidarity with the movement for racial justice. To put our words into action, one Tuesday of each month remaining in 2020, we have committed to donating 10% of all sales from all of our coffees on that day to an organization working to advance racial justice.


    This month, we donated to The Southern Poverty Law Center, founded in Montgomery, Alabama in 1971 by Morris Dees, Julian Bond and Joe Levin. The SPLC adopted a new mission statement in July 2020:
    “The SPLC is a catalyst for racial justice in the south and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the rights of all people.”


    We encourage everyone to check out their work. Learn more here: www.splcenter.org/


    This donation was made possible with your support, and it will help fund their fight for justice for all Americans. Every dollar counts, and we could not have done it without you, our amazing customers.


    Stay tuned for our next #GivingTuesday in November!





    Category_From the Roastery>Announcements

    Giving Tuesday, October Recap

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