Naturally this means we are to expect the inevitable mass marketing, price fluctuation (that experimental phase where the gouging stops to allow for mass retail but will still be high enough to make you feel like you're not buying Eight O'Clock Coffee or some shit), and the eventual fading in the distance of the indie roaster that never wanted to be the Omnipotent Evil Corporate Giant but still reveled in the celebrity status of it's founder Duane Sorenson. Yup. Over. Dammit. It was so good, too! But I digress...
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...My point is that there seem to be several up-and-comer types on the PDX coffee scene...as evidenced on the shelves of the New Seasons grocery store, waiting to be the next Stumptown. One would appear to be Happy Cup Coffee, promoting a cause as well as a fine-roasted cup. Providing living wages for disabled persons, the company claims to empower "people with potential" in the local community, one mug at a time. This is in addition to their partnership with Kabum Inc., a fair-trade coffee wholesaler, that rather bluntly admits to being
"born entirely of altruistic, humanitarian interests with one goal in mind: to make as much money as possible for the people of Uganda by allowing them to bypass typical middlemen and sell their coffee direct to buyers on the world market."
Ok ok. Got it. So for $8.95 I get altruism for two causes, one local, one international, when buying a non-pound (don't get me started) of whole bean coffee. Do I need this? Not sure. Of course it's good to get self actualization through ethical consumer choices, but that's not why I would buy it again. Not to be insensitive here, but frankly Happy Cup tastes good. The Sip-A-Ragua blend was light, refreshing, and leaves a slightly sweet floral aftertaste. I wanted more right away. In the end, isn't that what matters? Would people buy that (let me just pick on them) Eight O'Clock Coffee crap in vast quantities if they knew that it was making inroads against the spread of AIDS in Africa? Doubtful. It's still crap.
At the risk of having veered too far into the commentary realm, let me be clear, Portland is a coffee roaster's Mecca. The options for a fine brew are plentiful, both the DIY kind and the indie coffeehouse kind. You can't really make a bad choice. It's great! It's market capitalism at its finest, and nobody loves supporting the little guys (local and non) like PDX does. It's one of the few solid tactics that makes me - and hipsters all over - happy cup people every time. :)
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