Political Coffee

Mycroft

High Priest of Ed
Mycroft
Joined
Sep 10, 2003
Messages
20,501
I’m something of a coffee connoisseur. We buy our coffee whole bean, grind it by hand and brew it one cup at a time. From taste, I can tell the difference between coffee grown in South America, Africa, Hawaii, or Indonesia.

I've seen these advertisements here and there and I find them intriguing. I find the idea of making a political statement with my coffee purchase appealing. Mrs. Mycroft and I will sample the coffees with the “fair trade” label, but it still has to be a superior coffee before we purchase it regularly.

http://contracafe.com/options.htm

I haven’t tried this coffee yet, but I’m fascinated by the marketing idea.

Would people really buy this coffee because they liked Reagan?

Isn’t it possible the political affiliation might actually hurt sales of this coffee?

Has anyone here tried this coffee and would like to offer an opinion?
 
I see this no different (in type) to how people will buy other charity labeled items that are being charged at a premium. I think on the whole (and if it is done ethically) it's a good idea for any "cause" to do something like this - people want coffee, they also want to help out something they at least slightly support so they'll pay the extra % markup if it's something they want and they know some of the mark-up goes to the cause.

(By the way go the next step and start to roast your own - it's not as daunting as it seems, it is much cheaper and you can really develop your own coffee preference.)
 
Ever see those advertisements for a "Christian" company, like Christian Home Loans or something like that? Hey if someone thinks that somehow makes them a better company or that political coffee is any better more power to them.
 
Well, last election cycle, we had conservatives put out "W" Ketchup because the die-hard Republicans were boycotting Heinz products becuase of Teresa Heinz, wife of John Kerry.

Unless it's something pretty heinous (e.g. a neo-Nazi, or some breed of Marxist) I think you're being rather petty if you're making your shopping descisions based on the party preference of the producers.
 
Darat said:
I see this no different (in type) to how people will buy other charity labeled items that are being charged at a premium. I think on the whole (and if it is done ethically) it's a good idea for any "cause" to do something like this - people want coffee, they also want to help out something they at least slightly support so they'll pay the extra % markup if it's something they want and they know some of the mark-up goes to the cause.

(By the way go the next step and start to roast your own - it's not as daunting as it seems, it is much cheaper and you can really develop your own coffee preference.)
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Similar in principle, but to me this seems to be going an extra step is supporting people who are/were actual contra soldiers.

I've been curious about roasting my own. Do you have any resources you could refer me too?
 
Mycroft said:
Isn’t it possible the political affiliation might actually hurt sales of this coffee?
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Not if they also sell the coffee under a different name and with a different wrapping.
 
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Awesome! I'm getting some of this for my dad. He's super hard to buy for.

ETA:
From the FAQ:
Does Contra Café offer decaf?
No. Freedom Fighters love caffeine.
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That's awesome!
 
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Contra coffee? :rolleyes:

Would you buy "Al-Quaeda" incense? Or "Shining Path" sweaters? I certainly wouldn't. Funny how someone's "terrorist" can be someone else's "freedom fighter".
 
Look at it as a percentage of sales: If you can only get one percent of the market (fantastic for an upstart) and 90% of folks hate what you stand for, but the other 10% love you, you only need 10% of the 10% to have a HUGE business. Like, you only need one person in 300 to buy your book to have a million-selling novel...
 
Mycroft said:
I've been curious about roasting my own. Do you have any resources you could refer me too?
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Zach and Dani's makes a roaster and sells green beans. My favorite - Sumatra Mandehling - is currently going for $5.30 a pound. The roasting process is very easy; you could probably train a large dog to do it. Takes about a half-hour and comes out perfectly every time, plus it's fun to watch and to show your friends. The roaster is pretty pricey - about $150.00 - so you might want to remember that Christmas, Hanukah, and your birthday are all less than a year away. Mine was a Christmas gift from my sister a couple of years ago. It's worked reliably, but the rubber drive belt broke about six months ago and I called them for a replacement. Lady at the other end suggested I order a few, since shipping was more expensive than the belt itself. Ordered six pounds of S-M at the same time, since shipping costs are based on order size. I was able to replace the belt in a matter of two minutes, one minute of which was spent reading the warning that by opening the machine, I had killed the warranty (time had already done that) and that I should try not to electrocute myself when replacing the belt.

Been very happy with it. Makes great coffee. I like my beans roasted as black as Hades and as oily as a Sunday televangelist.

Disclosure: I have no connection with the company other than as a customer.
 
Orwell said:
Funny how someone's "terrorist" can be someone else's "freedom fighter".
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Funny how Nicauragua's communist Sandinista government only allowed free elections under the pressure of the contras.

Funny how the Sandinistas were thrown out of power the minute they allowed genuinely free elections.

Funny how all the beautiful people (remember Bianca Jagger?) went into fits of apoplexy when their commie heroes lost (read P.J. O'Rourke's Give War a Chance for the perspective of someone who was there during the elections).
 
Orwell said:
Contra coffee? :rolleyes:

Would you buy "Al-Quaeda" incense? Or "Shining Path" sweaters? I certainly wouldn't. Funny how someone's "terrorist" can be someone else's "freedom fighter".
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Well, we already buy Saudi oil. :oldroll:
 
If you're really socially conscious and you want to support the contras, you should buy cocaine, not coffee.
 
Orwell said:
Contra coffee? :rolleyes:

Would you buy "Al-Quaeda" incense? Or "Shining Path" sweaters? I certainly wouldn't. Funny how someone's "terrorist" can be someone else's "freedom fighter".
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Or the ubiquitous Che Guevara tee-shirt?

Plenty of stuff like that.
 
BPSCG said:
Funny how Nicauragua's communist Sandinista government only allowed free elections under the pressure of the contras.

Funny how the Sandinistas were thrown out of power the minute they allowed genuinely free elections.

Funny how all the beautiful people (remember Bianca Jagger?) went into fits of apoplexy when their commie heroes lost (read P.J. O'Rourke's Give War a Chance for the perspective of someone who was there during the elections).
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Yep, the Sandinistas were no angels, but they were much, much better than Somoza and his thugs. By the way, Somoza and his thugs were enthusiastically backed by the US for decades. You reap what you sow, eh?
Nicaragua vs. United States

By the way, there were elections in 1984, and the sandinistas got 60% of the vote.
http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/84.85eng/chap.4d.htm But I guess that according to you, these elections were fixed. Yeah, I know how it is: our candidate didn't win, therefore the elections are fixed. Only when our candidate wins are the elections honest... :rolleyes:

The results were reversed in 1990: I guess Nicaraguans got tired of constant violence, to the point were they would support anyone, no matter how corrupt, to end the civil war.
 
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BPSCG said:
Been very happy with it. Makes great coffee. I like my beans roasted as black as Hades and as oily as a Sunday televangelist.
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Heard an interesting thing while watching Discovery or similar channel just the other day. Comes under the heading of learn something new every day.

They claimed that the more you roast the beans the less caffiene you will end up with in your cup. I like dark roast coffee too but I also like the caffiene hit. What to do .... what to do ....
 
AnotherSillyAlias said:
Heard an interesting thing while watching Discovery or similar channel just the other day. Comes under the heading of learn something new every day.

They claimed that the more you roast the beans the less caffiene you will end up with in your cup. I like dark roast coffee too but I also like the caffiene hit. What to do .... what to do ....
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Espresso. Each witty-bitty serving of brewed espresso has only the same caffeine as cup'o'joe, but you can knock back two or three cups in a heartbeat.
 
ImaginalDisc said:
Espresso. Each witty-bitty serving of brewed espresso has only the same caffeine as cup'o'joe, but you can knock back two or three cups in a heartbeat.
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Another claim was that filtered coffee has more caffiene because the beans are in contact with the water for longer than with the steam pressure produced types.
 
AnotherSillyAlias said:
Another claim was that filtered coffee has more caffiene because the beans are in contact with the water for longer than with the steam pressure produced types.
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[DEVO]When a question comes along/ we must google![/DEVO]

http://coffeefaq.com/site/node/18

Is it true that espresso has less caffeine than regular coffee?
Submitted by Daniel on Mon, 2006-01-16 01:26.

Yes and no. An espresso cup has about as much caffeine as a cup of strong coffee. But servings for espresso are much smaller. Which means that the content of caffeine per milliliter are much higher than with a regular brew. Moreover, caffeine is more quickly assimilated when taken in concentrated dosages, such as an espresso cup.

The myth of lower caffeine espresso comes comes from the fact that the darker roast beans used for espresso do have less caffeine than regularly roasted beans as roasting is supposed to break up or sublimate the caffeine in the beans (I have read this quote in research articles, but found no scientific studies supporting it. Anybody out there?).

Here's the caffeine content of Drip/Espresso/Brewed Coffee:

Drip 115-175
Espresso 100 1 serving (1-2oz)
Brewed 80-135
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