A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

I’ll admit that I’m not much of a coffee drinker – that is, I don’t know much about it, except for what I like and what I don’t like. I hadn’t heard of Dean’s Beans before, but they are a great small company located out in Orange, MA. It was founded by Dean Cycon over two decades ago and their mission has always been to use high quality coffee as a vehicle for progressive change. They only purchase from small farmer cooperatives and work directly with them to help produce the best possible coffee. Choosing to buy a coffee from a company that is socially responsible just makes you feel good. I was reading over some of their literature and they have done some great things: In Ethiopia, in partnership with Grounds for Health, they embarked on an innovative, community based cervical cancer detection and treatment program (cervical cancer is the largest cancer killer of women in the Global South) with their partner, Sidama Cooperative. In Peru, they deepened their relationship with the Oro Verde Cooperative – interns started recycling and reforestation program and they taught English.

So when they reached out to me, I was excited to try their coffee. All of their coffee is organic, fair trade and kosher. If you check out their website they have lots of flavors to choose from, or you can create your own blend! The website tells you cupping notes about each blend and the flavor profile. You can choose what grind you’d like (from whole bean to finely ground) and what size (1 lb or  5 lbs).

I tried the Uprising! Breakfast Blend ($8.99 for a 1 lb bag and $43.95 for a 5 lb bag.), it was a mix of Honduran (hearty), Peruvian (sweet) and Nicaraguan (bold and dry). I love the smell of coffee, that first deep breath you inhale when you open the bag! The coffee was good – really smooth. The flavor profile says: 8.5 body, 8 flavor, 8 acid, 8 aroma, 8 aftertaste.

There’s nothing like breakfast on the porch – we had our Dean’s Beans coffee with a lemon poppy muffin from Harvest Market.

Another cool thing about Dean’s Beans is that they make ReCUPs, environmentally friendly pods for your K-cup machine. (If you haven’t read the article on K-Cups from the Atlantic, you can find it here.) Their ReCUPs are #5 Recyclable and they are only filled in small batches, so you get the freshest coffee possible. The Ring of Fire ReCUP is a dark blend of high mountain beans from the volcanic soils of Indonesia, Timor and Papua New Guinea! They are $8.99 for 12 ReCUPs.

Dean’s Beans sells more than just coffee too! They offer organic, fair trade sugar and/or cocoa products in their Sweet Justice line. I tried their Java Drops, Vienna-roasted, shade grown Guatemalan and Mexican coffee beans covered in dark chocolate. I love the crunch!! You can buy them in a 1 lb ($9.99) or 5 lb ($48.95) bag.

Disclaimer: I was offered samples of Dean’s Beans for a review. All opinions are my own.

For more information on Dean’s Beans, or to order, check out their website: https://deansbeans.com/

 

Tags: coffee