Grinderman Coffee is an independent coffee roasting collaborative located in Chicago, Illinois and is a member of the Chicago Coffee Confederation.
Grinderman Coffee is grown in Nicaragua by La Fem Co-Op, shipped to Just Coffee in Madison, Wisconsin, transported to Chicago by David Meyers of Resistance Coffee, and Roasted by Michael McSherry of Grinderman Coffee.
Grinderman Coffee is roasted over open flame, bagged and delivered for 11 dollars per pound all over chicago. The fresh raw beans are roasted over an open flame producing a whole bean coffee with very robust, rich natural flavor. Roasting over an open flame allows the beans to naturally release their oils which hold the essence of their flavor and taste.
Here is a little information about the La Fem Cooperative where the coffee is grown:
"La FEM Co-op is not simply a coffee growing cooperative. Founded in 1996, they organized to work on issues of domestic violence against women, women's health, education, and job training. One education program they have is an alternative school in Condega for young women to learn carpentry, construction, welding, etc. The idea is that this way they will never be dependent on the men-folk to build their houses and maintain them. It also gives them employment opportunities, although this is tougher because men dominate those fields. They are different from most of the other growers in that they work a common piece of land and divide work and income equally. Their land is pretty far from their collection point and from the road as well, so they haul all of their coffee back and forth “por bestia” or on the back of a horse."
You can read more on the La Fem Cooperative here http://justcoffee.coop/en/growerscoops
David Meyers, of On-the-Fly Farms is the pioneer of Resistance coffee.
"Resistance Coffee has for five years brought some of the finest fair trade organic coffee to Chicago, and raised funds for organizations ranging from Radios Populares, to the Latino Union, to the Chicago Women's Health Center. Resistance Coffee started out roasting beans from the Zapatista communities in Chiapas, but supplies got thin, so with great support from friends at Just Coffee in Madison, Wisconsin, we've landed on roasting beans grown by the women of La Fem cooperative in Nicaragua for the past two years. If you've had this coffee, you know its quality, and supporting La Fem also means supporting Nicaraguan women's ability to acquire and own land and thus take fuller control over their fates. Over the years, Resistance Coffee has grown slowly but steadily, and the time has come time to expand this endeavor. The first step in this direction has been to formulate what is tentatively titled the "Chicago Coffee Confederation". The model takes the basic small-scale process used by Resistance Coffee, and rather than forming a business that centralizes roasting, marketing, and delivery, instead seeks to decentralize those parts of the process that do not need centralizing. We are able to get bulk delivery of beans together, but then each project replicates the very inexpensive Bean Boss roaster, develops its own markets, and raises funds for its own projects. The basic roaster can be assembled for less than a few hundred dollars, thus making it a tool accessible to many people, from low-income activists to musicians and artists and poor people. A second roaster has been operating now for several months, and while there have been a few kinks to work out, musician Michael McSherry has very quickly learned the trade, and applied in a very different yet complimentary way to the way that Resistance Coffee works."
Here is some information on Just Coffee in Madison, Wisconsin http://justcoffee.coop/:
Just Coffee Co-op's mission is to work with small grower cooperatives in true patnership, using the language and mechanics of market economics to turn the market on its ear. We source the finest green coffee on earth, air-roast if to perfection, and deliver the highest quality beans proving to our customers that better model can also deliver higher quality products. We aim for total transarency, sustainable business practices, and long-term relationships with all of our partners while providing a fun and meaningful cooperative workplace for the people we work with. Oh, and we also seek to change global social and economic inequality by practicing REAL fair trade in direct opposition to gluttonous "free trade" and corporate fair trade. We recongnize fair trade as one strategy for change within a larger movement for global social justice.
Grinderman Coffee is part of the Chicago Coffee Confederation !
The Chicago Coffee Confederation is people who seek out Fair Trade Organic coffees from around the world. These people roast , package , and deliver these freshly roasted coffees to homes, offices, or street corners in the city of Chicago.
To order coffee please email - GrindermanCoffee@gmail.com
Thank you for your interest and support. I hope to meet you at your door very soon !
Sincerely,
Grinderman Coffee
