Coffee

Hey we all love coffee, but I started thinking about and realized I might be a little over the top on the subject.

5 years ago my wife and I where invited to dinner by a lady I worked with at the time. After dinner she served the most amazing espresso I had ever had in my life. We asked about it and we were told that they had gotten the machine on one of their trips to Switzerland. I thought that would have been the end of the subject.

A few months later my wife surprised me with a Nespresso Machine. The Swiss company that made the machine is no other than Nestle. They had recently opened up a US branch and getting the machine and the coffees was now in reach of us common Americans!

Why is it the best cup of coffee in the world? There are many reasons, but it starts with the beans. Nepresso has some of the top coffee people in the world. They travel the world and find the best coffee in the world, and then they roast the coffee to their exacting standards. The real amazing part of the whole Nespresso process is that they have worked with the Rain Forest Alliance, to create the AAA sustainability program. This program works with local farmers to teach them how to grow their coffee organically and sustainably. The program also cuts out all of the middle men, so the money you pay for the coffee is actually going to sustain the farmers who are growing it. Yes you can drink your coffee and save the world all in one shot! (no pun intended)

Coffee is at its best when it is just finished roasting. Nepresso designed and patented an amazing system, to take the freshly roasted coffee and hermetically seal it in a capsule. This capsule prevents any light or air from reducing the quality of the coffee. Next they created a machine that forces water through the capsule at 19PSI. This causes the coffee to foam. They spent years researching how to bring the best cup of coffee from an Italian Barista home. Again it is a truly amazing system.

I know that Green is very popular right now. My wife has been in the "green" industry since 1993. She was green, before it was cool to be green. Due to her background she has closely followed the Nespresso AAA program and the Rain Forest Alliance. Nepresso runs a program every year where they invite students from around the world to a 2 week course in Costa Rica to discuss sustainability. One of the major highlights of the program is touring the farms that Nespresso has transformed in their AAA program. My wife and I have always dreamed about going, but alas we are well past the student age requirement.

In May 2007, Nepresso ran an auction to raise money for the Rain Forest Alliance. One of the things that they put up for auction was a trip to audit the course. Obviously, my wife and I were very eager to go. And in one of the greatest ironies they were actually auctioning off 2 trips. For what ever reason, everyone who was bidding did not see the second trip and bid up the first one. We were able to sneak in at the end and claim the second trip for just over the starting bid!

In September 2007 we were able to go to Costa Rica, meet the farmers who own the farms that provide the coffee that we drink. The Nepresso Magazine, ran an article on the trip. The trip turned into one of those once in a lifetime opportunities. We met incredible people and will never forget meeting Juan Diego, and his father who run the largest Nespresso coffee farm in Costa Rica. Now every time we sit down to sip a Livanto, I can reminisce about the trip to Costa Rico and Juan Diego's farm.

Update: The Nespresso website is currently having issues with the article. I have scanned and posted a somewhat legible version here.