From the Earth We Cherish....

Organic Coffees are sweeter tasting and have less caffeine. But "organicness" is not just a taste, it is a process. Organic farming not only helps replenish and rebuild our world’s topsoil, but also protects human and animal health.

Organic Farmers sign on to a 3 year program. During this initial phase they avoid the use of pesticides, utilize the waste products of the coffee to fertilize the soil, prevent erosion and protect the water supply from pollution.

Organically Grown Coffee is labor intensive because everything is done manually. Farmers must use ground covers and plant deep rooted bananas, oranges, and avocados for shade and secondary crops. The farmers cut down weeds with machetes, fertilize with compost and introduce natural predators and disease-resistant mulch.

Naturally the Best...

We want to support farmers in their ecological efforts, so we proudly carry two natural process coffees from Ethiopia and Kenya. The Ethiopian beans are harvested from wild bushes in the mountains.  The Kenyan comes from small farms with plots about half and acre each.  According to the Kenyan Institute of Organic Farming these farmers have never used (nor could they afford) pesticides or chemical fertilizers.

The organic certification process is long and expensive.  In many parts of the world, small farmers individually cannot afford the $5 & $10 thousand dollars needed for the certification process. 

Through Labor We Respect and Reward ...

Entire families and cooperatives harvest the coffee, working for 12 to 14 hours a day.  It takes 2000 beans to make nearly four pounds of coffee - the average yield of each tree. 

After the coffee is picked, the pulp is removed from the coffee cherries and the beans are dried in the sun.  Beans come from small farms and cooperatives, which are largely made up of indigenous people working hard to maintain their culture and lives.   We do not buy from large estates, farms or plantations.  These systems have created conditions of chronic poverty and malnutrition among the people who grow, pick and process the coffee.

Catskill Mountain Coffee only purchases from villages, farmers and importers who are committed to fair trade while working toward better economic opportunity, improved health and nutrition for the coffee growers and workers.

Catskill Mountain Coffee is part of a progressive trade network. Each person, from farmer to consumer, is part of socially-just and environmentally-responsible trade.   It is important to us that the quality of our coffee includes respect for the quality of life of our farming partners in the coffee world. And that respect translates into superb tasting coffee for your pleasure.