Salt Spring Coffee

When Mickey McLeod and Robbyn Scott met in the early ‘70s, it didn’t take long for them to discover how much they had in common. Both were devoted to the organic lifestyle and committed to environmental well being - and both were searching for the “perfect” cup of coffee.

“For us, ‘perfect’ meant not only tasting good, but also sourced from producers who cared about their workers and the environment,” says Robbyn. “In 1994, when we began to plan our coffee roasting business, there was no question that our concern for the environment, health and social welfare would play a significant role in our business ethics.”

Today, Salt Spring Coffee is dedicated to the art of fresh roasting top-grade Arabica coffee beans, and specializes in certified organic, Fair Trade, shade-tree grown coffees. The coffees are sourced from as many small farms and farmer-run co-ops as possible, and grown in the world's finest organic, shade-tree coffeeproducing regions. (For many years now, it has become popular to clear trees to plant coffee. The increased sunlight results in greater yield, but the practice negatively affects the many bird species - such as the painted bunting - that use the coffee plant and sheltering tree canopy as a natural habitat. The presence of birds is significant for the coffee farmer because a diverse and large bird population is an excellent means of insect and pest control. This biodiversity results in a far lower risk of infestation, plague, and disease on the coffee farm, resulting in reduced need for insecticides and more sustainability for the farmer. Many coffee afficionados consider the flavour of shade-grown coffee to be superior to sun-grown coffee as the beans have a longer growth period to develop flavour.)

As a further commitment to the environment, Salt Spring Coffee has become Canada’s first carbon neutral coffee company, reducing its carbon footprint through a number of activities, including the use of bio-diesel trucks for deliveries.

You’ll find a variety of fine quality, certified organic, Fair Trade Salt Spring Coffee roasts in the London Drugs food aisle. These include Blue Heron, a medium-bodied blend of Indonesian, South and Central American coffees with a concentrated sweet, rich, toffee flavour. (Blue Heron was developed in support of purchasing and protecting the McFadden Creek Great Blue Heron Rookery on Salt Spring Island); Sumatra, an earthy and vibrant coffee with deep-toned pungency and syrupy, rich body. (This coffee comes from the first Fair Trade certified coffee cooperative in Indonesia. The co-op members live on the edge of an environmentally sensitive region that contains critical watersheds and sanctuaries for endangered species such as the Sumatran tiger; French Roast, a pungent, full-bodied roast blend with a sweet flavour and an unforgettable aroma; Village Trade, a smooth, medium-body blend of Central and South American coffees with appealing flavours and mild acidity, and Decaf Dark Roast, a water-processed (no chemicals) decaffeinated coffee that balances hints of dark chocolate with a sweet, gentle flavour.

Kicking Horse Coffee

This environmentally conscious coffee company, situated just east of the Rockies in Invermere, is the brainchild of Elana Rosenfeld and Leo Johnson. Roasting coffees in their own home while juggling a young family wasn’t easy, but the success of their blends with friends and acquaintances soon had them thinking seriously about starting their own organic, ecologically sensitive coffee business.

That was in the early ‘90s. In 1996, Kicking Horse Coffee was established, named for the Kicking Horse pass (which links British Columbia and Alberta). Now occupying a 20,000 square-foot office building and roasting facility, Kicking Horse Coffee is Canada's number one organic and Fair Trade coffee in sales volume.

“We started the business because we saw a real need for good coffee,” says Elana. “By ‘good,’ I mean coffee that not only tastes superior but also supports Fair Trade and the environment. Back in the ‘90s there was little awareness of the plight of smaller growers, or of environmental sensitivity.”

It takes about 2000 coffee cherries to make one pound of roasted coffee. The 'beans' are actually the seeds of the plant and each cherry contains two. Canadians drink close to 40 million cups of coffee every day.

Kicking Horse Coffee was quick to become a member of TransFair Canada - a national non-profit certification and public education organization promoting Fair Trade to improve the livelihood of developing world farmers and workers.

“The public awareness of and demand for Fair Trade, organic coffees is fast growing,” says Elana. “We want to make sure we fulfill that need.”

The company prides itself on producing a variety of roasts with complex flavours. Like wine, coffee contains a vast number of aromatic substances and compounds that make each variety unique. (Over 1,200 aromatic substances have been identified in coffee, in contrast to 500 in wine.)

“We buy the best coffees available,” says Elana. “That’s where flavour starts. We pay a higher premium for our beans, just as a skilled winemaker would pay more for a better grape. The quality is generally better when plants are grown at higher altitudes, likely because coffee originated at high altitude in East Africa. We source coffee grown at 3,000 feet and we like to think that processing at similar altitudes gives our coffee greater authenticity of taste.

”Kicking Horse certified organic coffees available from London Drugs include Kick Ass, a dark and powerful blend of Indonesian and Central American coffees; Grizzly Claw, a dark Central American roast with a hint of chocolate; Three Sisters, an aromatic triple-punch of light, medium and dark flavours blended from Indonesian, Central American and South American beans; 454 Horse Power, an Indonesian based, heavy-bodied coffee that’s fired up to 454 degrees for a truly dark roast; and Decaf, which is 99 percent caffeine-free, yet bursting with flavour. Kicking Horse Decaf uses natural mountain water in the filtering process and is surprisingly rich and full-bodied.

What Does Fair Trade Mean

Commerce is not always fair. All over the world, farmers eke out an existence for themselves and their families, often earning pennies a week and having no chance to better themselves or provide education for their children.

Meanwhile, the companies that employ them grow and prosper. This is never more true than in the hot climates where coffee, cocoa and other commodity crops flourish - and labour is cheap.

Internationally agreed-upon Fair Trade terms and conditions ensure that small-scale producers receive a guaranteed price that covers the costs of production. This provides vulnerable growers with the security of knowing that they can plan for their future.

When you purchase Fair Trade products, you are helping to ensure that hard-working producers receive a guaranteed, secure price, an extra social premium payment, long-term trading contracts, appropriate health and safety conditions and the opportunity to participate in sponsored community programs to help them become self-sufficient.

Coffee and Your Liver

The news about coffee’s salutary effect on the health just keeps getting better. Loaded with antioxidants, coffee has been shown to help improve the health in many ways. Although excess caffeine can give you the jitters and elevate the blood pressure, keeping your coffee intake down to two cups a day can provide a number of health benefits.

A recent study suggests that drinking coffee can reduce the risk of liver cancer. Researchers Drs. Susanna C. Larsson and Alicja Wolk from the Karolinska institute in Stockholm conducted a review of 11 published studies into the association between coffee consumption and the risk of liver cancer. For every two cups of coffee per day, a 43 percent reduction in the risk of liver cancer was observed.

The doctors pointed out that coffee contains large amounts of antioxidants which combat oxidative stress and inhibit the formation of cancer-causing compounds.

A Short History of Coffee Culture

Documented references to coffee begin in the 9th Century, in the area now known as Ethiopia. Apparently, a shepherd noticed that his sheep were behaving erratically following a feast of “red cherries.” Curious, he ate a few of the coffee berries himself and experienced the same caffeine jolt as his sheep.

Arabs were the first to grow coffee commercially and to popularize the beverage - the Sufi mystics are said to have used it to stay awake during their meditations. The first coffee house opened in Constantinople (now Istanbul) in 1554.

Muslims then introduced the beverage to Europe. Oxford, England opened its first coffee house in 1650, followed by Marseilles in 1671 and Paris in 1672. The world-famous Caffe Florian in St. Mark’s Square, Venice, opened its doors in 1720 and remains open today.

Now, in the 21st century, coffee is the second most commonly traded commodity after petroleum.

Back to Top