Java Dogs: Drink, Donate, Repeat

“I love coffee, I love tea, I love the java jive and it loves me,” so goes the opening lyrics to the song Java Jive, written in 1940 and made well-known by The Manhattan Transfer.

Now me, I too love coffee, preferably one espresso in the a.m. But I also love the slow brew of a traditional coffee maker and that leisurely, almost reverential experience of sitting with a cup of Joe and enjoying the moment. But those moments can be enjoyed even more thoroughly with coffee from Grounds & Hounds. This is USDA certified organic, free trade certified and they donate 20% percent of proceeds from each bag sold to dog charities helping out - oh I don’t know – a French Poodle with your French Roast. The company uses the zip code of your purchase and donates to the charity partner closest to the point of purchase so that you can see impact within your own community. Grounds & Hounds offers a variety of blends as well as gift sets.  All the coffees are certified organic and their mission statement reads in part that they are, “committed to using the sale of our artesian roasted organic coffees to support the no-kill rescue organizations providing safe-havens for pups in between homes.” I recently tried their coffees and made my tasting notes below. So try it out and help a hound, please a pooch and you'll feel dog-gone good!

Morning Walk is their “breakfast blend,” a medium acidity blend. There are light aromas of hickory, pipe tobacco, muted citrus and cherry.

Upon brewing there’s a lovely dried cherry note with a hint of sweet tobacco.

Papers & Slippers is a medium roast blend of both light and dark roasts with notes of mild hickory, dried nuts, pipe tobacco, fine Cuban cigar, a hint of blackberry. Brewed, this is delightfully calm, not bitter or harsh but mellow and easy.

Alpha Blend is their dark roast and offers a more aged wood note, dried apricot, slight camp-fire smoke, much smoother on the palate and less bitter.

The Single Origin Mexican Chiapas is a smooth harmonious blend of Hickory and hazelnut, sweet cherry, vanilla, roasted chestnuts.