Coffee Klatch

Since I began blogging a few years ago, I have sometimes met other bloggers, often for coffee. We foodies get curious about who is commenting our our deathless prose and we seem to like hot drinks, especially good coffee.

Part of our love for coffee klatch, I'm sure, is the native caution of meeting a stranger for the first time in a neutral place; no matter how charming their comments on our posts, the horror stories of online friendships lurk in the background.

So, off to Café Fanny I went to meet "Louis LaVache," a gentleman who lives nearby and writes engagingly flattering comments on my posts. We had a fun meeting, filled with tidbits about his interesting life - his career with a large supermarket chain, his time in France learning to be a bread baker, his lovely wife with whom he is obviously thrilled and his latest venture launching a coffee company. We sipped and chatted for more than an hour, trading marketing ideas for his business and getting acquainted.

I offered to taste test his coffees and write posts for the blog about them, if I liked them. He thought that was a fine idea, so I arranged to purchase two pounds from him, both fair trade certified, one of his Café St. Honoré brand of organic Mocha Java and one of his Café St. Honoré decaf organic "Louis' Holy Cow Blend."

Today, let's consider the Mocha Java. When I opened the foil-lined bag, the scent that rushed out was almost enough all by itself to give me the coffee hit I love. Dark and shining, the beans were visually as well as aromatically beautiful. When ground, the grains clung to the inside of the grinder - something I have always considered a good sign. When you have to scrape the coffee out, the brew will be merveilleux!

And it was. Clear, rich and dark with very little acid, it was a lovely cup of joe. I like half-and-half in my coffee and the flavor survived even a generous dollop of cream.

You can visit Louis' Facebook page here and order the coffee here. Not only would you get a terrific cup of coffee, you'd also be helping a really nice guy to build a business that is fair to the organic farmer who grew the beans. Tastes good. Feels good. Does good. What more can you ask from a cup of coffee?