Coffee at Pali Pres
Dear Pali Pres Family,
I won’t deny it—I was pretty bummed when I heard the rumor. Perhaps you’ve heard it before too. I don’t know how true it is, but the word around town is that Pali Pres has the worst tasting coffee of any church in the Palisades. I know—appalling!
As a coffee lover I feel almost embarrassed. How have I not noticed this before? During our post- worship fellowship time or while at one of our many fellowship events in Janes Hall… was I just so engaged in conversation that my taste buds were completely distracted? Am I putting in so much sugar and cream that it’s masking the problem? I don’t know!
Perhaps you have no personal complaints about the quality of our coffee here at PPPC, which, if so, is great. But I’ve been losing sleep over this issue. A few of my remaining black hairs have turned grey because of this.
So, upon prayer and reflection we’ve decided to make a change here at Pali Pres. Yes, we are upping our coffee game! Starting this week we will enjoy some good coffee after church—strong, rich, aromatic, and fresh! After all, life is too short (and sermons are often too long) to drink bad coffee after church.
On a serious note, the new organic coffee we will offer (both regular and decaf) is from a company called Equal Exchange (shop.equalexchange.coop), which is the oldest and largest Fair Trade coffee company in the US. Equal Exchange is focused on supporting sustainable agricultural projects while also putting small farmers first. This is how they put it:
We partner with farmer cooperatives who are democratically organized, sharing resources and decision making among their members. Collectively, they gain crucial market access and decide how to invest fair trade and organic premiums in their communities. We now source from over 40 small farmer organizations around the world and…develop innovative programs in collaboration with the co-ops, from crop diversification to quality trainings to women's leadership development.
On top of all that, Equal Exchange has great names for their different coffees, such as “Love Buzz,” “Mind, Body, and Soul” and “Post-Church Pick Me Up” (ok, I made that last one up).
I look forward to joining all of you for a good cup of coffee soon here at Pali Pres, as we come together for fellowship and—in a small but important way—support small farmers and their communities.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Matt
