Bird-Friendly® Coffees From Golden Valley Farms
November 3, 2009
Article in: Bird Conservation
As a daily coffee drinker I was delighted to have the opportunity to sample seven varieties of Bird-Friendly® Coffees from Golden Valley Farms in Pennsylvania.
Golden Valley Farms’ Bird-Friendly® Coffee is now the official coffee roaster for all National Zoo visitors!
I am usually a “normal” flavor coffee drinker but am always up to trying new flavors, especially because the aroma spills out of my office and pulls in my coworkers. Each variety is certified as “100% organic shade grown” coffee. Why does this matter for birds?
Organic shade grown means that the coffee plants are grown in the forest understory. Non shade-grown coffee is grown in the open meaning no sustainable forest. So, for birds and conservation, having a working coffee farm that doubles as a functional forest means migrating and nesting birds still have the habitat they need and yet we can still enjoy wonderful coffee.
Each coffee flavor has a bird featured on the package, birds that migrate from forests in North America to places in Central and South America. This makes it much easier for bird-of-mouth marketing since some of the flavors have long, unmemorable names.
Flavors Tested
- 100% Colombian Organic Don Telmo Reserva Bourbon Coffee – American Redstart
- 100% Colombian Organic Mesa De Los Santos Catura Coffee – Yellow Warbler
- 100% Colombian Organic Don Telmo Reserva Tipica Coffee – Barn Swallow
- 100% Mexican FIECH Organic, Bird-Friendly® Coffee – Baltimore Oriole
- 100% El Salvador Santa Teresa Bourbon, Organic, Bird-Friendly® Coffee – Rose-breasted Grosbeak
- 100% Peruvian Organic Arabica Coffee – Eastern Kingbird
- 100% Peruvian Organic Arabica Naturally Decaffeinated Coffee – Summer Tanager
Of these flavors, the only one I really didn’t enjoy was the decaffeinated one. This could be my predisposed opinion on decaf or it just wasn’t my cup of tea, er, coffee. I like coffee for its caffeinated effect!!
However, the other six flavors were just about perfect and made it difficult to pick one favorite. So I’ll choose two: American Redstart and Eastern Kingbird. Both have excellent aromas and both were smooth tasting. Both were also highly effective in providing that morning pick-me-up at work.
A portion of the proceeds from each pound of Bird-Friendly® Coffee is donated to the Smithsonian Institution Migratory Bird Center for research and conservation programs. This is yet another added bonus to purchasing this wonderful coffee.
