Finder Green Fave: Jasper Coffee
Jasper Coffee offers fair-trade, carbon-neutral and organic coffee varieties that blend flavour with sustainability.
Coffee is a daily part of life for many of us, but it's not always environmentally friendly.
Everything from growing the beans to harvesting, transporting, roasting, grinding and packaging takes a toll. And then there are the billions of takeaway cups that end up in a landfill.
The good news is that a growing number of companies are creating more ethical and environmental choices for us.
Jasper Coffee is one of these companies, with an impressive collection of speciality coffee – from single-origin beans to blends and varieties with fair-trade, carbon-neutral and organic certifications.
I've been buying Jasper Coffee on-and-off since around 2014 and have been really impressed with its commitment to sustainability, so I wanted to take a closer look at what goes into each cup.
What makes Jasper Coffee green?
Jasper Coffee is an Australian, family-owned business that is upfront about its values for high-quality coffee and sustainability.
It is one of a handful of coffee companies in Australia that holds B Corp certification, which means it meets a high standard of social and environmental performance and uses its business as a "force for good".
In terms of the origins of its coffee, Jasper Coffee works with fair-trade partners around the world and has been building relationships with coffee growers since 1989. It also has a large collection of organic coffee varieties (around 20 when I checked for this article).
The Jasper Coffee website even gives you a way to search for coffee based on these sustainability practices and others. For example, you could look at varieties that use shade-grown coffee beans, which support biodiversity in different coffee growing regions around the world.
Jasper Coffee is also a carbon-neutral company, with certification from the Carbon Reduction Institute.
Plus, it created the first plastic-free, recyclable takeaway coffee cup in Australia (just in case you forget your reusable one).
We tried it and love it
For this Finder Green Fave, I decided to try a blend I wasn't familiar with: Ethiopia Sidamo.
I used to go between two certified organic varieties – Juliet and Billy Dunne – but when I visited my local Jasper Coffee store, I got chatting to the staff and picked out this one.
I don't have a coffee grinder at home, so I got it freshly ground at the store (you can also buy either beans or ground packets online). It cost $14.50 for a 250g bag, which I think is pretty reasonable for speciality coffee.
The smell is rich and strong before it's even brewed. The tasting notes include "butter shortbread and dusted cocoa", which is what drew me in.
I couldn't really taste the shortbread, but there was a slight hint of cocoa – and it was very smooth and easy to drink.
For the coffee aficionados out there, I used a French press to brew it and added a splash of milk.
What I also really appreciate is that the coffee bag has details about its sustainability, with the certifications all listed on the front.
Where can I get it?
You can buy Jasper Coffee through online stores including Amazon and eBay as well as through the Jasper Coffee website or one of its cafes around Melbourne.
Finder Green Fave is a regular column that highlights our favourite sustainable, eco-friendly, ethical and cruelty-free products. Looking for more information about eco-friendly choices? Check out Finder Green .
Images: Finder (Amy Bradney-George)
