Hub’s Guest Review: Larry’s Beans
The North Carolina coffee mavericks of Larry’s Beans sent over a couple of bags of its organic, fair-trade java. After grinding up the beans in our hand-cranked coffee mill, I consulted our resident coffee expert (read: the hub).
A note: You won’t find the little fair-trade dude on the packaging; Larry’s Beans, along with Just Coffee, Dean’s Beans, and Cafe Campesino, split from Transfair USA in 2004, because it felt that the fair-trade movement was being “watered down” under the “increasingly corporate-friendly” Transfair system. Now part of a co-op of fair-trade, green roasters known as Cooperative Coffee, Larry’s Beans is audited by the international Fair Trade Labeling Organization, which ensures that payments are fairly distributed to each individual farmer—you can even track the origin of each bag of coffee, as well as how much each farmers’ coop was paid, by checking the bag’s lot number against the Larry’s Beans Web site. (How about those transparency cojones, Starbucks?)
All of Larry’s Beans coffee is shade-grown and certified organic (or transitional organic); 97 percent is fair trade, while the remaining 3 percent is the company’s Kauai Blend from Hawaii, where it says there is no need for fair trade.
Costa Lil Ricky
($9.95 per lb)A mug of Larry’s Beans Costa Lil Ricky has a full taste that’s neither sharp nor overly bitter. Its nice aroma makes for a comforting blend—the perfect partner for an afternoon’s lounging—and its light, smooth feel makes repeated cups welcome in each sitting.
The Grand Turk
($10.85 per lb)This dark blend by Larry’s Beans carries an enticing aroma in both bean and ground form that permeates a small apartment to make an effective lure to start your morning. The end result after brewing is a tasty mug that makes for a strong wakeup call for the senses. A little goes a long way for this blend, however, as I find repeated cups in a sitting can yield a caffeine overkill.
We also dug the fact that the bags (with designs that rocked my illustration-loving socks off) were resealable—a minor, oft-overlooked detail, but one that enables the packaging to be reused, even long after the last cup of coffee has been drained.
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