August 2026 · 5 min read
How we buy coffee
Fair trade is the floor, not the ceiling. What the stamp means, and what we do on top of it.
Every bag carries our fair-trade stamp, and it matters: a guaranteed price, a premium for the community, a standard for how the farm is run. It is the minimum we would accept.
On top of that we buy from the same cooperatives year after year, pay more for the lots we love, and visit when we can. The relationship is what makes the coffee better, not the stamp.
The relationship is what makes the coffee better, not the stamp.
This year that meant Sidama and Yirgacheffe in Ethiopia, Huehuetenango in Guatemala, and a farm in Minas Gerais we have bought from since 1998.
More
Other entries.
October 2026
Two new blends, one origin
June 2026
Fifty-two years of Station Street
Letters from the roastery
Coffee is always a good idea.
A note when a new coffee lands or the cafés change the menu, and not much else.
This is a Lacoura portfolio website: nothing is sent.
You are on the list. Java time, anytime.