Favorite fair trade coffee?

I'm in the process of switching my office over to fair trade coffee. I'm responsible for all of the purchasing, but I am not a coffee drinker. My strategy is to have taste tests. The first one, happening right now, consists of three selections of Dean's Beans I ordered through Global Exchange. We have Full Moon, Colombian and the Moka Sumatra. So far, Full Moon seems to be the favorite.

Any recommendations on what I should buy next? It should be fair trade, and price is also a criterion. One of my selling points for switching to fair trade was that I would match or possibly beat the price of our old coffee, which was between $8.50-$9.00 a bag. I feel the strongest about fair trade in my office, but the rest of the staff is pretty supportive, so we could spend a little more on the new coffee. Staff seem to be interested in African coffees but are open-minded overall.

We had Intelligentsia's “La Perla de Oaxaca” at Topolobampo, liked it, bought some at Whole Foods (I think) and liked it even when brewed on our primitive coffee making gear.

I'd opt for any f/t Intelligentsia plus you get bonus points for purchasing from a local vendor. I prefer the Nepenthe organic. I think you could do a great taste test using many of their roasts.

However, you might not meet your price point.

I realize you are set on "Fair Trade" but there's been a lot written on this label and on what it really means. If your overriding criteria is to ensure the producers are appropriatly compensated, then using a quality vendor would meet your goal. Again, I think Intelligentsia fits even with their coffees that aren't labeled "Fair Trade."

Good luck and have fun with the tasting.

Thanks for the recommendations. Once we're done with our Deans Beans, I'll set up an Intelligentsia tasting.

As for "fair trade," I should have been more specific (or general?)--I did mean so long as the producers are appropriately compensated, not just the fair trade stamp. Thanks for clarifying.

You might look into the Coffee and Tea Exchange. I've always liked their coffee and their fair-trades are in your price range.

Coffee and Tea Exchange
3311 North Broadway
Chicago, IL 60657
773.528.2241

I'm a big fan of Casteel's Coffee, a small local roaster, with a history of offering a good variety of fair-trade coffees (although I'm not sure all their coffees are considered fair trade, since they use beans from a wide variety of sources).

http://www.casteelcoffee.com/fair-trade-coffee.html

You might find other ideas for fair trade coffees here:

http://www.chicagofairtrade.org/