Mmmmm ... coffee.

I love coffee.

I grew up with parents who don't ever drink coffee. In fact, I didn't even have my first drink of coffee until I was 20 years old. But when I lived in Europe in college, I acquired the taste. It's hard not to, actually. People drink it like they breathe oxygen over there.

My daily coffee ritual has become a cherished part of my morning routine.

Over the 10 years of coffee consumption, although I hate to admit it, I've become a bit of a coffee snob. (This is in no small part thanks to my sister-in-law, Valeen.) I used to be fine drinking Folgers or any other generic, cheap, store-brand coffee. I would buy a big tub of ground coffee for under $10 that would last me several months. However, the more I drank expensive, brandname coffee, the more I could taste the difference between the The Best Part of Waking Up and the $10-per-half-pound kind. Slowly, my coffee purchasing habit changed from buying cheap to expensive coffee. I now regularly spend $10 on a half pound of coffee beans that last me for about two weeks.

Recently, I became aware of an organization called 963 Missions. This organization is helping people to understand the true meaning of missions. How it's more than just a trip ... it's a lifestyle. This sentiment is one that I agree with whole-heartedly, and is the reason I take issue with the whole idea of short term missions. (But that's a blog post for another time.)

Getting back to the subject at hand ... 963 Missions has a program called Monthly Obsession. The idea behind this movement is to give people the opportunity to help coffee farmers to get out of poverty by paying them a fair wage for their beans. When you sign up for the Monthly Obsession you get a bag of fresh roasted coffee delivered to your door every month. It's just $15 a month, or $10 for any additional bags you buy. According to their web site:

963 Coffee is freshly-roasted specialty coffee unlike the majority of coffee that sits on shelves for almost a year. This means you're getting an amazing cup of organic Arabica coffee every time you brew a pot.

We also believe our coffee should provide a fair wage for the farmers who work hard to harvest it. Because of your choice to purchase 963 Coffee, farmers can put their kids in school, put food on the table for their families, and afford health care. Every bag - every cup - of 963 Coffee is making a lasting impact with coffee farming families around the world.

Do you drink coffee regularly? Where do you buy it? Would you consider switching to a company that sells fair trade coffee?