We taste most things blind. So before we knew it was organic or carbon negative, we thought it was a great cup of coffee.

Then, we found out how sustainable it is, first through organic agriculture (no pesticides to pollute the environment or the farmers plus conservation of the land).

The name, Tiny Footprint, refers to the company’s carbon footprint. A carbon footprint is the total amount of greenhouse gas produced, directly and indirectly, to create and sell a product.

For an individual, one’s carbon footprint is the result of everything it takes to support all of one’s life activities—food, shelter, transportation and so forth. Everything you buy and use makes your footprint grow. The larger your carbon footprint, the more greenhouse gas you generate. Greenhouse gas creates climate change (previously known as global warming).

Delicious coffee for you, a bonus for the
environment. Photo by Katharine Pollak |
THE NIBBLE.

For each pound of coffee purchased, the company more than offsets the carbon impact of harvesting, roasting and distributing its coffee by planting a small plot of saplings in the Mindo Cloudforest of Ecuador.

Reforestation helps to protect dozens of threatened bird species and other forest animals by replacing habitats that have been cut down for cattle ranching, lumbering, tourism and general human expansion. And it helps the atmosphere: Plants take in carbon dioxide, the leading greenhouse gas, for photosynthesis. In the process, they expel oxygen.

• Read the full review, which also directs you to where you can calculate your own carbon footprint.
• Find more of our favorite coffee brands and recipes.
• Master the language of coffee in our Coffee Glossary.