Zee's Boston Era, that is.

How do I know? Well, a couple weeks ago I realized with dismay that I was running low on my beloved Dunkin' Donuts coffee. And rather than refill my coffee subscription with them, I trotted on down to my nearby New Seasons Market (SO much better than Whole Foods!) and bought several different varieties of the local roaster's brew.

See, I've been hearing about Stumptown coffee from Betsy for quite a while and a couple weekends ago I enjoyed cup after cup of it at my grandma's birthday lunch. So when the Dunkin' coffee was running out, I decided to give the Stumptown a try.

I've been drinking it for a couple weeks now and this morning, I had one of the best cups of coffee I've had in some time. So for that reason and for convenience's sake, I'll probably be sticking with the Stumptown. Plus, this little blurb on their website makes me feel good about buying their stuff:

Believing in the social, environmental, and economic benefits of sustainable business leads us to not only support coffee farms that are committed to the well being of their workers, land and water, it compels us to be a sustainable business in our own community. Providing health insurance for our employees and donating freshly roasted coffee to the Oregon Food Bank are some of the ways that we act on our belief in sustainability. Creating relationships with coffee farmers allows us to roast and provide coffee with the finest cup quality, confident that these farms and communities will continue for generations.

[snip]

Fair Trade means an equitable and fair partnership between marketers in North America and producers in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and other parts of the world. A fair trade partnership works to provide low-income artisans and farmers with a living wage for their work.

Still, I am kind of sad to see the Dunkin' Donuts coffee go. It was my last little piece of Boston here in Portland and it's a little bittersweet.