Nothing beats relaxing with a good book and your favorite cup o’ joe.  For coffee connoisseurs, the joy of testing new brews is equivalent to the wine taster’s experience.  This is the great pleasure I’ve been having lately with the Grounds for Change Songbird Gift Box.  Grounds for Change is a unique coffee company; all of their coffee is organic and fair trade, and they roast to order and ship fresh daily.  That means really fresh coffee!

Grounds for Change is giving away one Songbird Gift Box to one of you!  Their Songbird coffees aren’t just your average bean.  These days when coffee is grown, the fields are clearcut and the beans are grown in full sun.  But the coffee shrub is a shade-loving plant.  After scientific tweaking, coffee was developed to handle full sun.  But truth be told, nothing is better than coffee grown as coffee should be – in the shade, surrounded by a wide variety of trees.  These coffee farms, second in biodiversity only to the rainforest, quickly become the home to a wide variety of animals, including migratory birds whose songs surround the farms.  Hence, the Songbird coffees of Grounds for Change.

But are they good?  I’m telling you, I’ve not enjoyed coffee so fresh and wonderful in a long time.  Peru “Cafe Femenino”, Agate Pass Blend, and Bolivia “Los Yungas” have been in my mug every morning for the past week, and every cup has been a pleasure.  I love to prepare cappuccino, and in my opinion that can’t be done properly without a full wonderful coffee that lacks bitterness.  All three of the Grounds for Change flavors have been smooth and delicious, perfect for cappuccino.  

Now that you’re jonesing for joe, it’s your turn to enter to win!  The Songbird Gift Box includes the following:

  • Three 8 ounce bags of Fair Trade Organic coffee (Regular or Decaf; Ground or Whole Bean; Coffee Varieties Your Choice)
  • One Fair Trade milk chocolate bar
  • One Fair Trade copper & brass coffee scoop from Chile

1.) Just visit Grounds for Change and tell me something you liked or learned there. (You may enter once a day – following entries don’t require you to answer the question.) Remember, leave an interesting comment.  If I cannot contact the winner, you might be chosen instead based on your comment.

2.) Email subscribers get an extra entry for as long as their subscription is active.

     Already a subscriber?  Leave me a separate comment on this post to let me know you’re interested in this giveaway.

     Want to subscribe?  Just enter your email address in the “Subscribe” box on the left. (Please make sure to verify your Feedburner subscription by responding to the email they send you. If you do not receive it, check your junk mail. Only verified subscriptions are entered for all the giveaways.)

3.) Blog about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to this post.  Come back and leave me a Comment with a link to your blog post. (If your comment doesn’t show up right away, don’t worry – I may have to approve it first.  My blog might think it’s spam but gosh darn, I certainly don’t!)

4.) I’m feeling Twittery.  If you Twitter a link to this giveaway, come back and comment here to let me know your Twitter name for another entry! (I’m dkmommy if you want to follow me.)

Feel free to do all four, plus enter once a day, and you can gain up to 9 entries to win! You have until midnight EST on Sunday, January 4, 2009, to enter.

Check out all current giveaways for both my blogs here.

457 Comments

  1. I like the Organic tea and the chocolate bars.

  2. I’m a subscriber.

  3. Sunday’s entry. Thank you!

  4. I learned that Grounds for Change is a certified organic coffee roaster specializing in 100% Fair Trade Coffee and most of the coffee is shade grown.

  5. I learned that one of their goals is to use 100% renewable energy–fantastic!

  6. Here’s my Sunday entry.

  7. Celia Nunnelley

    Grounds for change donates to the Northwest Shade Coffee Campaign. I did not know that as recently as 25 years ago, all coffee was grown in the shade. That probably explains why I why I used to drink any blend but gradually have become more and more picky about my coffee.

  8. Margaret Snyder

    They sell a 6 pack coffee sampler…what a nice idea for a Christmas gift.

  9. I like the fact that, in Guatemala, a livelihood is provided so that, “The men do not have to leave the village to work in the coastal area after the coffee harvest; they can remain home with their families.” I’m picturing the kids who have dads at home now. Well done, Grounds for Change!

  10. I learned they have an Annual Discount Membership

  11. coffee of the month club is a feature that I learned

  12. Entering again.

  13. They are providing coffee farmers in other countries with a higher standard of living. Kudos to Grounds for Change!

    maggie@mannwieler.com

  14. Fair trade = fair wages rather than exploitation. Yay!

  15. a new entry for another day! thanks!

  16. I learned that the freezer and the refrigerator are not recommended places to store your coffee beans. Coffee absorbs moisture and other odors so regardless of where you store your beans, ensure it is either kept in the original packaging or in sealed glass containers
    Thanks for the giveaway

  17. I like that all of their coffee is verified as shade grown and whenever possible, their coffee is Shade Grown Certified by SMBC (this certification is only available in certain origin countries). I learned that shade grown coffee protects migratory bird habitat and reduces clear-cutting in tropical rainforests as well as enhancing flavor.

  18. I like that they are Fair Trade and that they have a Coffee of the Month club.

  19. Fair Trade Organic Tea (Black Teas, Green Teas, Herbal Teas) would be great to try!

  20. Back for one last entry. Thanks again!

  21. I found out that:
    Organic, Shade Grown, Fair Trade Coffee
    All of our specialty coffee is Fair Trade Certified, Organic Certified and shade grown. We roast each of our origin coffees differently to bring out unique flavors and our Fair Trade Organic coffee is always fresh!

  22. Coffee Coffee Coffee~I need Coffee!

    I am a subscriber!
    Thanks & Happy New Year!

  23. Vincent Leadley

    I didn’t know shade-grown coffee is much less damaging to the environment and to migratory birds. Will make me check on the type of coffee I drink in the future

  24. theodore esteghamat

    I see they have a coffee of the month club.

  25. They Recycle all of their coffee chaff,for area organic farmers to use – how cooL!

    Tammys last blog post..What I Need

  26. I love the Divine Milk Chocolate Bars!

  27. I subscribed to your blog.

  28. I would love to try this! Thanks

  29. Also, I subscribe!

  30. This company is wonderful! We are coffee drinkers here and we splurge on good, Fair trade coffee, since we only make a pot every other day. I really like the Compadre Gift Box, and have bookmarked if for my birthday. The mugs are fabulous!

    If the company owner is reading these comments, I request that they put up some larger images. I’d love to see some of the details of the mugs.

    Kathleens last blog post..Back to Blogging

  31. I subscribe too.

    Kathleens last blog post..Back to Blogging

  32. I’m a subscriber – thank you!

  33. Grounds for Change also sells Fair Trade Organic Teas!

  34. ellen cunningham

    I like that they have a wholesale program set up for colleges. Thanks for the chance.

  35. Am a subscriber also. I like that they have a 6 pk sampler package. Thanks

  36. Fair Trade Coffee gives farmers a better standard of living, and I think this is extremely important as I understand many coffee farmers are not being given fair prices for their coffee.

  37. I learned that Grounds for Change is the first coffee roaster to obtain Carbonfree certification, which is a rigorous process!

  38. Im a subscriber!

  39. back for an entry today :)

    Valerie Mitchells last blog post..Chefdruck Jonathan Spoon Giveaway 1/16/09

  40. Here’s my Monday entry. thanks

  41. entering today. would love some coffee

  42. This is a follow up entry – thanks!

    Nancy
    allibrary {at} aol {dot} com

  43. The most important thing I learned was about Fair Trade. It has made me think more about the global economy and how important it is that workers around the world receive fair monetary value for their work and product. Thanks for the giveaway.

  44. I learned that Grounds for change “recycle all of our empty burlap coffee bags by donating them to local organic farmers for weed suppression and the Washington State Coastal Clean-up Day as tough, biodegradable waste removal bags”. Pretty neat!

  45. The carbonless aspect is very appealing. I worked at an organic grocer for years and gained a deep appreciation for Fair Trade Coffee. Thanks for your spreading of the word!