Equal Exchange Gift Basket

I had a delightful surprise this morning.  Last night my husband had pulled in a package that arrived from Equal Exchange.  It contained a “Good Morning Basket” with coffee, tea and ginger snaps—what a perfect morning discovery!  Fresh and hungry, I eagerly sampled the contents.  (Disclaimer, these products were supplied to me free of charge for purposes of this review.  My opinions, however, are genuine.)

All three products are organic (meeting standards including growing without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers) and the coffee and tea are fair trade (produced with standards like livable wages and no child labor). Equal Exchange espouses a philosophy that I have been calling “socially responsible food.”  In a world where cost seems to reign supreme, they are part of a growing counter-movement to transition to food that is good for the planet and fair to the producers.

Tea and Ginger Cookie

Since it didn’t require even boiling water, I first sampled the ginger cookies produced by a company called Liz Lovely. Soft but chewy, perfectly spiced and studded with bits of crystallized ginger for a flavor burst, I may never bake another ginger snap.  My middle-schooler agreed.  I told her to take the cookie with the bite mark (ok bite marks—I was having trouble restraining myself) in case I needed another picture.  She took one bite and, doe-eyed, begged “can I puh-leeze have the whole one?”

Coffee

The coffee and tea were also delightful.  It felt decadent to drink both in a morning, but I reminded myself that both beverages contain hefty doses of antioxidants so this is healthy.   The coffee they sent was a dark French Roast that compared well to higher end coffees, with a rich flavor and light acidity.  Perfect for a cold, fall morning.

The variety of tea I received was English Breakfast.  It transported me (deliciously) back to my semester-abroad in Ireland where my Cordon Blue trained host served a similar tea every morning.  I had forgotten how much I enjoyed it!

Tea

Given the closeness of our food philosophies, I was surprised I hadn’t tried Equal Exchange products before.  They also produce sugar, bananas, various snack foods and chocolate and have a variety of gift packages that would make great hostess gifts for the upcoming holidays.  Thanks goodness the cookie was filling or I might have drooled on their website.

 Hmmm, chocolate next?