Dawn Chorus Coffee

• Order Dawn Chorus Coffee
• Who is Dawn Chorus?
• What do Shade Grown, Organic and Fair Trade mean?
• Where can you find Dawn Chorus Coffee?
• What coffee service supplies does Athens' Own carry?
• What local businesses use fine coffee serving supplies distributed by Athens' Own?

Dawn Chorus is co-owned by Constantine Faller and Marc Cohen. Founded in 2001, Dawn Chorus became a means to provide the Athens community with high-quality coffee, as well as a way for the Athens' Own vision to manifest as a marketing and distribution tool before taking on outside clients.

Dawn Chorus supplies fine coffees that are organic, shade grown and fair trade.

Our beans are sourced through Elan Organic, which specializes in locating the finest triple-certified coffee beans for consumers. Currently, all of Dawn Chorus' coffee beans (with the exception of decaffeinated) are grown in Guatemala by three farming co-ops: LaVoz que Clama en el Desierto ("The Voice that Cries Out in the Desert") located in the Atitlan region, and Association Guaya'b, and Asobagri, both located in the Huehuetenango region. All three of these co-ops specialize in organic, shade grown practices.

Our decaffeinated beans are grown in Sumatra.

The green beans are roasted to our strict specifications, then shipped to Athens where Athens' Own packages them in bean and ground form. Athens' Own also markets and distributes the final product.

There is more to an excellent cup of coffee than just beans, which is why Athens' Own also sells high-quality coffee supplies, from grinders and brewers to cups and mugs.

What do Organic, Shade-Grown and Fair-Trade mean?

Organic refers to agricultural products (like coffee) that are grown using methods that work with the environment, while making as few changes to it as possible. This means that crops should be grown with caution not to erode the soil and deplete it of its natural resources. Also, organic farmers strive to create the greatest amount of biological diversity. This means that insects and weeds should be dealt with in ways that do NOT utilize chemical pesticides and herbicides that could potentially be harmful to the land and plants and animals that thrive on it. This is also beneficial to the farmers and their families, as they are not frequently working in close contact with toxic chemicals, or drinking water that could be polluted with run-off from the use of such chemicals.

Shade grown refers to coffee that is grown under a canopy of trees and other plantlife, rather than in an open field. This practice allows the coffee to grow in its natural state, with as little damage to the environment as possible. Because trees are not removed to plant crops, songbirds and other forest-dwelling animals are not driven from their natural habitats. Coffee is naturally a shade-loving plant, though crops tend to be relatively small in a given area. However, in recent years new strains have been developed to grow in direct sunlight without being scorched. This allows farmers to clear large plots of land, removing all other plants --and as a result animal life, to plant coffee plants ultimately leading to a larger harvest and greater profits. Shade grown coffee also minimizes the depletion of nutrients from the soil. In fact, by preserving the tree cover, organic plant and animal matter, combined with rain, create a soil base that might otherwise be nonexistent. In addition, the practice tends to require less use (or no use) of herbicides and pesticides than used for producing sun grown coffee. Overall, shade grown coffee is more sustainable, environmentally friendly and allows small family farmers and co-ops to utilize their land without the use of expensive chemicals or land-clearing machinery.

Fair trade coffee refers to the fact that coffee producers are paid a guaranteed minimum for their products, allowing even small farms and co-ops to survive in the face of large, corporate crops. This concept ties in with the idea that coffee producers in developing nations can become financially stable if they are paid a fair price for their coffee. Also, the "middle man" is removed so that roasters and importers can develop relationships with specific farms to get the highest quality products without being forced to pay high premiums and cutting into the profits of producers.