Ass-Kicking Coffee!

Recently, while commenting about looking for wine to buy, I said that I wandered around the store examining the different kinds of mine as though I knew what I was doing.

That might sound like I was kidding, but I really wasn't. I know the various types and what-not, but I couldn't really tell them apart. In fact, I doubt I could tell a $1000 bottle from a $10 bottle. I just know what I like.

I'm the same with coffee. I've heard that Tim Horton's coffee is SO great. Meh. It's coffee. It's all the same to me, and I'll be damned if I can tell Columbian from Australian or wherever the hell else they grow coffee.

Ah, but not no more!

Mrs THIT recently returned from a trip to Calgary and she brought me back a bag of Kicking Horse coffee. It's seems that my mum-in-law actually paid for it, and so...thank you mum-in-law.

I finally got around to trying it this morning.

Damn. That's good coffee! And even beyond all that, it's certified organic as well as fairly-traded. Triple crown, baby!

But wait! There's more!

As best I can, I try to buy local. Failing that, I at least buy Canadian when the opportunity arises. Kicking Horse is a Canadian company, so I accomplish that goal as well.

And lastly, they partner with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, one of my personal favourite charities.

Since 2001, we have enjoyed a relationship with the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) in the Canadian Rocky Mountains of Western Canada. Over the last five years we have contributed financially to the development of the Canadian Rocky Mountains Eco-regional Assessment, and to the conservation of three on-the-ground projects in both the Elk Valley and Upper Columbia River areas. Our contributions have helped leverage new sources of funding and ensured the sustainability of NCC's work in the region.

In 2006, we further committed a percentage of our pre-tax profits to NCC for their work in the Canadian Rocky Mountains of British Columbia. The three-year agreement will help build capacity and further advance the mission of NCC in this critical area.

So I'm a believer. It's like someone sat down and designed this just for me.

As far as how they came up with the name "Kicking Horse"?

In the summer of 1858, James Hector set out to discover the Kicking Horse Valley. His expedition took him through some of the most beautiful and rugged country in the West. During a river crossing, one of the pack horses kicked Hector so hard that others in the expedition mistook him for dead. As they began to bury poor old James, they noticed his eye twitch. The legend says it was a stiff cup of Kick Ass™ Coffee that brought him back to life!

Oscar sometimes kicks me in his sleep. I know being kicked by daschund doesn't make for quite as good a "tough guy" story as being kicked by a horse, but it's still very annoying.