Facts & FAQs

What is in Your Cup?

At Spirit Bear, we specialize in the finest quality organic, fair trade and naturally certified coffees. Our extensive experience in the green coffee trade allows us to select our suppliers carefully, requiring them to be highly regarded, certified and licensed traders.

Why Certified Organic Coffee?

People ask why they should choose Organic Coffee over conventional coffees. The fact is coffee farmers worldwide use an enormous amount of herbicides, fungicides and pesticides on their crops that affect not only the earth and the plants but also the plantation workers who work in these fields every day.

Additional benefits to Organic growing practices is that when a farm commits to the certification process there becomes a greater emphasis of the workers on the tending of the crop. The result is a superior and higher quality product when compared to other varietals from that same region.

What is Fair Trade?

Fair Trade is a partnership that seeks to provide greater equality in the global marketplace. The Fair Trade Certified label guarantees that farmers and farm workers from developing countries receive a fair price for their crops and products.

What is Relationship Coffee?

At Spirit Bear Coffee Company, our belief is relationship coffee differs from the traditional green coffee contract. It is based on a direct connection between the roaster and the supplier. The price mechanism for a relationship coffee is not tied to the world market, but is solely based on what it costs the supplier to produce exceptional coffee. A relationship coffee has the additional benefit of concern for how to sustain the economic efforts of the farm through pricing that reflects the true excellence and value of the coffee.

Is Coffee a Health Food?

When does coffee become a health food? While there is no simple answer, as published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry… 19,000 primarily positive scientific studies should meet the toughest criteria. Coffee has been through the scientific ringer, so to say, and has almost invariably come out with flying colours. Over the past few decades, not only have old myths about coffee gone the way of the Edsel, but significant positive health benefits have been uncovered through intense and exacting scientific inquiry.

Does coffee contain antioxidants?

Probably the best-kept secret is that coffee has four times the antioxidant content of green tea, according to a study conducted in Switzerland by the Nestle Research Center and recently published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Green coffee beans contain about 1,000 antioxidants, and the brewing process adds about 300 more. The roasting process creates its own set of healthful compounds which, like some antioxidants, are unique to coffee alone. The study found that coffee also outruns cocoa, herbal teas, and red wine. Of course, precise antioxidant content varies from cup to cup. Factors influencing levels are the type of bean, and the level of “soluble” in the cup, which determined by the brewing method, time and amount of coffee used.

Does coffee help enhance physical performance?

Research has also proved that, in addition to protecting against disease, coffee has a positive functional impact on an array of human activities. A study published in Current Sports Medicine Reports found that the caffeine in coffee improves performance and endurance during prolonged, exhaustive exercise. To a lesser extent, it also boosts short-term, high-intensity athletic performance, as well as enhances concentration, reduces fatigue and heightens alertness. The reason lies in caffeine's effect on brain receptors, enabling better energy uptake.

FAQs

Brewing Questions

Q. How do you brew a cup of Spirit Bear Coffee?
A. Use fresh, cold water to fill the reservoir tank on your single-serve machine. Depending on taste preference, we recommend brewing with the 6 oz cup setting for a full-flavoured coffee, or the 8 oz cup setting for a milder coffee.

Q. Which single-serve machines is Spirit Bear Coffee Pods compatible with?
A. Spirit Bear Coffee Pods are Keurig 2.0 compatible and works in K-Cup® compatible single-serve coffee makers such as Keurig®, Cuisinart® or Hamilton Beach® brewers. Spirit Bear Coffee Company pods ARE NOT compatible with Keurig Vue®, Tassimo® or other types of single-serve brewers.

Q. I get an “Oops” message on my Keurig machine.
A. Spirit Bear Coffee Company pod lids were printed with a special ink that is readable and accepted by the Keurig® machine. If you receive this error message “Oops! This pack wasn’t designed for this brewer. Please try the one of the hundreds of packs with the Keurig® logo,” please try the following:

  • Open the Keurig® lid and rotate the pod clockwise 90 degrees. Close the Keurig® lid to brew again.

If that doesn’t work, please email us at info@spiritbearcoffeecompany.com or call us 1-844-691-6284

Compostable Questions

Q. What does 100% compostable mean?
A. Spirit Bear Coffee Company pods are  100% compostable! It is fully compostable in a commercial compost (where approved). We only use certified compostable products. Spirit Bear Coffee Company pods are made of a lid, ring, mesh and coffee – the hard plastic that you see is actually plant-based PLA resin. It is very similar to a compostable fork and knife.

Q. Is it better than recyclables?
A. In short, yes! In 2018, China will no longer import North American recyclables which means North American will need to find domestic markets for our own recyclables or send them to landfill. 

Q. Can I dispose of my used Spirit Bear Coffee Company soft pods in my garden or food waste composter?
A. We don’t recommend it. Because each person looks after their home compost differently, we can’t guarantee its success in your home compost. At a commercial facility they create optimal conditions to ensure waste breaks down, which is ideal in this case.

Q. Can I dispose my used Spirit Bear Coffee Company pods in my municipal green bin program?
A. Check locally. In Canada, there are no standards set and each city composter can use a different process so we’re unsure if your particular composter will accept these pods.

Q. If the municipal green bin program does not accept the pods, why do compostable pods matter?
A.  Because we understand change takes time. And one of the best ways to speed up change is to show manufacturers that there’s a demand for more compostable materials, and show local governments there’s a demand for green bin programs to accept Spirit Bear Coffee Company pods. With your help we can make a difference - one cup at a time. Together, we can reduce the garbage being generated by single-serve coffee.

Yes, it costs us more to use compostable materials, but it’s worth it – we need to divert the millions of pods heading to landfills, to become useful again – fertile soil to grow more fruits, vegetables and beautiful flowers.

Our pod also uses renewable resources (plants!) instead of regular/recyclable plastics, usually made from oil, a non-renewable resource. 

Organic Questions

Q. Are the Spirit Bear Coffee Company soft bottom pods organic and fair trade?
A. Yes, all varieties contain 100% Arabica coffee that is both certified organic and certified fair trade.

Q. How is the Spirit Bear Coffee Company - Dolphin  Decaf pods  processed?
A. Dolphin pods are decaffeinated using the Swiss Water® Process. This environmentally friendly process is 100% chemical free and produces a delicious coffee that is caffeine-free.

Q. Will flavoured Spirit Bear Coffee Company varieties be created in the future?
A. Given our focus on using 100% organic coffee, and the lack of availability of quality certified organic flavourings, we have no plans at this time to add flavoured coffees.