Our "cupping" program is tailored to libraries, but is also popular with civic groups and social gatherings.  A narrated slide show about coffee history, cultivation and characteristics precedes an adapted coffee cupping.  In the real thing wholesalers and independent roasters are seeing, smelling, touching, tasting coffees; looking for the very best taste and quality for their customers and clients.  In this version, participants examine and taste coffees blindly, then try to identify the beans based on information about regional characteristics.   We "prime the senses" then challenge the players.  There are lots of laughs and a new appreciation for the morning cuppa' Joe!  

Selma Miriam, founder of the iconic Bloodroot Vegetarian Restaurant & Bookstore , passed away on Feb. 6, 2025. She named the restaurant for the native plant that spreads “separate but connected”, through an underground root system, forming new colonies of flowers.  “We don’t just want a piece of the pie, we want a whole new recipe.” Along with founding partner Noel Furie, the restaurant opened in 1977, and indeed, many recipes were launched and connections made. Bloodroot quickly became a special place for independent-minded women in the late 70’s and continues to this day.  As Women’s Herstory Month comes to a close, we thank you, Selma, for being a Wild Woman and helping so many others along the way. Let's keep Bloodroot going! The restaurant is open Wednesday thru Saturday and is located at 85 Ferris St., Bridgeport, CT. Call (203) 576-9168 for more info or visit www.bloodroot.com

The Hammer Throw is a track and field event that requires strength, coordination and explosive power as athletes compete to throw a weight the farthest distance. The women's event debuted at the Olympics in 2000. A woman competitor holds the grip of a four foot long wire that has an almost nine pound steel ball attached to the other end.  She typically swings the ball over her head then spins and spins and spins—and maybe spins one more time—to create the centrifugal force that will send the "hammer" flying!  She must stay within the bounds of a 7-foot diameter circle until after the ball lands and then, no dizzy staggering allowed, the athlete finishes her throw by exiting the circle only through the back half. Jannee’ Kassanavoid is the first Native American woman to medal at the World Track And Field championships and the hammer throw is her event.  She is poised to be an Olympic champion on TEAM USA this summer in Paris. Kassanavoid uses her platform as a professional track and field athlete to “fight for indigenous representation, equality and justice.”  She has said “It is with great gratitude that I amplify my voice, walk forward as a leader, and embody the role of those who walked before me.  I am proud to be Indigenous and pave the way for the future generations of young athletes, women and fellow natives to come.” (Team USA News) While she humbly makes history, she remains focused on her goal to “inspire and empower not only athletes, but also others chasing their dreams of being that shining light.  I want to show them that in the end, hard work does pay off.” The coffee connection?  Until 2004 the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), whose regulations the International Olympic Committee adhere to, included caffeine in their list of banned substances because of its performance enhancing properties. “While caffeine does not increase strength or stamina the way most banned ergonomic compounds do, it does increase energy by encouraging the migration of reserve fat to the bloodstream and leaving more reserve sugar available for the muscle to convert to energy.” Since  2004 coffee has moved to the WADA’s “safe foods” list and then, after more studies was put on the “watch” list in 2018  where it remains today. So this summer, Kassanavoid and the other elite athletes in Paris may compete penalty-free if micrograms of caffeine  per milliliter of urine is under with 12.  That means they can have 6 to 8 12 ounce cups of coffee in the hours preceding competition.  Too bad Wild Women Coffee is not available in France!  It would surely make winners of all the TEAM USA athletes! sources: World Athletics, New York Times Athletic, Team USA News,

The U.S. War Department considered coffee to be an essential element of the troops' diet--lifting morale, keeping them alert for night time combat and used as a therapeutic in the field by medics. The army requisitioned 10 times more coffee in 1942 than they had in the year before Pearl Harbor was attacked which meant that back at home, families were asked to stretch their coffee supplies by reusing brewed grounds. We can only assume that Maggie Higgins was getting the coffee she needed as she competed to "get the scoop" in the male dominated world of wartime journalism. The rule that barred women correspondents from reporting from the combat zone didn't keep her from jumping in a jeep headed behind enemy lines, putting her in position to be the reporter on site as Dachau was liberated. She went on to cover the war in Korea in a way that few other reporters did--from the center of combat. In her new biography, Fierce Ambition, Jennet Conant chronicles Higgins' achievements and explores her motivations. In an NPR interview Conant recently said that although the journalist opened doors for women, she never wanted to be distinguished for her gender. "She won the Pulitzer for her daring dispatches, and the Pulitzer committee noted that she won it under extraordinary, difficult circumstances because she was a woman. But she did not want that to be what she was known for. She wanted to be seen as a good newspaper man, not woman." Truly, Maggie Higgins belongs on the WWC Wild Women billboard!