Nelson — Local business owners Sam Bender and Kelsey Ball believe good coffee creates a good community — and they have just started selling a new African coffee that not only tastes great, but helps raise money to support women from the Congo who are survivors of that country’s civil wars.

Bender and Ball, owners of Peaks Coffee Company in Nelson, have recently joined The New York Coffee Consortium in order to help their industry make a difference in people’s lives, and Peaks is hosting a public cupping this Friday to showcase their new coffee.

“Our job here is to collectively raise funds … to send back to the women of Tuungane, Congo to give a micro credit loan, education, access to healthcare, better processing equipment and hope for a better tomorrow,” Bender said.

The goal is to raise $1,200 dollars with the whole consortium.

Bender and Ball founded Peaks Coffee Company, a micro-roaster and café, in October 2015 at Nelson Corners in Nelson. The duo said they joined The New York Coffee Consortium after Wade Reed of Joe Bean Coffee Roasters in Rochester presented them with the idea, and they were quick to jump on board.

“After Wade reached out to us, we looked up some information on the project. It is right up our ally. In specialty coffee we want to establish relationship with our customers, but also producers. These women have gone through something truly terrible, and they are now setting themselves up for success. They have created something that brings them hope. Something that has brought them out of their darkest valley and into a peak if you will,” Bender said. “We want to help support this project as we believe that with other roasters from the New York Coffee Consortium, we can make a difference. Maybe one day, we will see Tuungane Cooperatives coffee at our location.”

continued — The New York Coffee Consortium is a program under the umbrella non-profit organization, the Chain Collaborative, which has been connected with Tuungane since 2014, when the cooperative reached out for support. Tuungane is a coffee cooperative in Congo that hosts 750 women, each of whom are survivors of sexual violence during Congo’s civil wars.

One of Tuungane’s main goals is “to help their members live in peace post-trauma, and they believe that building economic empowerment through coffee production as well as building social capital through organization is one way to instill a lasting, positive peace,” according to The Chain Collaborative website.

Peaks Coffee Company makes donations to this cooperative as one of eight members of the New York Coffee Consortium.

Bender and Ball will be helping with this goal by selling a new coffee from Lake Kivu, Congo. One dollar of every 12-oz bag sold helps support Tuungane. Peaks will also be holding a public cupping event this Friday March 4, during which it will showcase the new coffee.

Those who attend Friday’s event will have the opportunity to participate in the entire cupping process. They will take 11 grams of roasted coffee, add hot water, wait four minutes and break the crust that forms at the top, releasing the aromas. All the while, they will examine the coffee’s color and smell to ensure high quality. Bender said that as the coffee cools, its flavor transforms from tomato-tasting to more citrus. “Tons of different things come out when you cup,” he said. “You can get good body, super juicy, sweet.”

Lake Kivu coffee differs from the coffee grown by the women of Tuungane. It is of a bourbon variety, meaning that it is very complex but fragile, sweet, full on the palette and fruity in taste, Bender said.

For those who wish to purchase the Lake Kivu coffee and support the Tuungane cooperate in Congo, Peaks Coffee Company will be selling it online and in store. It is now available as filtered coffee, though it will also be available as espresso and cold brew by the end of the month. One 12 oz bag costs $15, one dollar of which goes to the Chain Collaborative’s efforts to help sexual assault survivors.

For more information, call Peaks Coffee Company at 708-2862 or visit peakscoffeeco.com, also visit thechaincollaborative.org.