New Peet’s Coffee Food Gal Contest and Winner of the Global Knife Give-Away
For the first time in eight years, artisan roaster Peet’s Coffee is adding a new blend to its line-up of beans.
Uzuri African Blend, available starting March 3 at all Peet’s coffee houses and at Peets.com, will help generate greater income for 6,000 small farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda.
Pronounced ”oo-Zur-ee,” the name of the new coffee means “excellent” and “beautiful” in Swahili. The name was chosen by East African farmers who are now producing the coffee to Peet’s exacting standards, and in the process, earning 30 percent more for their crop. That’s not insignificant, considering that coffee farmers typically live in extreme poverty, earning less than $2 a day, according to TechnoServe, an organization that empowers people in developing countries to build businesses to improve their lives, and which is collaborating with Peet’s to produce the coffee.
The new blend, which also will be available through March 31 on grocery stores nationwide, is smooth as can be with a subtle fruitiness to it. A 12-ounce bag sells for about $9.99.
Five lucky Food Gal readers will get a chance to try the coffee for free, too. Peet’s is generously allowing me to give away five 12-ounce bags of the Uzuri African Blend, one bag to each of five winners.
Contest details: Deadline to enter is the close of the day, March 6. Five winners will be announced March 8. The contest is open to only those in the continental United States.
To enter: Describe something that perks you up. The best five answers get the coffee.
Here’s my own answer to what perks me up: The smell of garlic sizzling in a hot pan. Just-washed laundry when it comes out of the dryer. Going for a long hike with a good friend on a perfect spring day — then pigging out on cake afterward. Fetching the mail, because I just never know what goodies are going to show up on any given day.
Now, it’s your turn…
And without further adieu, let me announce the grand prize winner of the Food Gal Global knife contest, in which I asked folks to describe something sharp and something dull. Faced with an unprecedented number of incredible entries (more than 70), I’ve decided to choose two runners-up, as well, who will each get a cookbook from my vast collection. Here are the winners:
Runner-up: Shelly, who wrote, “Sharp: Anthony Bourdain in an Armani suit and a wry grin, wielding a (Global) chef’s knife above a perfectly grilled medium-rare steak. The scent of a wedge of raw French cheese. The crunch of a jalapeno pepper ring. The warm sting of a good single-malt Scotch. Dull: Rachel Ray bubbling effusively about anything. Wonder bread. American cheese(TM). Sugary breakfast cereal. James Lipton’s predictable brown-nosing on “Inside the Actor’s Studio.†Themed chain restaurants. A half-empty bottle of Merlot, forgotten for a week on the kitchen counter. Biting into a slice of apple pie made with canned apples.
Runner-up: Nancie, who wrote, “Sharp: The wit of my cousin Greg, that guy can pop out a pun in an instant. Dull: Having to hear the gas prices of every little small town my dad passes through on his travels to my house… it’s a 400 mile journey, so you can just imagine. I just about go insane! Don’t get me started, when he goes on and on about the longer trips. I love him, but OMG!
Grand-prize winner: Melly, who wrote, “Sharp: My husband’s big toenail. I could shave my legs with it! Dull: My brain in the morning..before coffee.”
To collect your prize: Send me an email (you can use the link on the right-hand rail of the homepage) with “Contest Winner” written in the guide. Include your full name, address and phone number.
Congrats to the winners! That coffee looks awesome to try! What perks me up the most recently is watching my daughter enjoy reading for hours at a time.
It perks me up when my teenage nephew actually has a real conversation with me. He is a typical teen, but when we do talk, I realize that being close during the pre-teen years matters. He is even patient when talking about photography and boarding, and doesn’t talk down to me!
This is sad…oh so sad… but here goes.
When I post to my blog late at night then wake up in the morning.. I am SO excited to log on and check the comments. It really perks me right up and out of bed!!
🙂
Blessings-
Amanda
It’s always nice to hear of coffee growers earning more than the going rate. What perks me up? Finding just the right shoes and then learning they’re on sale!
try this on for size:
rolling out of my warm bed in the morning, shuffling over to the door, opening it, and being bombarded with a blast of icy cold air (i only heat my bedroom). that’ll wake a person up posthaste. posthaste, i say.
What perks me up, you ask. A few things. 1) the color orange. 2) Swimming in the ocean. 3) Peets Coffee (brownie points?)
OMG!! Yay!!!! Thanks so much!!
What perks me up! The smell of my coffee brewing…every morning.
My kiddo shrieking “I DID IT!!” at the end of swimming lessons. A walk in the woods, which my 3 year old calls the Jungle of Nool. And coffee. 🙂
Going outside to my new planter boxes and watching the new seedlings come up (favas, peas, carrots, and melon).
Congrats to the winners! I really enjoyed reading your responses, hee hee!
Perks me up? The lovely fragrance emanating from the oven telling me that my cornbread/scone/bread/insert baked good here is almost done baking!
What perks me up? … The perfect, burning, Cannonball Adderley, alto saxophone solo — careening, swooping, landing perfectly with the rest of the sounds in the band. My kids and their smiles when they say that it’s time to get up and start the day. The love of my life when she’s ahead of me on her bike encouraging me up that hill, saying “You are MY man!”
Taking my little brother swimming perks me up no matter how tired I am!
Reading FoodGal.
(sucking up! 🙂
my dog. he wakes up happy every morning and serves as a reminder to embrace the little things. it sounds super cheesy, i know. but, truly, how can i wake up grumpy when i see his sweet face and how excited he gets about his breakfast and a morning walk. my husband – that’s another story 😉
huge peets fan, btw! thanks!!
-An email from my best friend
-My afternoon cup of coffee (and an accompanying sweet treat)
-Getting to see my boyfriend unexpectedly
What perks me up: I am 39 weeks pregnant and every morning I wake up excited with the possibility that today could be the day my first baby comes. I can’t wait for this excitement to be replaced with that which comes with holding my baby…
Everyday is full of little pick me ups, which is important since I’m running after a two year old all day. What perks me up? The smell of freshly ground coffee beans; my son waking up and singing in his crib; buying new craft supplies; the smell of a bookstore or library; going to the Farmers’ Market; and sitting in the sun after a week full of rainy days.
what perks me up:
the amazing smell of just cut limes
my girls giggling together
my son still being excited about school every morning
wearing clothes fresh from the dryer
completing something, anything
running in the park after a rainy day
cooking a complicated, multi-course meal 🙂
This is kinda cheezy, but it really describes what perks me up first thing in the morning: ;-D
There once was runner named Alan,
For whom mornings were always a challenge,
Now he can compete,
If he stops first at Peets,
Where he gulps down dark roast by the gallon.
what perks me up:
the smell of ‘Milk Soap” on my grandaughter
all the cases are finished and I can go home
when my Marine corps Instructor for civilian boot camp called me an athlete at 60y
those smells of cooking that hit you whether you are in the mall, a five star restaurant, or your own kitchen…it’s the smell of someone who loves food
Ooo I love Peet’s! What perks me up is that first time in the spring when you walk outside and there isn’t a significant temperature change from inside. That combined with the smell of melting snow is just amazing.
what perks me up:
Finishing a task with ease when I had been putting it off for a long time because I was pretty sure it would be difficult or unfinishable. Also, stopping to talk to friends I haven’t seen in a while in the grocery store. Realizing that there is a daffodil blooming in my front flower bed
What perks me up: The smile on my 88 year old mother’s face when I see her after a hard day at work. 🙂
What perks me up? My kitten. I can be tired, grumpy or having a bad day and just a minute or two of watching her perks me right up. Seeing her little butt wiggle back and forth when she’s ready to pounce on a spider; the way her tail gets as big as a raccoon when she’s scared by an unfamiliar sound; how she’ll sit and stare at the ice maker in the door of the fridge because she just knows somethings going on in there; or how she’ll lay on top of my husband watching me when I get up in the morning (not to mention the foot tag that sometimes occurs before I get out of bed). It’s been almost 18 years since I’ve had a kitten and I’d forgotten how much fun they can be.
What perks me up is when I bake and the timer finally goes off after much anticipation, and rushing to the kitchen to open the oven door so you can see what the results of your hard work are. Then you take it out (forget waiting for it to cool) and cut a secret baker’s slice for yourself, the baker!
What perks me up: pretty days where I can open all the windows, fresh oranges, sharing scones and coffee with lots of cream with my tea-loving girlfriend. Yum!
Okay, what perks me up? Many things: the smell of fresh lemon juice squeezed into some cold water, the smell of beautiful flowers on my dining room table (or outside), the toddler’s smile, hubby walking up the stairs when he comes home from work in the afternoon… But honestly, nothing perks me up like a freshly brewed cup of coffee in the morning… It’s such a nice part of the day. Okay, and hubby and the toddler will now forever be mad if they ever find out that I chose coffee over them. But it’s the truth…. 🙂
What perks me up? The challenge of coming up with interesting meals all week using the fruits and veggies from my weekly CSA box. The biggest perk is on Sunday when we go (coffee in hand) to pick it up and get to be surprised by all the new goodies!
Nothing perks me up like the smell of freshly cut rosemary on my wife’s hands after she’s clipped some in the garden for the producer of that other perker-upper, sourdough rosemary bread. Perk at will.
What perks me up is reading Yelp, Chowhound, Twitter, & foodbloggers give me tips on good eats,then I’m all over the Bay Area trying 1-2 per week.
PS: I love Peet’s coffee.
What perks me up: sitting on the back deck in my lounge chair, sun shining on my face, good culinary mystery in one hand, blended coffee drink in the other. Heaven.
Oh those coffee beans look damn good.
Hmm..what perks me up: A whiff of butter on warm bread; a 15-30min undisturbed time for foodblog reading; an indulgent teaspoon of sugar in my tea/coffee; a quick massage for tired eyes before resting them by looking at my neatly lined up shoes. Haha!
Congratulations to the winner and runners-up! Melly’s answer is too funny . . . 😎
What perks me up?
The sound of my husband, puttering to the kitchen every morning to make our morning brew; my dog greeting me after a long day of classes, as if he’s waited all his life for me. 8-D
Peet’s coffee contest is now closed. Come back Monday to find who won the beans. 😉
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