The Honest Truth About Lifeboost - People, Practices, Products, And More

If health is a priority, you likely take note of food labels and descriptions.

For instance, if you have a gluten allergy, your health demands that you pour through ingredient lists and look for labels that describe items as gluten free. 

Or, when broadly referring to selections in a grocery store, perhaps you look for labels with a non-gmo sticker or descriptions that list the word natural.

But, after all this effort, at the end of the day, do you ever wonder if products really are what they claim to be? 

I mean, some of you possibly perked up a few lines above when I mentioned the word “natural” as it relates to food items. Why? Because most folks now realize this term is not regulated. 

Then, what about organic foods? 

Many look for this label, but is organic really what we think it is? 

Or, what about the old switcheroo? 

Have you noticed many ingredients, particularly those commonly known to hinder our health, sometimes get a new name? 

So, when you’re trying to avoid high fructose corn syrup, unless you are aware of the fact that this ingredient can also be called glucose-fructose syrup, fructose-glucose syrup, maize syrup, etc. you could potentially be fooled by such terms. 

I know, it can be frustrating to say the least. 

And frankly, it makes me wonder what happened to good, old-fashioned honesty?

Or, what about simply being transparent? 

Which brings me to my next question…how honest, how transparent…is Lifeboost Coffee? 

This is what we’ll be determining today as we take a peak, or rather a full-blown examination, under Lifeboost’s hood allowing you to fully see who we are, what we do, why we do it, and what makes us different from so many others when it comes to coffee.

Lifeboost Standards - From People To Practices, Products, And More

If you take a look at our website, you’ll see a section listed as “Our Story.” 

Here, Dr. Charles tells of his passion and conviction regarding health, and how this fuels his commitment to keeping Lifeboost Coffee “the healthiest, tastiest, stomach-friendly beans on the planet.” 

Sounds great, right? 

But, is it true? 

Or, are these just some empty words from a company trying to sell you coffee? 

Now, I wholeheartedly believe our growing practices, other processes, and well, our delicious coffee, back up the above statement - and, we’ll detail those things in a moment - but, first I’d like to share something personal which I believe may give a bit more insight into the honesty behind the words you’ll commonly see and hear regarding Lifeboost. 

As I’ve shared in other articles, Dr. Charles is my cousin. 

We also grew up down a rural country road as neighbors. In other words, we’ve spent a lot of time together. 

And, I can recall the exact time period when he became passionate about health and wellness. 

In our early teen years he began dedicating much time, research, and effort into improving his health, and this passion and pursuit is something I’ve never known to waver in him. 

Back in my teens and early 20’s (and still today, really), I took my health questions and concerns to him more than anyone else. 

Why? Because I fully knew he had a genuine care for my health and wellbeing at the forefront of any advice he’d give. And, I knew he would never tell me to do something he wouldn’t be comfortable doing himself! 

So, when he says he wouldn’t recommend any product (here, coffee) to you that he wouldn’t be comfortable using or consuming personally, he truly means it! 

Now, fast forward to when I began writing articles for Lifeboost…

During my training, Dr. Charles started out by giving me a crash course in coffee - methods, growing practices, what’s out there - kind of an overview of what the coffee growing world is like. 

Then, he showed me how and why Lifeboost was different.

At the time, I didn’t know much about coffee. In fact, I never knew coffee could have mold in it. 

I had no idea that there were such drastic differences in growing procedures. 

I didn’t even know there were differences in flavor due to where coffee is grown. 

But, day after day, he passionately explained all there is at the heart of, not just coffee, but Lifeboost Coffee, and detailing those things to you, I believe, is the best way to show you what sets Lifeboost apart from the rest…

People

You would think the first thing Dr. Charles (and Lifeboost as a company) taught me about coffee would involve beans, brewing methods, and mugs, but instead, my first exposure to the inner workings of Lifeboost involved people, namely, our farmers. 

As the company has grown, our website has been updated to better meet the needs of our customers, but early on, I can recall a video on the site that showed one of our farmers walking through a small plantation detailing various aspects of the growing process.

The lady in the video was visibly happy. The plants were such a vibrant shade of green. And frankly, it looked nothing like what I had pictured in my mind. 

I’ll get to the plants in a moment, but as Dr. Charles explained how they work with their farmers, I didn’t just take what he said to heart blindly. No, I could see it all over the faces of our farmers!

You could see that these farmers not only enjoyed what they were doing, but they were truly proud to grow coffee for Lifeboost, fully aware of and in line with our focus and mission. 

So, during this time, Charlie explained to me that it was very important for Lifeboost to pay their farmers a living wage. 

He then proceeded to tell me of the common living conditions for farming communities. 

And frankly, I’m going to just bluntly state that I cannot imagine any of us living in such conditions here in the US. 

Then, regarding their work, since our coffee is grown at high elevations in the rainforest mountains of Nicaragua, our farmers often travel through dense vegetation to regularly monitor all aspects of the growing process. 

And, as each and every coffee cherry is hand selected, their knowledge and attention to detail means that you’ll never experience defects or subpar quality coffee. 

Did you catch that? This is something that blew me away…our coffee farmers pick every single defect-free, plump, ripe coffee cherry by hand! 

I thought hand picking green beans with my grandpa was difficult and time consuming as a child, so I can’t even imagine the long hours our farmers log to ensure each cup of Lifeboost is clean, pure, and tasty!

To sum it up -  

What our farmers do is not easily done. 

What our farmers do is not easily replicated. 

What our farmers do is incredibly valuable. 

And, we are proud to pay our farmers a fair, living wage for their wisdom, passion, and expert, careful measures in growing our coffee.

Practices

Remember when I said the video of one of our farmers walking amongst our coffee plants was nothing like I had pictured? 

Well, it turns out the picture I had in my mind is actually similar to what a large conventional coffee plantation would look like. 

In my mind, I saw an open field with lots of dirt and row after row of coffee plants as my farming knowledge only extended to the rows of soybeans and corn I was accustomed to seeing all throughout southeastern Indiana. 

And, unfortunately, this is commonly how mass marketed coffee is produced. 

These companies deforest large areas of land then commonly plant hybrid coffee shrubs in large quantities. 

Then, to accelerate growth and contend with weeds and pests, these plants are sprayed with harsh chemicals like fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, etc. 

And, what I quickly learned is that this is simply not the way you should grow coffee when you care about health - human health or environmental health.

What I saw in the video with our farmers, and what Dr. Charles detailed to me regarding Lifeboost growing practices painted an entirely different story. 

On our small, family-owned coffee plantations, our shrubs thrive amongst many native plants. 

They receive moisture from rain, shade from neighboring plants, and appropriate amounts of warmth and sunlight as the day naturally allows. 

Lifeboost coffee plants also attract native pollinators while bringing in new species to these established, fertile areas which serves to not only improve the biodiversity of the area but the health of our coffee shrubs as well. 

How? 

Well, Lifeboost coffee cherries are nutrient dense, as they grow to maturity slowly under this natural canopy of shade. 

Then, they receive abundant nutrition through the soils beneath, enriched from composting leaves and animal waste. 

And, unlike conventional coffee growing practices, we never use chemicals on our coffee. 

Hmmm, but what does all this mean when it comes to those stickers, tags, and labels we mentioned in our introduction?

Organic Vs. Certified USDA Organic

One of the first articles I wrote for Lifeboost detailed our sustainable farming methods. 

But at this point, Lifeboost had not yet received USDA organic certification. 

We were in the process of going through all of the required measures to receive this, basically the technical part of the process, but each I was not yet dotted, and each t had not yet been crossed. 

So, Dr. Charles was very specific in his instructions - preventing me from using certain words like organic or, specifically, USDA organic. 

In fact, not wanting to sound misleading at all, he asked me to instead solely discuss the sustainable methods which were at the heart of the growing practices. 

At first I was confused, because everything we incorporated described what I’d found when researching USDA organic methods.

So, our coffee was USDA organic in practice, but we simply hadn’t received the official certification.

Of course, this has been legally squared away for some time now, and thus you’ve all become accustomed to seeing this appropriate stamp on our packaging. 

Unfortunately, what I’ve just described is actually backwards in relation to what consumers commonly experience today, and this is precisely why Dr. Charles wanted to proceed with an abundance of transparency regarding this labelling. 

You see, when the word organic is used ‘on’ a product, this should indicate that the product was grown and processed using natural methods with little to no synthetic intervention. 

However, items with a simple ‘organic’ description have not been held to a specific set of standards, and this often results in a muddying of this term we often hold in high regard. 

USDA organic, on the other hand, signifies certification. This means such products have been produced according to the USDA’s National Organic Program standards, including specifications regarding: 

• Soil quality
  
• Pest and weed control
  
• Additives
  
• Production practices
  
• non-GMO
  
• Tracing products from farm to store

These items or aspects of the growing process (and more) must be inspected by accredited certifiers before a company can place this label on a product. 

And, in the case of Lifeboost, there’s actually another way, in addition to this certification, that you can know we truly adhere to all of these practices…

3rd Party Testing 

Another label or description we’re proud to list on Lifeboost Coffee details the testing each and every batch of our coffee goes through before you enjoy a single sip. 

Each batch of Lifeboost Coffee is third party tested for mycotoxins, molds, heavy metals, pesticides, and 400+ other toxins. 

Why do we do this? Because this is our proof in the pudding. This allows us (and you) to know for certain that what we’re telling you about our growing and processing methods are indeed true.

We could only say “our coffee is grown at high elevations under a canopy of shade, so this protects the plants and coffee cherries from excessive rainwater, meaning they are not going to have mold growing on them.” 

We could also simply say “our coffee is spring water washed and sun dried to avoid any moisture collecting and contaminating our coffee during processing.”

And, we could easily say “we never use chemicals in our growing processes, so there’s no need to test for these things.”

But, this step of third party testing removes any veil and all doubt. 

Third party testing allows all of us to know for sure that there’s nothing contaminating our coffee, and this measure proves our claims about our processes are trustworthy.

Product

So, we’ve covered growing and processing Lifeboost coffee. And, we’ve even tested Lifeboost coffee. 

But, what about our flavored selections? 

And, what about our decaffeinated or half caff coffees? 

I’m sure you’ve already noticed, but we tend to buck tradition around here, doing things the healthy way as opposed to the common or popular way. 

And, this includes both how we remove caffeine and add flavor to our coffee. 

Concerning decaffeination, most common methods involve the use of harsh chemical solvents like methylene chloride or ethyl acetate to remove caffeine from coffee beans. 

And frankly, we’re not okay with these methods. 

This is why we use what is known as the Swiss Water Method for decaffeination. 

No chemicals, just water and carbon filters.

Bonus? 

This method not only removes more caffeine than conventional chemical methods, it also preserves the flavor molecules allowing you to experience all the great tastes you love without the caffeine. 

Of course, we have our own way of doing things when it comes to adding flavor to our coffee beans as well. 

Conventional coffee flavoring methods generally look like this: 

• Once coffee beans have met their storage time limit, these beans are then pulled to be used for flavor additions. 
• Artificial flavors are added to the coffee beans, but because these beans are not freshly roasted, they aren’t as porous, meaning the flavors do not easily stick to the beans. 
• Propylene glycol, a chemical commonly used in the airline industry to de-ice planes, is then added to help these artificial flavors adhere to the coffee beans. 

Lifeboost coffee flavoring, on the other hand, looks a little something like this:

• Freshly roasted Lifeboost coffee is soaked in essential oils and natural baking extracts (think of grandma’s kitchen here, her homemade vanilla, almond, and maple extracts, etc). 
• As the beans are freshly roasted, they are more porous, allowing the flavors to easily be absorbed into the coffee beans. 
• No chemicals, no artificial flavors or fragrances, just clean, fabulous tastes and aromas combined with clean, healthy coffee. 

Those were short explanations, but if you want an in depth look at our decaffeination process as well as our flavoring methods, check out these articles which go into greater detail about removing caffeine and infusing flavor the Lifeboost way:

Decaffeination process: https://lifeboostcoffee.com/blogs/lifeboost/decaffeination-conundrum-which-method-removes-caffeine-while-preserving-health-and-flavor?

Flavoring methods : https://lifeboostcoffee.com/blogs/lifeboost/when-it-comes-to-flavoring-coffee-there-s-the-good-the-bad-and-the-lifeboost-way?

Then, before we close, let’s tie up a few more potentially loose ends… 

A few other distinctions at Lifeboost involve the type of coffee beans you can faithfully expect from us - single origin, specialty grade Arabica coffee. 

First, Lifeboost Coffee is specialty grade Arabica coffee. And, this specialty label means these beans are the highest quality of coffee you can buy. 

But, taking that one step further, all Lifeboost coffee is also single origin, and here’s why: 

Coffee blends are commonly composed of coffees from varying regions. 

And, these are often marketed to entice customers into thinking they’ll be able to experience a balance between the different growing regions of the varieties of coffee used in the blend. 

However, a routine practice with such blends involves using a single high-quality coffee blended with lesser quality, cheaper, coffee beans. 

In other words, blends can be a simple way to make a bigger profit when using lower quality coffee beans in the mix. 

And now, it seems we’ve come full circle - because at Lifeboost, all of our coffee beans come from a single location, grown sustainably by our trusted, knowledgeable coffee farmers on their small family farms, just as we’ve detailed for you here today.

Quality, health, transparency…these mean everything to us, and that’s why we take the steps we take, go the extra mile, do the extra testing, and put in the extra effort to bring you a coffee that is everything we say it is:

• Single origin, 100% Arabica 
  
• Specialty
  
• Sustainably grown
  
• Low acid (we test for that too, so there’s no hiding here either)
  
• USDA organic
  
• Shade grown
  
• Elevation grown
  
• Fairly traded
  
• 3rd party tested 
  
• No blends
  
• No chemicals, ever
  
• Swiss water decaffeinated for our decaf and half caff
  
• Only essential oils and natural baking extracts (no chemicals) in our flavored coffees

…or to put it concisely - clean, incredibly delicious, and healthy coffee!

Check out Lifeboost Coffee Grata Medium Roast.

References:

https://nutrition.org/interpreting-food-labels-natural-versus-organic/#

https://thewholetruthfoods.com/learn/twt-chemx/high-fructose-corn-syrup-or-hfcs

https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification/organic-basics#

https://www.usda.gov/about-usda/news/blog/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means#

https://public-health.uq.edu.au/article/2023/11/how-decaf-coffee-made-and-it-really-caffeine-free#:~:text=How%20is%20decaf%20made?,coffee%20is%20often%20more%20expensive.

https://public-health.uq.edu.au/article/2023/11/how-decaf-coffee-made-and-it-really-caffeine-free

https://cablevey.com/where-do-specialty-coffee-beans-come-from/#

https://www.taylorlane.com/blogs/read/coffee-blends#