Coffee and newspapers

Editors at the ASNE conference are getting a taste of the Chesapeake's best -- with a side of Yahoo!

Travelling Bean Cappuccino Catering is serving up brews from the Crofton.-based Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company at the ASNE NewsNow Ideas Summit. The cappuccino bar, and the biodegradable cups the drinks are served in, is sponsored by Yahoo!

Travelling Bean owner Marcos Vieira said the company works with hotel chains across the country, and uses Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company exclusively. CBRC uses only fair-trade certified coffee, Vieira said. That is important to him because he is Brazilian and his wife is from Nicaragua, he said, so they have seen families devastated by unfair payment practices.

But the best thing about Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company is that they give 2 percent of the profit from each can of coffee to the organizations that work to restore the Chesapeake Bay, Vieira said.

"We all grew up in (the D.C. area)," Vieira said. "Now I live in Virginia, and I think it's horrible that my kids can't swim in the Potomac (River)."

According to the Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company's can, all their packaging is completely recyclable.

"We couldn't take on a name like Chesapeake Bay Roasting Company without also taking on some responsibility," the company says on its Web site.

So far, the group has received positive feedback about the coffee, Vieira said.

"We did close to 650 drinks yesterday," he said. "People like the jolt of espresso."

By Jennifer Hlad