So I have had my fair share of coffee over the years, probably enough to actually have my own villa in several small South American countries as a mere thanks for my patronage. I am not a buff by any means, but I like it dark, strong and in vast quantities.

I also don’t whine about my coffee unless it’s just colored water, because that’s just wrong. From Kona coffee to diner coffee, some Brazilian to the Keurig Caribou menagerie, I drink coffee.

Let me tell you what happened when I had some Ranger Coffee. I heated up the water and primed up the french press with full-on expectations of balls-to-the-wall, caffeine-laden mud that would require a good quart of cream to even change color. I expected a swift rescheduling of regularity as penance for the level of alertness I was about to feel. What happened next was what caught me completely off guard.

I felt like I was home.

The senses of smell and taste are not usually memory triggers for me, but I remembered every morning after a good party, I remembered my mom’s couch after Thanksgiving dinner and I remembered being home. With family, with friends, home. Now I don’t know if this is the desired result, but this was the instant I knew what I was going to write about Ranger Coffee. I am not commenting on nuttiness, earthy tones, arabica whatever. As much as I may catch flack for putting this much “feeling” into something we put on our site, it really made me think.

If you were thousands of miles from home, in a place the furthest from where you would feel peaceful and safe. If you were under tremendous amounts of physical and emotional stress. If you were where our troops are for long periods at a time, away from all the things they love and hold dear and all it takes is one cup of coffee to remind them of where they came from… we need to get them more coffee.

The one thing that was obvious when talking to the current operator of Ranger Coffee is that they invest in companies and foundations that help veterans. This is a company who is set out to grow and develop other foundations and charities that help thousands of veterans. There are few companies that stand out in the way they support themselves and their vision, Ranger Coffee is one that knows where their money is going and making sure it goes as far as it can to help everyone.