The story of Maxwell House Coffee begins in rural Kentucky in 1873 when Joel Cheek, a traveling salesman for a wholesale grocery firm was asked by a customer what best coffee that he sold was. In rural areas in 1870’s people bought their coffee green and roasted it at home. He naturally recommended most expensive one, though he knew nothing about differing qualities of coffee.

Whether bothered by his conscience or simply out of curiosity, that night he roasted some of each type of coffee that he sold and sampled them side by side. He decided that actually one of cheaper brands had best flavor. The next day he returned to grocer that had asked him question and explained why he would be shipping him cheaper brand.

Continuing to experiment with different varieties of coffee, Cheek became quite aficionado, recognizing that some brands had better body and some better acidity and yet another better flavor and aroma. He began mixing different coffees together to find just right blend.

In U.S, all farms or products claiming to be "certified organic" must be guaranteed by a USDA-approved independent agency to be meeting following guidelines:

* Sound records kept of all operations * No use of antibiotics or hormones in livestock * No use of genetically modified organisms * No irradiation * Use sound soil conservation and crop rotation practice * And most importantly, that there has been no useage of prohibited materials within 3 years prior to certification, or at any time during certification.

The USDA defines 'prohibited materials' as synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and sewage sludge. It is also a requirement that there is no cross-contamination during processing, which means organic wheat for example cannot be ground in a flour factory that also handles non-organic material.