Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink

Grounds & Hounds is the Dog-Saving Coffee You Have to Try

Elizabeth Dahl
By

grounds hounds coffee and summer cold brew layout
Molly, the plucky brown and white Dalmatian, may not realize it, but she’s changed the lives of thousands of animals. She’s also keeping humans caffeinated. Molly is the dog behind Grounds & Hounds, the coffee company that gives back to animal organizations around the country.

Like many great love stories, when Jordan Karcher left his Santa Monica home in 2012 he had no idea he was about to fall in love. It was just a normal morning until he walked by an animal adoption event and a malnourished Dalmatian named Molly made her way onto his lap–and then quickly into his heart and home. Admittedly, Karcher fell in love with coffee first at the tender age of 12, but it was Molly who launched the Grounds & Hounds Coffee Company. Well, no Karcher did that part– (Dalmatians are notoriously bad at paperwork)– but she inspired it.

Karcher started Grounds & Hounds to provide great coffee that also benefits animals. The company offers a variety of blends as well as single origin coffees. And, because Karcher cares about people as well, all the coffee is certified Fair Trade Organic. The blends are cleverly named, like Alpha, Papers & Slippers, and Morning Walk Breakfast Blend and are made up of beans from some of coffee’s heaviest hitters. Alpha is, fittingly, their darkest blend made with coffee sourced from Colombia, Guatemala, and Sumatra, with a sweet and smoky taste. Paper & Slippers uses light and darker roasts for a full body and berry notes, using beans sourced from Peru, Nicaragua, and Mexico. Morning Walk is designed to be perfect for your day’s first cup, full of citrus and nutty flavors, using Guatemalan, Peruvian, and Sumatran beans.

Recommended Videos

If you’re a single origin coffee drinker, they offer plenty of options from places like Peru, Colombia, even Papua New Guinea and Ethiopia. Karcher also remembered decaf drinkers with the single origin Peruvian decaf coffee. Most 12 ounce bags of dog-saving whole or ground beans costs just $14. A six ounce single blend, like the one from Papua New Guinea, is only $9.50. Or, do yourself a favor and subscribe so you never run out of coffee (and save yourself as much as 15%). 

A whopping 20% of these proceeds go to one of Grounds & Hounds partners who work tirelessly to find homes for animals, rescue animals, stride closer to a no-kill policy, even provide veterinary care. They partner with organizations all over the United States, including the Charleston Animal Society, Badass Brooklyn Animal Rescue, Humane Society of Indianapolis, Adore-A-Bull Rescue, Pet Refuge, Wags and Walks, and Secondhand Hounds to name a few.

One of the coolest things about Grounds & Hounds is they look at your shipping address and give the 20% you generated for them to the closest organization near you, allowing your dollars to directly benefit the animals in your community. 

If you love coffee and you love dogs, you’ve found your new favorite cup-a-joe. Toast to Molly and Jordan.

Editors' Recommendations

Elizabeth Dahl
Elizabeth Dahl
Elizabeth Dahl is a southern girl in the heart of Los Angeles who lived far too long before learning what an incredible food…
It’s time to learn about bourbon — here’s your guide
Put down the IPA and meet the actual coolest drink in town — bourbon
Boubon in a glass

Hello class, and welcome to Bourbon 101. Don't worry; we're not like those other schools where you aren't allowed to drink during class. We're cool. Now, get your notebooks and a glass of whiskey ready because it's time to dive into the history of this America's spirit.

It would be hard to find something more American than bourbon, except for maybe a bald eagle draped in an American flag with a baseball and an apple pie clutched in its talons. In any case, the history of bourbon follows the highs and lows of our country as a whole with good times, great times, and really bad times. It was built with ingenuity in a time of great hardship and flourished despite the best efforts of outside forces.
What exactly is bourbon?
It's time to dive into a little American history here. Look, even if you weren't a fan of history class, this is a pretty fun subject. In case you're unaware, bourbon is highly regulated by the government in nearly every way (and that's a good thing). To be legally called "bourbon," there are several rules that need to be followed:

Read more
Chicken oysters are delicious (and you probably didn’t know they exist)
You'll be craving this chef's secret after one taste.
chicken oyster yakitori

What's the best part of perfect roast chicken? The tender breast? The juicy thigh? Maybe the crispy skin? Those are all delicious parts of a roasted chicken, but they are also the wrong answer. We're here to let you in on a little secret that not everyone knows about. The best parts of a roasted chicken are, without a doubt, the two little nuggets of happiness buried on the back of the bird known as the chicken oysters.

The chicken oysters have historically been a snack for the chef, a small payment for a job well done. Not many people are aware of their existence. But we're here to tell you that after you know where to look, you'll never forget about them ever again. Every chicken has two oysters, so that means they are a pretty hot commodity and you can decide whether to share the other one or not. We won't judge you if you don't.

Read more
Make these Sherlock Holmes-themed cocktails for your next party
Claudia in Chicago is serving up a whimsical line of creative cocktails.
Hound of Baskervilles cocktail.

Cocktail Manager Terence Shapcott of Claudia.

If you're looking for some truly one-of-a-kind cocktails, look no further than drinks inspired by the fiction's most famous detective — Sherlock Holmes. At Claudia in Chicago, a Michelin-starred restaurant, cocktail manager Terence Shapcott has created a line of whimsical cocktails, all with a Sherlock Holmes twist.

Read more