A fungus is ravaging the coffee crop in Central America. Coffee Rust is especially deadly to Coffea Arabica, the plant that produces Arabica beans used in most high-end coffee.

Washington estimates that production could be down anywhere from 15 percent to 40 percent in coming years, and that those losses could mean as many as 500,000 people could lose their jobs. Though some countries have brought the fungus under control, many of the poorer coffee-producing countries in Latin America don’t see the rust problem getting better anytime soon.

Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama and Costa Rica have all been hard hit.

What’s this mean for us, the discerning coffee consumer? Higher prices at the pump, er, coffee shop, most likely.

For a little over a year, I’ve been running my own business. It is a solo operation. I do everything from interviewing new clients to running the mail to the post office.

I’m also in charge of the coffee.

H. has convinced me that life is too short to drink bad coffee. Unfortunately, I don’t live in a fresh-brew Mecca like she does. Instead, I have my choice of two coffee shops in town. One is more of a breakfast and lunch café, but they serve their own custom roast. Both are several blocks from my office. I’ll review them both in time.

What is a small business in the hinterlands that are Central Pennsylvania supposed to do?

Order fresh-roasted coffee from California, of course! Enter Tonx.

On the internet, everywhere is local

Tonx is a high-quality coffee sourcing and roasting operation. Their products are available exclusively online. The selection changes every two weeks, at which time a new coffee is released and shipped to subscribers. The beans are shipped whole in special resealable plastic pouches with one-way vents to prevent oxidization. They’ll ship you as little as a six-ounce half-sack ($12), but the standard size is 12oz ($19), with monthly billing for two shipments at a time. If you have a lot of hungry mouths to feed, they scale up, too. Currently they list a 15lbs package for businesses ($259). But really, that’s a lot of coffee.

I’ve enjoyed nearly every one of their coffees. I find I particularly like the ones sourced from Ethiopia. Each coffee has a unique flavor and character. Tonx even includes an information card about each coffee, with details about where it was grown, some facts about the farmers who grew it, and tasting notes to give you some idea of what you can expect in your cup.

All good things…

Last month, Tonx announced that they are being acquired by Oakland- and Brooklyn-based Blue Bottle Coffee, an upscale specialty roaster and retailer. So far there have been no changes in Tonx’s mail-order business, but in the coming months Tonx expects to be completely subsumed by Blue Bottle’s operation. It remains to be seen if the quality continues to be top-notch after the merger.

Tonx is an Internet-based coffee subscription service. Visit them online at www.tonx.org.