Remembering the JFK Assassination with Expensive Coffee

Containing a daily consumable, coffee packaging is rarely presented as a commemorative item.

That alone makes a new coffee offering from Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters in Dallas interesting. Even more interesting is the subject of commemoration: conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

As Friday, Nov. 22, marks 50 years since the shooting, Oak Cliff will that day be roasting two coffees to be sold as the “Conspiracy Theory Series.” Coming in a commemorative silver tin, the series consists of two coffees packaged in bags that side-by-side highlight the image of JFK on a half-dollar coin.

The “Magic Bullet Theory” is a single-origin coffee from a San Marcos honey-processed mirco-lot from the CoopeDota Cooperative in Costa Rica, while the “Multiple Shooters Theory” is a blend of two Ethiopia Yirgacheffe coffees, one wet-processed and one dry-processed. Oak Cliff will be roasting the coffees on two days only — the other being Dec. 18, “in time for Christmas,” Oak Cliff points out. The company is selling the two 12-ounce bags for $50.

Oak Cliff says the commemorative coffee series represents the company’s own way of remembering the day of JFK’s death, what it calls “one of the most tragic days in the history of our city and the nation.”

Our neighborhood, Oak Cliff, has burdensome ties to the event being the brief home and then escape route for Lee Harvey Oswald. To honor President Kennedy, remember Oak Cliff’s historical ties to his assassination and acknowledge the unresolved mystery surrounding the plot to kill the President, Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters will release a limited edition “Conspiracy Theory Series” coffee set.