East Bay man creates anti-Trump 'Grounds for Impeachment' coffee

PLEASANTON, Calif. - Jay Maille is resisting the Trump administration with coffee, one cup of joe at a time. 

Shortly after Donald Trump was sworn in as president, the 70-year-old retired East Bay man began selling "Grounds For Impeachment" coffee that has the slogan: "Coffee you can't resist, for an administration you can."

His plan is to donate a portion of every bag sold to charities across the country "fighting for democracy and America's future." 

Those charities are: Planned Parenthood, Southern Poverty Law Center, the NAACP, the Center for Reproductive Rights, The Nature Conservancy, Democracy Docket and the Lincoln Project. 

"This isn't about me," Maille said. "This is about helping charitable organizations."

Maille is both emboldened by what he's doing, and also scared, which is why he asked that identifying details about himself, other than his name, not be revealed. 

He's scared of the constitutional crisis he believes is occurring in the United States with Trump's executive orders to do away with birthright citizenship and freeze federal funds, for example. 

"I am afraid that the 250th birthday of the republic is in jeopardy," Maille said. "I'm scared of the dark place the country is in, especially if Congress doesn't do anything." 

Grounds for Impeachment Coffee created by an East Bay resident. Photo: Jay Maille 

And he's also scared of blowback he might get from conservative critics for selling his liberal-minded coffee, which he's already named, Resistance Blend and Opposition Blend. Protest Blend is coming soon.

Maille is fully aware that Trump won the 2024 election and has millions of supporters and devotees who approve of what he is doing. 

But despite these fears, Maille said he feels he has to do something to resist.

"It started with a cup of therapy," he said. "I love coffee, and I thought, ‘what about selling some therapy coffee?’ If nothing else, I could give people a laugh.'"

So far, he's been up and running for three weeks, and has made a soft launch by sending his $18 bags for free to friends and politicians, including Rep. Eric Swalwell's staff in his Castro Valley office. 

Maille said he is working with a "fantastic roaster" in Emeryville. One of his blends uses coffee beans from Central America and Indonesia and the other blend is a French dark roast. 

So far, he said he hasn't gotten any negative feedback and he has sold 60 bags. 

But even in its infancy stages, Maille's coffee has already earned testimonials from people like Tom of Fremont, who said: "I love good coffee and hate dictators!" 

Maille would love to get his idea off the ground and be able to generate enough money to support nonprofits that he believes make the world a better place.

His greatest hope with his project?

"I hope that people wake up and smell the coffee," Maille said. 

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED in learning more about Grounds for Impeachment, click here. For now, the coffee is only sold online.