Cast your vote in this year’s presidential election with a cup of coffee

Henry Dean, the president of Boston Stoker Coffee Company, says he hopes this unofficial presidential poll will be a lighthearted way for the company to connect with its customers — and for the customers to engage in talks with others.

“At the time, when we first started, we thought it’d be a fun way to engage our customers," Dean said. "As a company, we don’t endorse any candidate. But, since the birth of the coffee shop, politics have always been one of the things discussed by customers.”

Boston Stoker began the Presidential Straw Poll back in 2008 with the presidential election between Barack Obama and John McCain, and has done the poll every election year since.

All three options contain the same Boston Stoker House Blend, a 100 percent Columbian roast, to ensure that customers are picking up each bag of coffee solely for what is printed on the packaging and not for what blend it contains.

Apart from wanting to incite thoughtful conversations on these matters, Boston Stoker also wants this poll to encourage everyone to go out and vote. However, political tensions coupled with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic nearly led the coffee chain to cancel its Presidential Straw Poll for this year.

“So, we had employees that were nervous going into it, and we did question whether we should just cancel this year,” said Dean. “In the past, customers used to be able to buy it by the cup, and then they would get one vote for a cup of coffee and 10 votes for the purchase of a bag. They would take a little poker chip and put them in the glass jars set up so that they were casting their vote on the spot. We eliminated that part, partly due to COVID and the lack of traffic coming into the stores.”

From now and until Nov. 8, Boston Stoker will be posting weekly results from the poll on their Facebook page. For more information about Boston Stoker’s Presidential Straw Poll, visit their website.