Sharing A Cup With Chelsea Clinton

Three years ago, when a writer for Vogue was working on a profile of Chelsea Clinton, the woman who grew up in the White House suggested that the journalist meet her at Birch Coffee in New York City's Flatiron District near her Madison Square Park apartment.

Turns out Clinton is a regular there, so it only seemed appropriate that Birch Coffee would post an interview with her on Presidents' Day, as the seven-year-old chain of Manhattan coffee shops launches its third season of coffee klatches called, "Stay Regular." In the series, Birch founders Jeremy Lyman and Paul Schlader take turns interviewing interesting and creative people in the arts, business, and philanthropy — people who also happen to get their daily shots of caffeine at one of Birch's seven locations.

In her chat, Clinton reveals that she started drinking coffee as a teenager at her local Starbucks, but became really interested in beans when the family-run Clinton Foundation started aiding coffee farmers in Haiti some years ago. During her interview with Lyman, she tells how Haiti in centuries past was the major supplier of coffee to the United States, how 40 percent of the farms the foundation works with are run by female entrepreneurs, and how, whenever the price of a cup of coffee goes up a quarter, these farmers should share the aroma.

The Clinton interview can be viewed at http://www.birchcoffee.com/stayregular. Other episodes in the series, produced by SightSense Productions, will be announced as they are available.

Depending on what happens in the next nine months, when the next Presidents' Day rolls around, Clinton might be able to persuade the newest resident of the White House to join her in a cup at Birch Coffee.