STARBUCKS AND PARIS

An American couple wearing shorts, untied sneakers, and baseball caps (mercifully, not turned backwards), walked into a fancy chocolate shop on the Left Bank.  They each were toting hefty venti lattes from the nearby Starbucks.  In Paris, this is like someone hauling a gallon jug of milk into the middle of Tiffany on Fifth Avenue and taking swigs from it.
 

~ David Lebovitz, The Sweet Life in Paris 

HOW TO MAKE COFFEE

Infographic How to Make Every Coffee Drink 

A VEIN OF COFFEE

Image by: Lono Creative

VIETNAMESE COFFEE POPSICLES

It's summer, what could be better than a coffee popsicle?  

Vietnamese Coffee Popsicles Ingredients:

• 2 cups very strong French roast coffee, hot
• 1 – 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk, divided
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Place 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk in a bowl or measuring pitcher. Pour the hot coffee over the top and stir until blended. Allow the coffee to cool for a few minutes.
2. Carefully pour the Vietnamese coffee into 12 popsicle molds, 2/3 – 3/4 full. Place in the freezer and freeze until slushy, about 1- 2 hours.
3. Mix the heavy cream with 3 Tb. sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Pull the Popsicle out of the freezer.
4. Pour 1-2 tablespoons of cream over the top of each pop and add a popsicle stick to the middle.
5. Return to the freezer and freeze until hard.
6. To remove from the molds: Fill the sink with warm water and dip the bottoms of the molds in the warm water for 30+ seconds. Pull the sticks straight up, don’t turn or twist them. 
7. Eat immediately, or place in freezer bags and return to the freezer.

Preparation time: 10 minute(s) active time, 4+ hour(s) in the freezer

Number of servings (yield): 12

Recipe from A Spicy Perspective.

WHO'S ROASTING YOUR COFFEE?

infographic by Daniel Jaffee and Phil Howard

The graphic above shows the world’s 10 largest coffee roasters and the levels of their fair-trade certified coffee purchases, as of 2008 (the last year for which these data are available). Only four of the top 10 firms purchased any fair-trade certified coffee at all: Nestlé, Tchibo, Starbucks, and J.M. Smucker (Smucker purchased fair trade Millstone coffee, part of the Folger’s line, from Procter & Gamble in 2008). Nestlé, which received fair trade certification in 2005 from the Fairtrade Foundation in the U.K. for its “Partner’s Blend” line (a controversial decision within the movement), had the lowest percentage of fair trade purchases, at only 0.0025 percent. Number-two Kraft and number-three Sara Lee sold no fair trade-certified coffee as of 2008. - Phil Howard

PROFESSIONS THAT DRINK THE MOST COFFEE?

Info graphic by  Ryoko Iwata 

DEAR COFFEE

graphic by Lisa Congdon

Well Adjusted with Your Tea?

In most societies, you can still find well-adjusted, contented and calm people completely at peace with themselves and their universe.  Those are the tea drinkers.


~ Eric Bronson, Why Journalists and Geniuses Love Coffee and Hate Themselves an essay in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and Philosophy. 

WHAT'S BETTER THAN COMEDIANS AND COFFEE?

An online series by Jerry Seinfeld 

SERIOUSLY?

photo from PSK

McDonald's is offering reusable ceramic cups as replacement for Styrofoam cups in its stores in France. The press release said McDonald’s in France hopes to be giving these away for free to customers as an incentive to try out their new range of premium roasted coffee.


Seriously?  Is anyone in France ordering coffee from McDonald's? 

ROCKET ESPRESSO

Rocket Espresso Cup 3D Printed in Ceramics 

It's human rocket fuel so why not serve it in its appropriate cup?  Available for purchase at Shapeways.

Putarenas Costa Rica

I'M SORRY OFFICER, I WAS JUST MAKING ESPRESSO. . .

Making coffee while speeding down the Interstate is probably not a good idea, but there is a way to make espresso in your vehicle.  Hardcore travelers may have one of those immersion heaters that plug into the 12V  cigarette lighter, but now things have gotten modern with the Handpresso Auto, a bullet-shaped espresso machine designed to sit in a car’s cup holder and plug into its cigarette lighter receptacle.



It's $149.00 Eruos or about $200 US.  It uses coffee pods and unless you also have a filtered water system also installed in your car, requires that you remember to bring along sufficient water for your brew and some cups, classical music optional.  


Here's a video:  

The Art of Coffee

International competition here.

COFFEE CUPS AS ART

Gwyneth Leech makes art on paper coffee cups, even marks the type of drink, the date, location and occasion where she acquired each cup.  She started in 2007 and her work of over 700 cups is currently on display at the Flatiron Building's Prow Artspace in NYC.  She was sitting in the window, drawing, from September and to February 18th, adding more cups of art to the collection. 

  Visit a collection of her cups at her blog, Gwyneth's Full Brew

AMAZING ARTWORK MADE WITH COFFEE CUPS

Visiting artist from Malaysia, Red Hong, makes creations with unusual items including coffee with circles. See photos of his work here.  

OF COURSE, IT ALL MAKES SENSE NOW

Grant Snider created this coffee graphic to explain the origins of coffee:

My initial idea was to draw this diagram and paint it with black coffee for a watercolor effect. Unfortunately, the coffee didn't show up well and warped the paper. So I drank the coffee.

 The graphic is available as a poster here.

Laptop Friendly Cafes?

As conscious coffee consumers, we are on the eternal quest for three things: good coffee, free wi-fi and power for our laptop, tablet or smartphone.

To help people find cafes with free Wi-Fi, and handy power outlets, Craig Barber  launched LaptopFriendlyCafes.com in 2009, a website that lists local spots to set up shop. The site features listings for cafes in 34 countries and recently launched its own iPhone app. 


While the site includes information about the basics, it doesn't address things like:  'how's the coffee?'
It also would be nice to include whether or not there is a expenditure-per-hour policy, how good and friendly the wait staff is, and if the music is bearable. 


For those of us who travel, it's a start in getting acquainted with a new city and there's always that opportunity to discover a new cafe to add to the list of friendly places.

COFFEE JOURNAL?

This coffee journal is designed to keep a log of your coffee experiences.  It’s a notepad that provides boxes to check and space to add some comments.

From Portland, Oregon, the pocket sized 33 Coffees Journal is made with 100% recycled papers and printed using US-grown soy-based inks.

Taking notes with 33 Coffees has a flavor wheel to mark and a fill-in the blanks review box. 

RECYCLE COFFEE BAGS INTO FURNITURE

This ottoman іѕ upholstered using repurposed hοnеѕt trade coffee bags, each piece іѕ unique аnd mау hаνе different logos аnd markings thаt аrе used tο identify thе original commodities.

Available from 2Modern, the Gus* - UpCycle Ottoman is upholstered using repurposed jute.

Other uses of all things coffee over at the Unconsumption blog.

TEN WAYS TO REUSE YOUR COFFEE CAN

photo - Athens Rood Tours

A wine rack!  Who knew?  From the folks at Athens (GA) Food Tours.

IF YOU LIKE COFFEE. . .

Great T-Shirt from Natalie and Drew Dee, limited edition available at Sharing Machine.

A LONDON HISTORY OF COFFEE BARS

ON THE OTHER HAND, MY BARISTA IS VERY NICE

VIA sprunge.com

AH, NEW YORKERS

THREE REASONS WHY COFFEE IS THE BEST BEVERAGE EVER!

Coffee makes you smarter, makes you healthier, and tastes better--oh, and it can make you happier, so really four reasons from Coffee Cup News.