AND THEN YOU SAY: DUH!

Cooler weather and my coffee cools off before I can skim HuffPost.  I ponder if I have one of those heater/coaster things packed away somewhere from my other office.  Hating to reheat coffee, I tolerate one more sip of tepid liquid and give up.  

One morning, dashing out the door, I selected my thermos coffee carafe gifted to me by my thoughtful son.  It's really too big for the car cup holder, but its lid was screwed on which meant minutes saved instead of searching for another cup's lid.  

Flash of insight.  Yesterday was a joyful morning with hot coffee down to the last drop.    

WHY SPEND YOUR DAY DRINKING SHIT COFFEE?

if we don't we'll be 'more happy':  

THIS IS MY BRAIN ON COFFEE?

I eagerly consume any article that validates my personal belief that coffee is good for me.  It's even better when that news comes from a source like the New York Times.  

If coffee is reducing the risk factors that I'll get diabetes or some form of dementia, then I smile while sipping another latte (almond milk preferred, please). If it keeps me from dying, why all the better!  Read the article here and see what you think.  All opposing views may be published somewhere, but you won't see them here! 

COFFEE TIME

Can there be a better time than Fall for drinking coffee?

THE CRAZY CRONUT

In New York City recently, I didn't have the commitment to get in line at 5:30 AM to score a cronut.  Probably by the next time I get to the City, the craze will be over and I can just walk right into the Dominique Ansel Bakery on Spring Street.  

In the meantime, here's the Psychology Behind the Cronut Phenomenon according to Epoch Times.  

USED COFFEE LIDS AS ART?

Seriously, do I want coasters that look like dirty coffee lids? Check out these stone coasters on Etsy and decide.  

DO COFFEE DRINKERS GENERALLY LIVE LONGER?

I think before I post this, I'll go have a second cup of coffee. . .

Drinking four cups of coffee can cut women's risk of Type 2 diabetes?  Four cups seems like a lot, even for those of us most devoted to nurturing our caffeine addiction. Maybe the women drinking four cups of coffee were so busy with energy, they didn't have time to eat unhealthy, sugary snacks.  Speaking of sugar, the information didn't mention whether or not the beverage was sweetened with sugar.  Seems like that would have been an important fact in the study.  There have been other, previous studies that also link consumption of coffee, up to six daily cups (!) with a reduced risk of diabetes. However, caffeine is not particularly good for people with Type 2 diabetes. So while there are numerous reports on drinking coffee for our health, enjoy feeling smug about what you're drinking and point to whatever study you choose to support your hypothesis that drinking coffee is good for you.     

In the new study, researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, compared the medical histories and coffee-drinking habits of 359 women who had diabetes with those of 359 healthy women over 10 years. They used information from the Women's Health Study, run by the National Institutes of Health.

Women who drank four cups of caffeinated coffee a day had higher levels of SHBG and were 56 percent less likely to develop Type 2 diabetes than women who don't drink coffee, the researchers found.
And the more coffee the women drank, the more their risk of developing Type 2 diabetes dropped, the study said.

CAN ONE MOVE?

Can a person relocate to another town based solely on the coolness of its coffee shop? Driving through rural Georgia (yes, Georgia), I stopped for lunch and a chance to stretch my legs on the main street of Thomasville.  

There I discovered the Grassroots Coffee Shop and fell in love with its decor. The space is huge with brick walls and the ambiance of a Seattle shop.  Their coffee roasters are on-site, with a wide selection of coffee and light snacks.  It's a little far to drive for a latte, but I will definitely stop here again, if I'm passing through!

PREPARATION OF THE COFFEE

They are both chefs and we are invading their kitchen for a summer weekend. For breakfast they make crepes, not pancakes.  In an effort to help, we offer to make the coffee.

In their kitchen, coffee beans are measured in grams and weighed on a scale. The freshly ground beans are allowed to bloom before the pour-over.  

I'm exhausted after this.  I need coffee.   

WEEKEND STRESS

Weekend brunch:  the pressure of producing quality sunny-side-up yolks and the perfect cup of latte.

NEED WE SAY MORE?

photo via Frank Warren

From postsecret.com a project by Frank Warren and featured in TED Talk.  

DAVID TELLS WHERE TO FIND GOOD COFFEE IN PARIS

David Lebovitz, author of The Sweet Life in Paris, writes an occasional newsletter.  His latest features what he call a 'few reliable places where coffee-lovers can be assured of getting a good fix.'  Here's the link. 

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: