[ 你不舍得喝的艺术品咖啡--食品资讯--中国食品产业网 ]

Haven't a clue what this page is all about, but that's one cool monkey coffee...

Italian coffee chain Illy, whose high-end beans have been making inroads in hotels and restaurants around the country, has chosen a District site for its first cafe in the United States.

The location, named Caffe, opened last week in Marriott's Renaissance M Street Hotel in the West End. It features sleek red-and-white decor and the chain's signature ceramic espresso cup. There are no tables, only a stand-up bar on which patrons can rest an elbow, European-style.

[ A Coffee Chain's Stand-Up Effort on M St. - washingtonpost.com ]

OK, not much of a trip, but my Dad's got me hooked on the Illy, so I should see how they do it up.

Working from home has some great advantages. No longer am I stuck in rush hour traffic, less stress, more time for me. If I sleep in? Work starts in my PJs. However, this means no Starbucks or Caribou between home and the office. For me it's about 10 minutes to the closest Starbucks and a little less to the Cafe Mayorga. So that Krups espresso machine I had that I hadn't used in a while 'cause steaming (and buying) milk is a pain for me, comes out and is back on the counter. I was drinking drip for a while, but my machine works best with 1/2 a pot or so, and I just don't drink that much any more.

So now I'm on a double espresso with 3 sugar cubes bent. I had been buying Starbucks ESE Pods for my machine, as that's what I had always bought in the way of pre-measured packets of coffee. They require no griding, no measuring, no tamping, and therefore are little trouble.

Enter Dad. He also has a Krups machine that takes ESE pods, but he uses Illy pods and ridicules my Starbucks pods. And lately it's been hard to find those pods. So I figured I look around and see if I could score some of these Illy pods. No dice. Then I remembered that I worked on the Interweb, and did a search or two, and found some great pod sources:

• Pod Merchant
• amazon.com
• ebay (you can search them yourself, I'm no fan)

I also found out that Illy is responsible for this invention, though it seems like everyone is doing a similar thing these days.

Anyway, the ridicule and the lack of Starbucks pods, and clear abundance online made me order some up, I settled on a 50 Lavazza Gran Crema Espresso Pods pack off of Amazon fulfilled by "Espressotiamo" mostly because of the free shipping and my knowing the Lavazza brand. Placed the order on the 5th, and it just arrived today (which isn't bad at all).

Made a cup and it's not bad. I think Starbucks roasts theirs a bit longer and packs it a bit tighter, but this is just the beginning, next up I will have to try ordering the Pod Merchant Super Sampler and a tin of Illy's, perhaps 2 (one medium roast and one dark roast).

So do I miss that cup from Starbucks? Not at all. Even the worst of these pods are going to be better than 90% or more of the espresso that I've had from Starbucks. Any espresso drinker will tell you that they just don't have the machines or the talent to pull a proper shot. I stick to the frou-frou drinks at Starbucks that are over laden with milk and flavor syrups, 'cause their espresso just isn't good enough. Of course that means for my current double shot I am paying around $1-$1.25, at Starbucks, after loading it up with crap I didn't really want just to make the coffee palatable, I'd pay around $3.75-$4. And that is an expense I certainly won't miss.

These guys:  are some sort of Hallmark creation called Hoops and Yoyo.

Haven't a clue what they are, or what their purpose is, but I find them rather addicting.

Props to Karen for introducing me via their cries for coffee in this e-card:

But after spending $20 million in marketing, Lions Gate has taken in only $17 million at the box office. Lions Gate executives privately say the white viewers they were counting on Starbucks to deliver never showed up in great number.

...

Starbucks maintains that the campaign resonated with customers, although it did not conduct polls to determine how many people saw the movie.

"How we measure our success is not always in terms of box-office receipts but our customers' reception," said Ken Lombard, president of Starbucks Entertainment, who will remain in Seattle.

[ Starbucks Hires Music Veteran - Los Angeles Times ]

Starbucks is apparently making so much money off coffee that they can count a tremendous failure as a success. I had hoped that Starbucks had learned its lesson, because I go in for coffee, sometimes food, never CDs, or marketing, or lifestyle, or any of the other crap they're trying to shove on me.

Real banana sauce, coffee Frappuccino base featuring the finest Latin American Coffees, coconut syrup, milk and ice. Topped with whip cream and toasted coconut flakes. Also availbe in light.

[ starbucks beverages ]

Also available in crappy flash. You'd think Starbucks^® would be able to hire better flash guys (or gals...).

And, this season's Black Apron Exclusive™ is a coffee I recognise! Straight outta Toraja, near my wife's hometown, is the new Kopi Kampung (with much better flash, but could use a tweak or two).

Update: Got the Banana Coconut Frappuccino® Blended Coffee, and I think it's yummy!

My short list of places I want to visit has never included Italy, until now:

The Italian passion for espresso could soon be celebrated in the country's first-ever coffee museum, which a die-hard caffeine fan hopes to open here shortly .

[ ANSA.it - News in English - Italy's first coffee museum planned ]

I enjoy the Starbucks DoubleShot, but I've found that even years after launching, it is difficult to find. The shelf life is rather short, and so few places actually carry it regularly, you can't count on it being there for you. I don't, however, enjoy the bottled frappuccinos as much. They are far too sryupy, and only good in a pinch when nothing else is available. If only we had more options...

Well soon we may. Coke is getting into the canned/bottled coffee fray in the US (starting with "10 southeastern states).

Coke Consolidated, the nation's No. 2 Coke bottler, is selling coffee under the "Cinnabon" name as part of a strategy to innovate with new products. The company is working with the line's maker, Brain Twist, to launch it at $1.99 per can in three flavors: caramel nut latte, cinnamon vanilla latte and espresso & cream. The drinks will be sold in cans.

[ Charlotte Observer ]

Though, the press release does make this odd statement:

"We think the Cinnabon brand is synonymous with warm dough and sweet frosting and we're bringing consumers a new experience in coffee drinks," said Lauren Steele, Coke Consolidated spokesman.

I'm not sure that I want a warm doughy coffee with sweet frosting.

Drinking coffee in them!

[ Nintendo Japan: Animal Crossing DS ]

Props to Nick and Zigg

I'm no Seth Godin, but it seems to me that you can't go wrong with a statement like this:

To fight Superman, you can't send an ordinary ape — you need Hanuman," he says, invoking the name of the monkey-god hero of Hindu mythology. "And Banrie is Hanuman."

[ TIME Europe ]

I'm rather sure I overheard a very similar statement in a meeting the other day...

The first challenge for Caribou will be overcoming its Minnesota-ness. Caribou's coffeehouses (in Minnesota) account for about half of the company's stores and sales, and those stores have consistently been more profitable than coffeehouses outside the state.

[ Caribou Coffee off to bitter start ]

Let me say, as far as I am concerned, Caribou is just plain better than Starbucks. Sure, I like the 'bucks, but Caribou's drinks are much more reasonably priced. Caribou also has better drip, especially decaf, since they don't burn their beans like the Starbucks House Blend.

Interestingly, Caribou ends up even being a company I could invest in, as I am a bit strict about my investments:

Besides improving operations, Coles has his hands full addressing the public relations problems related to the 60 percent stake in Caribou owned by Bahrain-based Arcapita Bank, which was formerly known as First Islamic Investment Bank.

Arcapita ... operates the business in accordance with a body of Islamic principles known as Shariah.

Sure, we don't have Peet's in the DC area, so the only two national chains I am aware of are Starbucks and Caribou, but generally I prefer to do the 'bou.

Frappuccinos are too syrupy and fake, but DoubleShots seems nice. You can never seem to find them when you want them, however, which is always disappointing to me. Perhaps I need to move to Japan.

The launch of Starbucks Discoveries represents Starbucks first entry into the chilled cup coffee segment anywhere in the world. The Company took more than a year to create a superpremium ready-to-drink coffee designed to appeal to the local taste preferences in Asia, using the same high-quality coffee found in all Starbucks retail stores and coffee-based products worldwide.

[ Starbucks Launches New Ready-To-Drink Coffee Beverage in Japan and Taiwan ]

I was too busy trying other odd beverages and enjoying green tea in a bottle to try Georgia Coffee (by Coke) but the Starbucks foray into the Japanese market looks yummy. Better be too, as the Japanese market seems rather full.

What does coffee need that has been lacking in it so far? Oh yeah, more caffeine!

Today, Burger King will officially launch its BK Joe - brewed 100% from premium arabica beans. Sold in decaf, regular and "turbo strength" (extra caffeine), the coffee will be in all of Burger King's more than 7,000 U.S. stores by the end of November.

[ Yahoo! Finance ]

In response to other outfits improving the quality of their bean juice, BK has decided to enter the fray with better beans, and fortification! BK Joe could be the start of a new line of beverages for people too hit to drink Red Bull, but still cool enough to want a good ole cup of joe.

Props to Ken Harris.

Seattle, right?

Our coffee quotient was designed to serve both camps. It's a measure of the number of Starbucks stores per 10,000 population in cities across the U.S., as of March 2005.

[ Cities with high coffee quotients - ePodunk ]

Falls Church, Virginia? Come on, this has to be a statistical anomaly.

Perhaps one just opened in Falls Church to replace one that was about to close? Maybe Falls Church has weird borders and makes it seem like a lot less people live there than really do. Perhaps the folks at ePodunk don't realize that what the Post Office considers "Falls Church" and what the population data people consider "Falls Church" are very likely 2 different things. The odd thing is that I can only think of one Starbucks in Falls Church, I wonder where the other 6.7 are...

Note: Eyeballing it, I think about 2 maybe 3 Starbucks are actually in Falls Church and not just pretending to be in Falls Church.

That may be true, but apparently so are coffee devices. After a bowl of the yummiest mac & cheese around from Wolfgang Puck Express, we headed over to the Sur La Table to check out some kitcheney stuff. Nestlé has just come out with a new entry to their pod-based espresso machine line, the Nespresso D90:

Nespresso has created a hermetically sealed capsule which contains the precise amount of freshly roasted and ground coffee. All of the coffee aromas are preserved perfectly until the espresso is ready for drinking. Nespresso offers a range of 9 premium coffee blends

[ Nespresso D90 Essenza Metallic Gray Manual Espresso Machine D 90 S ]

As I was hovering around the coffee section, a nice british woman (who just happend to work there) asked if there was anything she could help with. I had to ask if they did taste testing of the Nespresso system. She replied it would be no problem, just let her fetch some pods from the back. Oooo goody, I do love coffee.

Suffice to say the Nespresso system delivers the best coffee I have ever had from any automated coffee system. Their newest machine is only $179 retail, and the pods run about 48 cents a shot. This could truly break me of the Starbucks grip forever. Philips Senseo has dropped me from a 2 Starbucks a day habit to just one, this could drop me to zero.

Dari has once again come through. Based on the recommendation that his father enjoyed the Philips Senseo, I picked one up for a coffee solution at work.

...the SENSEO® Coffee Machine brings great taste - in both design and coffee - to your kitchen. The patented system uses perfectly balanced proportions of coffee and water. Mild pressure and a special spray head produce an optimally balanced coffee filtering process.

The problem at work is the big industrial machine we have just doesn't make that good coffee. I'm not a big fan of drip, there is so much to clean up, and the coffee is decent, but frequently a bit weak for my taste.

Let us review some of Philips' claims about the product:

Each cup is perfectly brewed and topped with a rich, frothy coffee layer

Note here that Philips does not claim the "layer" is crema. It's not even really crema-like. However for the price, and what you can expect from this type of machine, it does meet their claims.

Quick and easy one touch brewing system brews a cup in 30 seconds.

Absolutly does this. It's not crazy loud like some would have you believe, although I did find the instructions a bit confusing, not mentioning anything about waiting for the power light to stop blinking before selecting 1 or 2 cups for the brew size.

Convenient, no worry auto shutoff after 1 hour

I guess it does this, I've never left it on that long. I'm not even sure why you'd want it to stay on, there is no hot plate or anything. Perhaps just a safety feature, which is always nice.

Clean up is simple with dishwasher safe removable parts

Clean up is simpled. Dead simple. Everything is neat and tidy, and for me that is a super big plus.

1450 watts of power

Well, yes, it does have that much power as far as I can tell.

All-in-all for an under $50 coffee solution (after rebates and if your shipping is free and there is no tax) it's possibly the best I've ever seen (all things considered).

The coffee selection is a bit limited, though, and although I've seen Kona pods, I've yet to see Maui pods (sorry Dad).

Courtesy Doug:

A caulk gun? Hey, if it’s good enough for Taco Bell guacamole and sour cream, it’s good enough for a fine and delicate espresso, right?

[ How-To: Make a cheap portable espresso machine - Engadget ]

However, I'm not too convinced. The parts are not detailed well enough for me. If they had the part numbers so I could ensure that I had exactly what was needed, perhaps. Plus I'm not sure that everything he uses is food-grade or has been tested with the type of pressure that is required for espresso. I think I'll agree with a few of the comments and look into a COTS product that I can just stuff in my pack like:

or:

Update: Some site called Firebox also carries this Presso Coffee Maker, but has sexier images and a little movie showing it in action.

Update: Both of these are so tempting to add to my collection of coffee and tea paraphernalia, except I just dropped a couple bucks on a Philips Senseo. Perhaps I'll have to treat myself for my birthday with yet another coffee making device that I never or rarely use...

I love coffee. I also love the Internet. I really love it when they come together.

Don't let your card run low -- add to your Caribou Card balance online. In order to add money to your card, you will need to log in or create a personal account with Caribou.

[ Caribou Coffee — My Account ]

I had been Caribouing regularly, but I really enjoyed the fact that I could load up my Narbucks card from their website. The cashiers are nice enough, but loading up a card isn't what they're best at. With the card I don't have to see dozens of tiny ATM POP transactions, or *shudder* carry cash. Now that 'Bou is on-board with Internet reloads, I think I'm switching my regular back...

For a while now I've thought of putting together a playlist and burning a CD of songs related to one of my passions, coffee. So far I have about 1/2 what I need for a full CD. Can anyone think of something (available from Rhapsody) that would fit this list?

 Coffee

1. "Black Coffee" - Bobby Darin
2. "Cigarettes And Coffee" - Otis Redding
3. "Black Coffee Inn Bed" - Squeeze
4. "Coffee In A Cardboard Cup" - Mandy Patinkin
5. "Pot Of Coffee" - Frankie Paul/Pinchers
6. "Tom's Diner (A Capella)" - Suzanne Vega
7. "Let's Have Another Cup O' Coffee" - Glenn Miller
8. "The Coffee Song - (previously unreleased, alternate take)" - Frank Sinatra
9. "Java Jive" - Manhattan Transfer
10. "Jumpin' East Of Java" - The Brian Setzer Orchestra

And yes, the Rhapsody thing, unfortunately leaves Prince's Starfish and Coffee of the list. (Why Prince, why?!?!?)

T. R. Reid and Bob Sacha have great jobs:

Slurped in black coffee or sipped in green tea, gulped down in a soda or knocked back in a headache pill, caffeine is the world's most popular psychoactive drug.

[ National Geographic ]

Sounds so yummy and innocuous.

Rich chocolate, chocolate chips and milk blended with ice, topped with whipped cream and chocolate drizzle.

[ starbucks beverages ]

Wait, let's check the nutritional information. Seems like some of those numbers are high, so let's check the “unhealthy food standard” that achieves a 1 on the unhealthy food scale, the Big Mac. Ouch.

It is the unprofessional opinion of the davidkearns.com staff that no one should make the Starbucks® Double Chocolate Chip Frappuccino® Blended Creme a daily part of their diet.

I have agents in the field who point out juicy tidbits like this:

Whether black from a bottomless cup or as a Frappuccino mocha skim latte, it's our culture's elixir, coffee . . . In this hour of To the Best of Our Knowledge, Java, Joe or a cup of mud . . . Most of us drink it everyday but few of us know the effects it has on the world's economy or even our own bodies. Also, how do you brew the perfect cup? And, travel with us to the goat hills of Ethiopia to where it all began.

[ To the Best of Our Knowledge ]

Oh, and then I listen to tidbits like this and remember what they say...

It's like I've been saying all along, the fine people of Mansfield know what they speak of:

If you don't enjoy coffee, or if it bothers you, don't drink it. But if you consider coffee to be one of life's pleasures, perhaps you will be interested in some of the latest findings about coffee's health effects, as reported in Harvard's Women's Health Watch. We're talking here about regular coffee, with its full content of caffeine, not decaffeinated coffee.

[ mansfieldnewsjournal.com ]

One of the most common types of questions I see in my inbox goes like this. "What is BAR?" or "What is a vibe pump?"

If I had a nickel for each time I got an email asking about vibe pumps...

Terminology exists in all things. Camera guys talk about ISO and f stops. Espresso people talk about BAR, shot times, ristrettos, etc etc, and it gets quite confusing for the newbie. Because of this, we're currently working on the massive Espresso Guide, and a big part of that guide is the Glossary Section.

[ Coffee Geek ]

Seriously, a good Coffee Glossary is indispensable when learning about coffee, or taking your enjoyment to the next level.