Monday, March 26
What the internet is good for
They have all sorts of different types of rare teas, and unless you mind buying your tea a little in bulk, or you can't justify spending a decent chunk of your paycheck on something sweet to drink, I'd recommend you pick some up.
Idea: Maybe I'll start a new series of reviews on different types of teas/coffees etc, so you don't have to buy 2 pounds of green tea from China only to find out that it tastes like dirt. Let me know what you think...
Sunday, March 25
Instant laser coffee
Check out this interesting video the tech blog MAKE recently linked to. This guy uses a 2 kilowatt laser to heat up some instant coffee, and I've got to admit, it's pretty sweet. I wonder if it could be used to brew real coffee, and not that rot gut.If so, I could see Starbucks jumping all over something like this.
Wednesday, March 21
NEWS FLASH...apparently soft drinks are bad for you
According to the article, the latest research, published in Academy of General Dentistry (AGD) journal General Dentistry, reports that drinking any type of soft drink hurts teeth due to the citric acid and/or phosphoric acid in the beverages.
The study measured the acidity, or pH, of 20 commercial soft drinks, including Coke, Pepsi, 7 Up and their diet versions, immediately after cans were opened. Then slices of enamel from freshly extracted teeth were weighed before and after being immersed in the soft drinks for 48 hours. Many of the teeth were reported as losing up to 5 percent of their total weight.
You can read the rest of the story here
Monday, March 19
Facts are in...
It didn't take long to find some of the numbers behind the claims made by the Starbucks representative interviewed below. Apparently, the rumor is true. They do buy fair trade coffee. In 2006, Starbucks actually bought 18 million pounds of green (unroasted) coffee beans, which is a lot, unless you knew that they bought a total of 155 million pounds last year alone. Let's see, that accounts for about... 6% of their total beans as being fair trade.
There is a high note though. They did contribute over $36 million to charities last year, not including a total of 383,000 hours of volunteer work.
I'm sure this debate could probably go either way, which is why I'm not going to go into it too much. All of this info came from a publication put out by Starbucks themselves called their Corporate Social Responsibility Annual Report. If you want to read the whole thing, check it out here.
Starbucks talks about coffee farmers in Africa
I know that Starbucks gets a pretty bad rap, but you have to give them at least a bit of credit-they did start somewhat of a coffee shop revolution. Go all over the web and you'll find blog after blog of people complaining about the company, but you never get to hear from the big guys unless it's via a news story or press release. In this video I found streamed through YouTube, a Starbucks Coffee Team leader named Dub Hay gives an interview and discusses some of the company's fair trade practices. I'd like to see some more numbers and statistics to back up the claims he is making before I'm converted to the dark (roast) side, but it is always interesting to hear firsthand the other side of the story.
Sunday, March 18
Friday, March 16
Here's one for you coffee snobs
There is a type of nocturnal cat called the Luwak that roams around in Indonesia and eats only the best, perfectly ripe coffee cherries. After the cherries pass through the Luwak's digestive system (read: are crapped out), the locals collect the Luwak's droppings and wash them off, recovering the coffee beans still encased in their protective endocarps. Apparently, this is a process which must happen anyway, so having the coffee cherry pass through a Luwak's GI tract isn't that crazy. Before roasting, beans are just hulled as usual.
Kopi Luwak, or as I like to call it "cat-crap coffee," is very hard to get a hold of on the world market. Annual production is super limited, so this one is left for you serious coffee people out there (although if you're really cool you probably already knew about it). This stuff sells for anywhere from $100 to $300 per pound and is chugged down by the gallon in places like Japan and Sumatra. So, the next time you're looking for an expensive cup o' joe, think twice about the one with the extra nutty aroma, except you, you coffee snob you (drink til your heart's content).
Monday, March 5
Java Wand
I can now feel good about using that word "brews" in my title image.
Here's a really cool little gadget that lets you brew a cup of coffee in the mug. It's a mini French Press filter attached to a hand crafted, glass straw that brews and filters coffee, tea leaves, herbs at your convenience.
Simply add hot water to your medium coffee grinds, brew, build flavor and in seconds sip to the very last drop.
Visit the website here
Thursday, March 1
Think you have it bad
Apparently, the man suffered from a weak bladder as a result of recent traffic accident, which had left him on crutches. When the student had to go to the bathroom, the supervisors insisted he stay seated, obviously thinking it was some trickery (on a side note: that would be a great idea). After a while of arguing, including many protests from fellow students, the bladder-weak student was able to urinate in a bottle that another classmate had emptied out.
How embarrassing.
Original story here