It's breakfast flavor without having to eat it all!
BocaJava.com offers this unique, light breakfast blend for only $8/lb.
Back when I was a bachelor, I had a similar experience when my roommate "did the dishes" and served me a cup of coffee that tasted much like maple syrup, bacon grease and soap...
I would expect this to be a slightly more appreciative experience.
Not sure if you noticed last month...but Maxwell House went up 22% in the marketplace...not the stock value, the cost.
Weather plays a big role in prices around the world...not just coffee obviously, any type of farming of crops is subject to mother nature, the bitch that she can be...corn, cotton, etc.
But everyone is looking at Brazil these days and wondering if the projected cold spell coming up from the south pole is going to legitimize the hedge funds that are hiking up the coffee prices around the world.
It's enough to drive a coffee freak to wonder if he needs to start rationing his precious commodity. Start cutting off the wife after the first cup...start offering water to house guests and charging for coffee...just to cover the cost.
I already have started leaving mugs of coffee around the house...behind the toilet paper, under the kitchen sink, in the old draino bottle...
Just some words of wisdom from the OG Coffee Freak.
"Is it impossible to get a cup of coffee-flavored coffee in this country any more? What happened with coffee? Did I miss a fucking meeting with the coffee, huh? You can get every other flavour except coffee-flavoured coffee! They got Mochachino, Chocachino, Frappachino, Rappachino, Al Pacino, what the fuck? W, w, w What The Fuck dot com!
I walked into a Starbucks about a year ago, little kid behind the counter I said yeah, give me a regular. "A regular what?" Coffee.
"What flavor?" Coffee flavored coffee! I'll stick that menu right up your ass kid. Menu? Coffee doesn't need a menu, it needs a cup! That's all it needs!"
- Denis Leary
Coffee doesn't need a menu, it needs a cup!
I remember the first time I heard that. I had just gone through a very similar experience in my head that same day. But I didn't say it because the kid behind the counter is still the only person in my life who calls me "boss" regularly.
I can appreciate both sides of the counter...you just have to agree on 2 things...call it coffee if it's coffee (not Americano or Drip) ...call it espresso if it's espresso (or Americano or Cappuccino)...
if your sign says, Starbuck's Coffee, you better have coffee on the damn menu and Starbuck from Battlestar Galactica should be selling it...because YOU DON'T OWN COFFEE!! You serve something that is more beloved than any other single beverage on the planet, including cola...way to go.
If you told me you created it (I'd call you a effing liar, because I know who created coffee and it's not you), or even discovered it before anyone else did...THEN you can start calling it something else if you like because you made it...you found it. If you are using it as a part of a larger drink...fine...
Until then, it's coffee...you don't have to correct me with "drip"...it's hot water over ground coffee in a filter...
Then again...a cup of coffee by any other name will still get me outta bed.
Just to answer the question, "What would happen if I googled coffee?" I googled "coffee".
Brands: Starbucks Green Mountain Gevalia Folgers Keurig
Stores: Coffee Bean Dunkin Donuts Amazon eBay Walmart
Types: instant k cup decaf espresso gourmet
Next was a wikipedia article, and after that, a starbucks page about organic coffee.
After that, I asked, "What would happen if I googled "Google Coffee"?" So I did.
First I discovered a Google guide site that puts a google guide on a coffee mug...ridiculous.
The next thing I found was something I had not known about...the Google Directory.
http://www.google.com/Top/Recreation/Food/Drink/Coffee/
I could not find my blog here. :{ which means it's a terribly inadequate directory...further research showed me that it was based off of the dmoz open directory...meh.
And I did find a google forum called the coffee shop...but still, I could not find a google brand of coffee yet.
It's too bad because I hear they make a killer Ginger Bread.
this shot from Andre at http://espressoporn.blogspot.com really does it for me.
By now, I'm sure my readers are aware that there is such a thing as adult oriented material called porn. Most are probably aware there is something often referred to as "food porn" which is a nice name for the Food Channel and food oriented photography or even reviews...when you love something passionately or like something more perversely and/or disproportionately than the average human in your general vicinity, it could be considered a type of pornography for your specific taste.
Well, sometimes a good picture of a coffee nature can really appeal to the inside of me.
I'm not an espresso expert, though I have been a barista for several years in the past.
I do like photography, and I do have fond memories of espresso.
Another nice shot from where else but CoffeePorn.net:
If you need some inspiration, you can find it through coffee, one way or another.
Right now I'm feeling inspired to get some coffee a brewin...maybe even a little cream n sugar.
Some people call it camping, others call it roughing it, either way, you can't turn on your pot of coffee in the morning with the flick of a switch. In cases of emergency like the flooding and storms they have been having throughout the midwest and east coast, when there is no power for days or weeks...you have to figure out a way to get your dose of coffee. YOU HAVE TO.
Instant coffee is a nice thing if you don't have anything else that tastes more like coffee...but that really is the last resort, because it is a substitute and it tastes like it.
Chewing coffee grounds is not recommended by the ADA. But it will work if you give it enough time. Downside is people won't stop telling you that you have something in your teeth for the rest of the day . That, and it's generally an unpleasant experience.
That leaves camping coffee makers, percolators and french presses.
Outdoor / Non-Electric Coffee Makers
Coleman Camping Coffee Maker
Like my friends who were in the boy scouts always told me, it's good to be prepared. Coleman is pretty much the leader in mainstream camping cooking equipment and they have come up with some brilliant solutions for this acknowledged human necessity that is coffee. Coleman Camping Coffee Maker has got to be my favorite. It was designed for a coleman gas grill, but could be used over an open fire as well.
Percolators, boil the water and the coffee sits in a basket inside. After a period of time, you will see the top show a darker and darker color as the coffee is brewed...pour and enjoy!
Espresso Percolators
Bialetti 6800 Moka Express 6-Cup Stovetop Espresso MakerStovetop Espresso Pots) For the espresso addict, you do not have to give up your drug of choice, just because you don't have access to your thousand dollar counter-top machine. I have an antique espresso maker from when my grandma was a little girl that still works amazingly well, even at home on the stove! (Just like the one pictured here.)
Just a tiny pressure percolator you can sit over an open flame but it really makes a strong cup of coffee. The pressure extracts every bit of caffeine out of the grind and it is evident. As usual, espresso really packs a punch and one shot can give you a good boost when you need it quick.
French Press
8-Cup (34-Ounce) Coffee Press
Basically, the French Press is about as simple as you can get. You boil the coffee in a separate container, and pour it into the press, wait, then press the grounds to the bottom and pour for a delicous hot cup of coffee. It keeps the grounds out for the most part, but the glass ones are difficult to camp with. The best part of this solution is you don't risk burning it.
My little sister grew up with Alternating Hemiplegia. It only appears to affect 1 in about a million people and if you look at it that way, she's pretty lucky. As I write this, she is the oldest known individual with alternating hemiplegia and has been a constant source of encouragement to everyone around her.
As a hobby, I write a blog http://ogcoffeefreak.blogspot.com/ -- I share thoughts about coffee, review coffee, review coffee places etc. Just a way for me to write creatively from time to time. I am using my profits from the ad revenue on my blog and the merchandise from the store ( http://www.cafepress.com/ogcoffeefreak ) to support this foundation that is dedicated to help other people like my sister.
If you'd like to know more or donate directly to the organization, feel free to do so. http://www.AHCKids.org/
PLEASE NOTE: I have no official relationship with the organization. I am not a spokesperson or a sponsor or in any way affiliated with them personally or professionally. I just want to help raise awareness for the work they are doing.
After my post a couple days back about Surviving Life Daily with coffee. A reader sent me a link to a video of these Canadian troops making coffee in the desert.
As always, if a canadian is good for anything, they're usually good for a laugh.
"I'm just skin covering coffee and some real nervous teeth." - Bill Hicks
I have felt this way many times.
It's like some kind of effed up anti-yoga meditation:
Sip in, swallow, now, imagine your body slowly being filled from the toes up every time you take your sip until you're sweating, peeing and sneezing nothing but coffee.
Now imagine it more quickly because you don't have time for that kind of b.s. AFTER ALL, YOU ARE A COFFEE DRINKER.
Someone asked me if I really send half of all profits from my cafepress sales to the goodwill.
The answer is YES!
However, I have never sold anything from the cafe press store until recently. I made $2 from a t-shirt sale and yesterday I dropped a buck in the donation jar at the good will store.
If by some freakish chance I suddenly sold more, I would probably write a check, but until then, that seems to be the easiest method of money transfer for me since I do all of my shirt and pineapple-print dress coat shopping there.
UPDATE: I have decided to change the charity for the profits from the shop to something a bit more personal. I will elaborate more in a following post. However, the organization is AHCkids.org
Yes, another review of a coffee place in Fairbanks, Alaska.
More than one place really since they now have more than one location.
Mocha Dan's started out as just one drive-through espresso shack off of Geist Road in Fairbanks. But not just any ol' espresso shack. Dan Meyer was the very first to convince the population of the Interior that this business model would work in the Fairbanks environment.
Since it first opened in the early 90's Mocha Dan's has become a beloved local brand as well as a pioneer in the drive-through business market in the Fairbanks area. You can always count on a good consistent drink quickly as well as an affordable tasty treat to go along with the smile they throw in for free.
They love coffee too...each and every employee I encountered during my years in Fairbanks loved their job and even an old grump like me can't help but appreciate a nice smile from a fellow coffee lover.
It's technically not listed on the google map at the time I'm posting this, but if you're ever in the Fairbanks Area check it out, I pinpointed it here:
Like many things in my life I sometimes take coffee for granted. Obviously not as much as electricity or indoor plumbing -- I don't write blogs on those conveniences in my life, as deserved as they are, but I do write about coffee.
I realized the other day that I don't really understand why coffee does what it does for me though. Yes, I recognize what it does for my soul -- my affection for it, it is my teddy bear or security blanket. But what is it doing to my body when I drink it?
I've always assumed that caffeine got in my blood stream somehow and made my heart pump faster which then made other stuff go faster...never really thought too much about it though.
So, for those of you who are like me and might have learned about it in Bio 101 class and forgot completely about it...or for those who think it's just magic...here's the rundown as I have learned it.
To understand how coffee get's you going, ironically, you must first understand how the brain sleeps.
We have receptors in our brain that receive certain types of molecules. The ones we are concerned about are receptive only to xanthine family molecules. Our brains also produce something called adrenosine which is in the xanthine family...they like to sleep together. That is, if a receptor receives adrenosine, it tends to make you drowsy and this is how you get your sleep. Picture a nice child who has a baby sitter over and they read books and fall asleep so easily because they've been doing it since the child can remember.
Enter caffeine, a cousin to adrenosine...they are both in the xanthine family and the receptors latch onto these caffeine molecules very naturally and in effect, this actually blocks the adrenosine from attaching.
This alone is enough to keep the synapses firing faster than normal since the adrenosine slows it all down.
However, this blockage also triggers an alarm that wakes up the Pituitary gland -- Pituitary didn't know the cousin was coming over to play and sends a quick message to the Adrenal gland that something's not right...the brain's not getting the Adrenosine it normally gets. The Adrenal gland then sends out a does of adrenaline which in turn triggers some other repsonses:
"liver releases sugar into the blood for extra energy, pupils dilate, heart beat increases, breathing tube opens more, etc. Caffeine is also said to increase dopamine levels much like amphetamines do, which produces a euphoric effect. It potentially does this by slowing the rate of dopamine re-uptake." (taken from: http://www.psych.umn.edu/courses/spring05/dionisiod/psy3061/caffeine.htm )
So there you have it. That's what caffeine does to us...well, does to our physical bodies. So next time you p'shaw someone calling you a drug addict because you love coffee...embrace it. We are all drug addicts by nature, and that's okay because you know how it works.
The squeaky wheel gets the oil.
The obnoxious child gets the baby sitter fired up.
George Clooney and John Malkovich star in this short ad for Nespresso. Nespresso is supposed to be perfect coffee conveniently made everytime.
You really can't argue with it too much...the idea isn't new. Automatic espresso machines have been around for more than a decade now, but this is for the home. All points of the coffee making process are under complete control, making it the same every time...assuming nothing goes wrong with the machine itself.
However, for $350 - $700, it's not exactly for everybody. And I would argue that it's really not for coffee lovers, just nespresso lovers...you can't just go and try some new beans you find down at the market.
Granted, if you're entertaining, it would be a very convenient way to make a delightful treat for your overly pretentious effin guests...but I would rather brew a big pot and let people help themselves I think...I know, it's not espresso. So yes, if you want to provide espresso easily without worrying about how much crema is on top or if it's the right color or thickness, this might be for you. I'm guessing Clooney himself only used his free machine a couple times before it got slid to the back of the kitchen counter next to the pasta maker and various ronco products.
This would be an instant regift if I ever received one. Am I too bitter to enjoy something new and innovative? I don't think so. I'm just American and don't appreciate the daily cup of espresso like a good Europeaner would. Like Clooney wants to be with his Italian homes and shoes and women and maybe men.
I'll admit though, he's on my list. You know what list I'm talking about...he's on my wife's list too.
So, I realize not everyone is a lover of coffee like myself. In fact, I don't personally know anyone else who writes a blog about coffee, but I do personally know people who drink it every single day in many forms. Drip, espresso and instant (yup, and now Starbucks is selling instant) and even other stuff that's supposed to taste like coffee -- remember Postum? My buddy has got a whole warehouse of that stuff -- he got it back during the cold war, just in case...now it's referred to as the Postum Cold War era. He doesn't believe me when I tell him it's not coffee. He thinks I'm making a dig...that because it's instant, it's not real. But it contains NO COFFEE dumbass...
Anyway, everyone I know and most likely, you know is drinking mainly one kind of coffee really -- Arabica. Arabica beans have about half the amount of caffeine as Robusta beans, but Robusta beans are about 10x (ten times) more bitter than your average Arabica bean which is why it is very difficult to find a pure Robusta roasted coffee at the store. In actuality most of the espresso blends have both Arabica and Robusta for that extra kick.
Robusta coffee trees take less time to grow and have great value to the farmer for this reason. However, they will not be able to fetch the same price as an Arabica farmer. So it behooves the farmer to harvest some combination of both.
I love the end product, I'm not an expert on growing coffee, but this kind of thing is interesting to me and if you want to know more, here are a couple good little links:
"Give a frontiersman coffee and tobacco, and he will endure any privation, suffer any hardship, but let him be without these two necessaries of the woods, and he becomes irresolute and murmuring."
- U.S. Army Lt. William Whiting, 1849
I swear, minus the tobacco, this is the basic truth to survival of some of the most enduring hardships -- getting up and going to the same freakin job for 40 years (if you are so lucky in our modern day where most people have no less than 8 career changes in a 30 year period), getting up and being married to the same freakin person every day, or the other side of that...getting up and not having anyone else in your life you can count on every single day . . . coffee is that one thing you can count on. It can make you feel more like it might just get a little better, because it does...with each cup...until the day is over and you have to wake up again the next day.
If you're a coffee lover like me, every time you have a cup of coffee, everything else seems more manageable. That cup in the morning is my best friend...it knows exactly what I'm going through and soothes me by saying, "just have another sip...it gets better. When the world is falling down around you, you can still stare into my warm brown essence and know that I will always be here for you...sorry about the ulcer, but don't think about that."
Sure, I remember similar conversations when I hung out with my old friend "cigarette" -- but it always ended worse:
"...sorry about all the money you've wasted and the smell permeating your clothes, hair and car, and the coughing and impending cancer...but don't think about that."
Where is my good friend now? Oh, just brewed another pot of him...
This establishment is one of the many things about Fairbanks Alaska that I miss. They really roast a good bean, but more than that, they have a very nice place that serves delicious food. With various Alaskan artists displayed and always a special selection of some eclectic, often local, music, ACRC (as the regs call it), provides an atmosphere just pretentious enough to make everyone who walks in the door feel smarter and more precious than everyone else in the world.
Love and miss this place. If you ever get the chance to visit Fairbanks be sure to pop in and enjoy the soup and sandwich special...whatever it is, you won't be disappointed.
No they didn't effin pay me to write this, but I sure wouldn't mind if they did.
Follow Up: Got an offer of Free Coffee next time I go in there...not sure when I'll make that 3,000 mile trek again, but I'm counting on that free coffee now ACRC.
"I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon."
- Ronald Reagan
I love this quote. I wonder how old he was when he said it.
Ronald Reagan was like the rich, famous, nice, gentle, smart uncle I never had. My apologies to all my uncles who qualify for many of those descriptive adjectives but not all...I am not forgetting you...especially Uncle "I'm going to shake your hand, oh, no I'm not, I'm going to squeeze your fingers so you can't give me a real handshake and tell you to 'get a grip, ha ha ha ha, come on, get a grip, heh heh heh'
...sorry.
Also, I love my afternoon naps...even though they only come about once every 3 months or so, they are very appreciated. We need more siestas in our American lives.
When I first found the following quote, it was attributed to one of my all-time favorite philosophers, George Carlin.
Upon doing 30 seconds more research I discovered it was actually taken from Bill Maher's show along with other great bits from his genius mind and attributed to the late great Carlin in a mass-email which has been floating around the atmosphere of the internet for 5 years now...
Carlin, I'm sure Maher would agree, doesn't need any words placed in his mouth even posthumous.
Here is the quote:
The more complicated the Starbucks order, the bigger the asshole. If you walk into a Starbucks and order a "decaf grande half-soy, half-low fat, iced vanilla, double-shot, gingerbread cappuccino, extra dry, light ice, with one Sweet-n'-Low and one NutraSweet," ooh, you're a huge asshole.
Agreed. And a tag on that would be, "If you feel you have to steal one man's thoughts and attribute them to another man, you may be an even bigger asshole."
I wish there was a way to kill the spam faster...but now these false emails have found permanent homes around the internet on static pages creating unnecessary ignorance and confusion.
On a related note, I recently discovered you can get Real Time with Bill Maher on iTunes for free as a podcast! Kids, check it out...Bill Maher is perhaps the smartest man alive according to other men you may consider the smartest man alive, like Jon Stewart or Steven Colbert -- although, I'm not sure where Hawking weighs in on Maher...I'd have to ask him. Anyway I don't listen for Maher, I listen for his incredible mix of guests that you would never imagine existing in the same room.
“Starbucks says they are going to start putting religious quotes on cups. The very first one will say, 'Jesus! This cup is expensive!'”
-Conan
It's true...it is. And yes it is also over roasted on purpose. If it were free, I would still not drink it on a daily basis but it's not free -- and people do drink it every day...simply because they are addicted. So effin what. Everyone is addicted to something...I have friends in recovery who are addicted to not being addicted...yoga, meditation, meetings.
I've written about it in the past...the amazing company that Starbucks is...for all the trash it may create and the heat it gets just for bing a large corporation -- they seem to be a corporate giant with a conscience. A well paid conscience at that. I wonder how rich you have to be to have someone else do your presentation and cleanup for you...I guess that would be called a publicist and from what we've seen of Charlie Sheen lately, that job might be obsolete soon.
As usual, Conan's quote made me chuckle. I don't have cable though...so I just watch the reruns online...yay for Team CoCo. Boo for the wicked witch of the west.
"Way too much coffee. But if it weren’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever."
-David Letterman
As a low-key guy myself, I have to say I can really relate to this one. When something in life can help you tap into that source we call "passion" you tend to gravitate toward it. As an American mut married to an Italian woman, I can tell you I do not have the direct line to Passion the way them Europeaners do. But one thing I can say is coffee gets me going...enough for me to even start this blog.
God, does it hit the spot. If I don't make it to the "oval office" in time it hits the shorts!
I'm sorry for those who read this and do not have a Trader Joe's...but french roast is generally an easy one to duplicate...just roast the ess out of them beans.
As much as I love coffee and like to give my opinion on different coffee experiences, sometimes I like to know what others have to say about coffee...here are a few quotes I've enjoyed over the years:
"The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce."
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., "Over the Teacups," 1891
"I believe humans get a lot done, not because we're smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee."
- Flash Rosenberg
"Coffee is the best thing to douse the sunrise with."
- Terri Guillemets
As much as I appreciate the true coffee enthusiast who for some reason cannot have the caffeine, and insists on still having decaf...this one really made me laugh:
"Decaffeinated coffee is kind of like kissing your sister."
- Bob Irwin
And one of my favorites:
"Coffee smells like freshly ground heaven."
- Jessi Lane Adams
Coleman Camping Coffee Maker
The Coleman 14-Cup Enamelware Coffee Percolator If you are nostalgic and prefer a more "campy" feel to your experience, Coleman also still offers the good ol' percolator.
Bialetti 6800 Moka Express 6-Cup Stovetop Espresso MakerStovetop Espresso Pots) For the espresso addict, you do not have to give up your drug of choice, just because you don't have access to your thousand dollar counter-top machine. I have an antique espresso maker from when my grandma was a little girl that still works amazingly well, even at home on the stove! (Just like the one pictured here.) 
8-Cup (34-Ounce) Coffee Press 
