People Spending Less On Coffee
Tell me something that I do not already know! For the past month or so, I have noticed that people at my office did not go to Starbucks as often as they used to do – myself included. It used to be that we would go almost everyday, especially if we had a particularly long meeting. We definitely needed grandes during those times. Today, though, it is either we brew our own pot at the office – we’re lucky to have a drip coffee machine, we just take turns buying the beans – or we buy cheaper coffee at a local store.
It seems that the rest of the United States is doing the same thing. Based on Kelly Blue Book’s monthly survey:
The June 2008 study results reveal that 28 percent of new-car shoppers have stopped going to Starbucks or other coffee houses entirely, and 21 percent indicate they are going less often due to skyrocketing gas prices.
Though the study focused on new-car shoppers, I would not be surprised to hear the same trend happening with other groups of people. Imagine spending $2 on Starbucks a day. Do a little math – this adds up to $40 a month (5-day week) and $480 a year! What if you used that money for gas instead? You’d be able to buy 120 gallons of gas at $4 per gallon.
Not a surprising result then, huh? It’s perfectly normal when hard economic times hit, the non-essentials are first to go…
How often do you still go to Starbucks or any other coffee shop for that matter?
Free Samples At Apres Tasting Club
A few weeks ago, we received an e-mail from Luke Bunting of the Apres Tasting Club, which is part of the main web site, Apres Café. Apres Café is actually a site that is all about coffee and tea. They offer gifts, coffee, and tea in their online store. More than this, they also provide a host of information about coffee and tea. Enthusiasts will certainly find a lot to read in their “Learn” pages.
What Luke e-mailed us about is the Apres Tasting Club and while going through their site, it really caught my interest. How does the Tasting Club operate? It is quite simple – if you are interested, sign up for the Club. You will then receive free samples of either coffee or tea. Once you have tried the free samples that were sent to you, you can go online and then rate them. If you rate the samples that you receive, you will continue to receive new samples every 3 to 4 weeks. It’s a pretty good setup, isn’t it?
Other benefits of being a member of the Apres Tasting Club:
1. Discounted prices not offered to the general public when purchasing a sampled coffee or tea
2. Advanced notice of special purchases or offers
3. Automatic eligibility each month to win a coffee or tea gift box (valued at $20)
4. The chance to sample some of the finest coffees and teas in the world – for FREE!
5. An opportunity to help us choose only the very best coffee and tea products by offering your comments on each sampled brew
6. Instant access to exclusive email offers through the ApresCafe.com email club. (You may unsubscribe from this email service at any time.)
One drawback – I think they only ship to the United States.
Book Review: The Joy Of Coffee
How does one even begin to describe the joys associated with this bean, this brew? I honestly don’t know! Perhaps the best way would to be go ahead and concoct your own brew and share it with friends as you lounge around on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Or maybe, you can get this book by Corby Kummer and give it as a gift!
The Joy Of Coffee: The Essential Guide to Buying, Brewing, and Enjoying has been around for quite some time now. It has been recently updated and revised, though, to keep up with the changing landscape of the world of coffee. This book is an easy read with roundabouts 300 pages. From the growing of the beans to buying to roasting, storing, and brewing – all of these things are presented by Kummer.
I like how Kummer pays attention to the minutest details in his book as he recounts his experiences over the past several decades. I think it is his unique and authentic experience and knowledge that gives his book an edge over the countless other printed materials on coffee available in the market today. In the book, Kummer also shares tons of recipes which the average person – like you and me – can try out at home. For me, that is one of the best aspects of The Joy of Coffee.
So what are you waiting for? You can get a copy on Amazon for only about $10. Alternatively, if you want a preview before getting your own copy, you can check out Google Book Search.
Starbucks Doing It Wrong?
My team had a couple of brainstorming sessions last week and to have a change, we all decided to hold the sessions outside of the office. We had two choices – Starbucks (which I was the proponent of) and The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. Unfortunately for me, most of the team wanted to go to the latter. This started a whole conversation on which coffee shop was better. Until now, I am not convinced that Starbucks is on the losing end.
However, I ran across some blogs today that seem to be refuting my belief that Starbucks is THE coffee shop. There’s this German IT professional who is now located in California, who shared a story about Starbuck’s poor selling method – making them seem desperate to sell their coffee beans. I was thinking, why should they be desperate if it’s good coffee anyway? Then I read Starsight’s take on how Starbucks is burning their coffee beans. Hmm, now that I read his blog, I seem to recall several times when I thought the coffee tasted a bit on the off side. Or maybe I am just being influenced by Starsight’s post.
Then I read BBC’s feature on why Starbucks’ sales have gone cold. It goes along the lines of Starbucks being too common that it is not cool to be seen with a Venti in your hand anymore. So what’s the deal? Maybe in the business sense they are doing things wrong. The more important thing for me is good coffee. Now I have to run along and get me a café latte and see if they are indeed burning their beans.
Iced Coffee Not Hot?
Coffee is usually known to be best served when hot. But for the innovative and creative minds of coffee lovers, the prickly heat of seasons such as summer would get them to think of new ways to enjoy the usual hot beverage that opens the eyes of sleepy people. That has totally changed today in the world of coffee.
Everyone is aware of such new brews, especially for people who have tried out the cold Starbucks drinks like frappuccino and ice blends. These are clear examples of new ideas brought out in the market. To top it all off, they are hits in the regions and have made other coffee manufacturers and shops create their own drinks as well.
Hence the initial notion of coffee being solely good when hot has been slowly disintegrating. Hot or cold, coffee can be enjoyed depending on the preference and want of people who love to drink a good coffee brew.
Technorati Tags: coffee blends, coffee, iced coffee, frappuccino
Wake-Up Call and Coffee
All people have to sleep some time and all people have to stay awake as well. This is what the caffeine in coffee brews offer, especially the black brewed coffee known to give that extra kick to wake up the drowsy eyed person.
Offices store coffee for a reason. It is not primarily because your boss would want a cup every time he walks into his office. It is a necessity for people who need to work hard on routine work and at times during extended hours to get the job done. Deadlines are the easiest underlying culprits to which people need to resort to drinking coffee to keep them awake.
It has been proven over the years that coffee wakes up minds. But the consumption level should also be monitored since excess intake may lead to nervous misalignments and may be bad for the overall health of a person especially if he abuses his health and lacks the necessary sleep to recharge his normal stored energy.
Technorati Tags: coffee, caffeine, black coffee
Gourmet Coffee Secrets: Soil and Altitude
Gourmet coffee beans originate from proper care and selection in the harvesting process. The secret behind their fine quality manufacturing lies heavily in their environmental surroundings. It has been proven that the processing of such fine coffee beans owe it a lot towards where it comes from, that of which is usually in the slopes of volcanic mountains that offer high elevation and fertile and rich soil.
The high elevations is good for coffee beans since it offers a more moist surrounding coming from the cloudy attributes that the atmosphere provides at such elevated levels. This also minimized the need for excessive sunlight rays that may ruin the quality of the coffee beans if they are not placed in the right amount of temperature.
The fertile soil where coffee beans are laid comes from the hot lave that are emitted from the earth�s core, full of nutrients from centuries before being brought to the surface. If there is one thing that should be taken into consideration, it is the fact that quality does have a price. In this case, having to harvest them from steep slopes of volcanic structures is a hard effort on the part of the people who would have to farm them out of their locations.
Technorati Tags: gourmet, coffee, blends, brewed coffee
Coffee Cups and Work
Employees would usually see the usual Styrofoam coffee cups at work. Usually a person would need a wakeup call of sorts since chances are, people would start a day slow before their adrenaline would start pumping and energize them to perform their assigned tasks and move through the motions of taking part in a hyperactive working environment.
Coffee is believed to make people awake, get them on their feet and continued to perform duties as needed. This especially holds true for people who need to put in the extra hour to accomplish work, notably the people who need to perform overtime work to meet deadlines.
So what does a coffee in coffee cups bring? It offers a formula for being awake and get on with the job expected to be delivered. Caffeine may be bad for the body, but in times of need, the human mind and body will need all the assistance it would need from any source available and possible.
Technorati Tags: coffee, caffeine, work, office, organization
Preserving the Quality of Coffee Beans
The quality of coffee beans depends on how people would store them and be sensitive to the various forces that would allow it to lose its fine quality after harvesting. A good thing to note is that exposing these beans to open air contributes to losing its actual quality. This is why it has been a practice to keep coffee in tightly sealed containers so that people can consume them at any time they would wish.
Storing them as well in cold temperatures, help retain its level of freshness. Freezing them is a good practice especially for coffee beans that are not immediately consumed and are meant for storing. This allows people to consume them at any time they wish wherever they are.
It should also be good to note not to place them beside aromatic food such as garlic and onions. Coffee beans absorb odors and once placed beside high aromatic elements, chances are that the coffee beans would solicit their smell.
Technorati Tags: coffee, storage, aroma, quality
Espresso or Cappuccino: What Comes First into Mind?
Finding yourself in a coffee shop where you are not familiar with the offered menu would have its instances where people may want to order that comes into mind. In such cases, an Espresso or a Cappuccino would immediately come into mind, depending on what is available.
Of course, the normal coffee beverage would also come into mind, but for people who want to discover new preparations or house specialties of a coffee shop, it would be best to test out what difference they have to offer in such cases.
Espresso and Cappuccino vary in preparation but they are normally the same hot beverages that people would prefer. Sweetness and creaminess, it would all depend on how the outlet would present them, but in the end, they are still the same hot drink that everyone knows today anywhere they may find themselves at. It all boils down to the secret ingredients that would indeed make a difference in making them signature coffee recipes today.
Technorati Tags: espresso, cappuccino, coffee, brewed coffee, caffeine
