Load Up On Joe And Live Longer
Oh yeah? Well, if you base your beliefs on the results of a study conducted by researchers at the University of Madrid, drinking a lot of coffee can increase your lifespan. The study involved men and women who consumed large amounts of coffee and they found out that the risk of death of these people were considerably lower than those who didn’t drink coffee.
Coffee drinkers in the study had slightly lower death rates than non-coffee drinkers over time, whether their drink of choice had caffeine or not.
The findings do not prove that coffee is protective, but they strongly suggest that drinking coffee in large amounts is not harmful if you are healthy, researcher Esther Lopez-Garcia, Ph.D., of the University of Madrid, tells WebMD.
Among women, drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was associated with an 18 percent reduction in death from all causes, while drinking four to five cups was associated with a 26 percent reduction in risk.
The risk reduction in men was smaller and could have been due to chance.
“We can’t say from this one study that coffee extends your life, but it does appear that it doesn’t increase the risk for death for people who are healthy,” she says.
Oops – apparently I was a bit overexcited. There is indeed a reduction in death BUT there might be other factors in play. Again, I stick by my original belief – try to stay healthy and drink as much coffee as you think you need. If you feel ill effects because of too much coffee, then reduce intake. It’s as simple as that.
Photo courtesy of javaturtle
Rachael Ray, Kaffiyeh, And Coffee
Oh my, just when I thought that people were becoming more open minded and rationale! I have never been a fan of Rachael Ray, let me say that outright. This latest uproar over her makes me kind of feel for her though. For those who may not know, she is a spokeswoman for Dunkin’ Donuts. So there she was, doing her job, being her uber perky self as usual, right? She made this Internet commercial about how good Dunkin’ Donuts coffee is (by the way, I do like Dunkin’ Donuts coffee).
Suddenly, out of the blue, she is being accused of symbolically supporting terrorism! Come on now, this irritatingly cheerful person you see on TV several times a day a supporter of violence? As much as her personality and shows grate on my nerves, I just cannot see her trying to promote terrorism by trying to get away with wearing a kaffiyeh look-a-like in a Dunkin’ Donuts commercial.
Perhaps Michelle Malkin, the blogger who put up these suggestions, is mistaken? Or maybe she has got something personal against Rachael Ray? Seriously, the drama of it all! Why can’t a person wear what she wants to when plugging good coffee without being misunderstood? More than this, who says that the kaffiyeh is only used by terrorists?
Anyhow, Dunkin’ Donuts has pulled the plug on this commercial. In the interests of peace, I suppose it was the right thing to do. Now let me go get some of that iced coffee to cool off.
Of Coffee Cuppings
Of coffee what? You may be wondering if I made a typo in my title – that is, if you have not heard of the new trend that is becoming popular in New York. The New York Times recently published an article on this activity (coffee cupping) which is supposed to be the alternative to wine tasting. Certainly, there are similarities – the tasting part. There is, however, no spitting allowed in coffee cuppings.
Joking aside, coffee cuppers take this activity seriously. The Times reports:
Time was when only coffee buyers, roasters and baristas cared to spend time sniffing grounds with patient dedication. But now cuppings at independent cafes like Joe attract connoisseurs who wouldn’t be caught dead sipping an overroasted blend and regularly travel to another borough for superior beans.
I love coffee – you know that – but isn’t this taking things a bit too seriously? Fellow blogger Emily Matchar expressed my sentiments well in her post about cuppings:
I mean, I’m willing to believe that other people have the ability to discern flavors I can’t sense. But is a bag of beans from a single farm lot discernibly different than beans from a handful of farms in the same region?
I have my favorite coffee – one that I get from this region in the south. I would really prefer to use this coffee every single time but when I do run out, I can live with other types of coffee that I get from the supermarket.
Am I being an ignorant coffee brute here or are there other people who think the same way?
Demand For Coffee On The Rise
You think? If you can judge the demand for coffee by the way I drink the brew, then this statement is definitely true. Seriously, though, it seems that the price of coffee is not about to go down anytime soon despite the forecasted increase in supply. This is due to the growing demand of coffee worldwide.
International Coffee Organization (ICO) Executive Director Nester Osorio in his latest coffee market report, said imports reached a record level in 2007.
Demand is thus the main factor influencing the market, at present. During the first six months of the coffee year 2007-08, exports from Brazil and Vietnam were considerably lower.
The average of the ICO composite indicator price for April fell to 126.55 cents per pound, compared with136.17 cents in March.
Despite this decrease, price levels are still firm and price volatility has become less intense. Average prices in the first four months of 2008 are higher than those recorded during previous months.
Exports during of March (8.7 million bags) were higher than those recorded in February (7.7 million bags). However, exports during the first six months of coffee year 2007-08 fell by 4.9 per cent compared to the same period in coffee year 2006-07.
New estimates of Brazilian production for 2008-09 have been just released. This establishes the size of the crop at 45.5 million bags, comprising 34.7 million bags of Arabicas and 10.8 million bags of Robustas.
That’s a whole lot of coffee!
Ethiopia: Highlight of the 20th Specialty Coffee Association of America Conference
The 20th Specialty Coffee Association of America Conference just ended today. This 4 day event marks not only a milestone in terms of the “age” of the group, but this conference is the first to highlight the birthplace of coffee – Ethiopia. I only read an article about this earlier today and I find it a nice coincidence that I had just bought a bag of Ethiopian coffee from Starbucks hours before.
Anyhow, here are some things that key people in Ethiopia had to say about the conference.
“Ethiopia is immensely proud to be at the forefront of this year’s SCAA Conference. Ethiopians have cultural and social traditions of coffee drinking going back many, many centuries, and, as such, we have much that is unique to share. The invitation to Ethiopia to be the first ever African portrait country featured is an honor. We take this as a symbol of both the Specialty Coffee industry’s high regard for our place in the expanding and dynamic specialty coffee market, as well as a tribute to our unique heritage and historic role in the coffee business,” said H.E. Yakob Yalla, Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development to the assembled experts and enthusiasts.
“Few developing countries have realised that intellectual property plays a crucial role in income generation in the modern, global economy. Ethiopia is truly proud to be among the first to see IP management as a tool for development and poverty alleviation. It is a tribute to the coffee industry and our pioneer licensees that they agree with us and are prepared to cooperate with Ethiopia on its mission to capture a greater share of the retail price for Ethiopian coffee farmers and coffee workers,” commented Getachew Mengistie, Director General of the Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office.
This has gotten me more interested in Ethiopia as a coffee-producing country – expect to see more posts soon.
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.
Starbucks And iTunes Show Love
Starbucks and Apple are perhaps the two brands that I like the most – well, perhaps is the operative word here. In any case, these two groups have teamed up to bring more pleasure to their customers. Sometime last week, Starbucks proudly announced its new program – the Pick of the Week.
Yes, it is true that the name for the promotion could have been more creative. (Come on now guys, you make millions! You can surely pay someone to come up with something more than “Pick of the Week!”) However, the idea is quite an interesting one.
Imagine yourself sitting at your favorite spot in your regular Starbucks hang out. You spend a relaxing hour or so sipping your favorite coffee drink, doing whatever you are doing, and listening to your favorite music on your iPod all the while. Perhaps you don’t even need to imagine this – it is reality!
YOU are the target clientele of Starbucks and Apple. With the Pick of the Week, loyal Starbucks and Apple customers can enjoy free downloadable content. How?
I don’t know the exact details (obviously the Starbucks nearest me does not seem to have this promo running yet) but the idea is that people who buy coffee from Starbucks will receive a Pick of the Week download card. This card can then be used to redeem a free song or music video from the iTunes store. Users have up to 60 days to claim the song or video but can also download on the spot with WiFi access.
Web Site In Focus: Coffee Cooks
I love to cook. It is one of the hobbies that I have that I like doing when I have time to spare. Oh, I cook everyday – it is a must, unless I want to spend tons of money eating out. But the best dishes that I have prepared are those I spent considerable time on and those that I have not rushed because I was late for work. That is why I was excited when I posted that entry on coffee marinated sirloin.
A reader of ours commented on that post and introduced me to a whole new world of cooking – one which involves coffee. Can you just imagine how excited I am right now? The web site is called Coffee Cooks and has a lot of recipes making use of coffee. More than that, though, you can find a lot of other information.
I browsed the site to find out more about what they have to offer and I have to say that I am left wanting more. There are several categories which one can browse – basics, breads, bars & cookies, cakes, desserts, drinks, main dishes, and greens. I was a bit disappointed that there were only a couple of recipes under each category, though. Maybe in the future, they will expand their collection and offer more.
One thing I think we should all try out this weekend is the Asian vinaigrette. I have never had a salad with the flavor of coffee and I don’t know how well that would mix but it sure is worth a try!
Coffee Etiquette In Italy
I sure am not headed to Italy any time soon (though the partner and I are planning a trip next year) but I found this blog post on The Road To The Horizon very informative and funny as well.
Did you know that Italians mostly drink their coffee at the bar standing up? If you drink your coffee at the table, then you are probably marked as a tourist (not always a good thing in my book).
How long does it take you to finish off an espresso? For me, it depends. Sometimes I finish it off really fast, sometimes I take my time. In Italy, espresso is meant to be drunk in a jiffy – 3 sips at the most.
As I was reading these interesting bits of trivia, I was thinking – would anyone really care if I didn’t follow the Italian customs when it comes to coffee? Well, I suppose that when you’re in Rome, you have to do as the Romans do. The blog post explains:
It is a habit, no, more a culture, strong: a religion, in Italy, not to drink any coffee with milk in it after breakfast. Cappuccino or Caffe Latte orders after 11 am are often laughed at or joked with.
While coffee bar tenders in the big cities will frown when you order a Caffe Latte in the afternoon, and exchange a glance of “Ah, tourists!” with the people standing at the bar, they will still serve you - all be it - reluctantly.
In restaurants, though, you might get occasions where the waiter will simply not serve you a coffee with milk in the afternoon or evening. The more remote the place, the more “mama and papa”-type the restaurant, the more chance of getting accused for “sacrilege”, turning that ‘friendly hospitable waiter’ into a rude tiran who wants nothing better than to see your backside as you walk out of the restaurant, while all you wanted was a “Cappuccino”.
Ok, ok I get it. Well, not really. I have to read this blog post over and over again – and take notes – before I even think of going to Italy.
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.
