Care For Some Obama Blend?
If you think that the President-elect does not have enough influence as of yet, think again. His popularity has reached even the realms of coffee! Longfellow’s Coffee is a shop specializing in our favorite brew plus other food items such as sandwiches. They operate primarily in the New Jersey area and they are working on opening outlets nearer to New York. They are quite well known to locals as offering the best coffee in their area. Indeed, there are many who testify that they pass up on the Starbucks and other shops just to get their Longfellow’s coffee.
Now, Longfellow’s is bound to get even more customers with their new blend, named after President-elect Barack Obama. The inspiration for the Obama Blend comes from the President-elect’s own background, which involved three prime coffee areas in the world: Kenya, Hawaii, and Indonesia. This is what the people at Longfellow have to say about their newest blend:
Wondering what coffees grown in these regions might combine for a satisfying coffee sipping experience for you, Longfellow’s Coffee sought advice and worked closely with Kobricks, which is one of the nation’s leading coffee roasters, to see what they might develop together.
The craftsmen at Kobricks and Longfellow’s Coffee selected the best beans from each of the regions — Kenya AA (Kenya), Hawaiian Kona Extra Fancy (Hawaii), and Sulawesi (Indonesia). These beans rank among the most prized and expensive coffee beans grown.
Next they experimented to find the just-right proportions for the new blend. Finally a master roaster brought these exemplary coffee beans to a Vienna roast in order to free their distinctive characteristics.
Then came the moment of truth — the time to taste the new brew. Everyone present at this remarkable event suddenly knew they were experiencing something that was very much out of the ordinary. The Longfellow’s Coffee Obama Blend emerged as a brilliant brew, full-bodied and smooth.
Want to get your hands on some? Visit the Longfellow’s online store if you do not live near an outlet.
Affogato al Caffe
What is the best thing to have after a huge turkey dinner? I am sure you already know my answer – coffee! This, of course, is subject to interpretation or personal preference but you cannot deny that a nice cup of coffee after a filling meal is always welcome. For Thanksgiving this year, I think I am going to try something new. Instead of the good old brewed coffee or even café latte, I want to serve a different coffee drink. As such, I have been on the (online) prowl for a recipe that could be prove to be interesting.
Trust Mario Batali, who is perhaps my favorite Iron Chef, to provide me with the perfect coffee recipe dubbed Affogato al Caffe. Apparently, he published this recipe way back in 2000 but I have never come across it before. It does look interesting, though:
Ingredients
Semifreddo
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 3 ounces very strong espresso
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 8 cups strong decaffeinated coffee, cooled
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powderPreparation
In a 3-quart saucepan bring the milk to a boil over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and add the espresso.In a mixing bowl, beat the yolks until pale yellow. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light yellow ribbons form when the beaters are lifted. Stir in half of the hot milk, then stir in the remaining milk.
Cook over low heat without boiling until the mixture coats the back of a spoon thickly and sets slightly, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla and chill for 1/2 hour.
Whip 1 1/2 cups of the cream to stiff peaks and fold into the custard mixture. Transfer to an ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. (The semifreddo can be made up to 2 weeks in advance).
Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream to soft peaks. Place 1 scoop of semifreddo in each of eight tall glasses. Pour 1 cup of cooled coffee over each scoop, dollop with whipped cream, and dust with cocoa.
This makes 8 servings.
I would really love to make this – if I can find an ice cream machine to use!
Coffee: The Ultimate Social Lubricant
When was the last time you had to tell someone that you needed “to talk?” This question poses so many possibilities, both positive and negative. When you have a positive purpose, then there really is no reason to be anxious. But what if the talk was something that would not sit well with you and/or the other party? What if the talk was about something sensitive that might make both you and the other person uncomfortable? I have been in those situations one time too many and they were not fun at all.
The next time you have to have a talk like one of those, I suggest making sure that there are plenty of cups of coffee to go around. Why? A recent study by psychologists suggest evidence that if a person is holding a warm object in his hand, he is more likely to think kindly of the other person he is interacting with. Of course, nothing beats a warm mug of coffee!
Lawrence Williams of the University of Colorado and John Bargh of Yale are the ones behind this study. They made use of iced coffee and hot coffee as the test materials. They then asked test subjects – the participants – to rate a person’s personality based on a set of fixed questions. They found out that the participants who held warm coffee saw the other person as “warmer.”
The bottom line is really the correlation between the temperature and the perception of another person’s “warmness.” I am not sure that they tried it with other drinks but hot coffee is good enough as a social lubricant for me!
Have Your Own Coffee Morning For A Good Cause
I am a sucker for coffee and I’d like to think that I do my share when it comes to good causes. I think it is a good way to give back something to the community or to specific people. Even though I may have my share of flak and bad luck, I know that others have it worse than I do. Anyhow, I found a great combination – of coffee and good causes – in an event that is being held in Milton Keynes in the UK this 26 September.
By no means am I going as I am not anywhere near the UK but the idea behind Coffee Morning is worth writing about:
City gets behind big Macmillan fundraiser
Get ready for the biggest event in the Macmillan Cancer Charity’s year -the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.On Friday, September 26, scores of people across Milton Keynes will be organising get togethers to drink coffee – or tea, eat cakes and biccies and raise loads of cash for a good cause.
Among them will be Sally Wisson from Hulcote.
Her coffee morning event is at Salford Village Hall with full blown English breakfasts also on the menu for a suggested donation of a fiver.
Last year she and her two sons and an army of helpers raised almost £1,800.
To organise your own event register at www.macmillan.org.uk/coffee or call 0845 602 1246.
So I checked out the Macmilllan web site and found out that they are aiming to raise £8.5 million in order to help people who have cancer. The great thing about this is that anyone can organize his or her Coffee Morning and contribute. I am thinking that we could have something similar for other good causes.
In The Interest Of Preserving The Integrity Of Coffee
Now if that isn’t one of the most pompous drivel that I have read for a long time (well, probably since yesterday). This is exactly what was going through my mind as I read about Jeff Simmermon’s experience at the Murky Coffee store in Arlington, VA. So what happened?
Simmermon reportedly ordered a triple shot of espresso dumped over ice. Now you probably know that this is not commonly done but hey, who said you had to drink coffee in a certain way? Well, the management of Murky Coffee says so. Read the barista’s reaction as Simmermon himself described it:
And the guy at the counter looked me in the eye with a straight face and said “I’m sorry, we can’t serve iced espresso here. It’s against our policy.”
This reminded so much of a similar incident that my husband and I experienced at a local Starbucks store. The coffee became lukewarm because we were chatting and smoking. So he went back to the counter to ask for it to be reheated. We know that purists disallow reheating coffee as the heat “ruins” it. Despite my husband’s repeated requests, they wouldn’t heat the coffee!
So what is the deal here? Preserving the integrity of coffee or giving in to a customer’s request? Probably because I am not a purist, I tend to lean towards the latter. We all enjoy our coffee in different ways, give us some leeway here!
Photo courtesy of Aaron Landry
Cheese On Your Coffee, Anyone?
Uh, I don’t know about that. I mean, my second favorite drink in the whole wide world is coffee (first is water – yeah I am boring) and I can’t get enough of various types of cheese (check my last grocery bill and you’ll see LOTS of different cheese in there). I have not really thought of mixing the two together, have you?
This girl in Canada, Laura Perry, thinks otherwise and judges of the Eastern Regional Barista Championship in Montreal agree with her! The story featured in Ottawa Citizen narrates her victory:
Mascarpone cheese is not the first ingredient the average coffee drinker would put into an espresso. But Kanata’s Laura Perry is no ordinary coffee aficionado, using the unusual concoction to win the Eastern Regional Barista Championship this week in Montreal.
The 22-year-old’s victory will make her the only Ottawa resident to compete in October at the Canadian National Barista Championships, the Grey Cup of competitive coffee-making in Canada.
The drink, named Mascarpone Macchiato, is a shot of espresso marked with a bit of steam milk. It is blended with a variety of ingredients, including whipped mascarpone cheese, sugar cane and cinnamon bark.
For those who wince at cheese and coffee, Perry says she uses mascarpone for its light cream qualities. “It doesn’t really taste like cheese.”
For someone who likes cheese, I am pretty ignorant about a lot of types and I have not heard of mascarpone before. I found this at Wikipedia:
Mascarpone is a triple-cream cheese (though more accurately a lightly-whipped cream) made from crème fraîche, denatured with tartaric acid. Mascarpone is milky-white in color and is easily spread. When fresh, it smells like milk and cream. It is used in various dishes of the Lombardy region of Italy, where it is a specialty. It is a main ingredient of tiramisu.
I feel a bit stupid as I love tiramisu but now I understand how mascarpone can go well with coffee. I wonder if we’ll ever get to taste the likes of this coffee?
Guilty Of Polluting My Coffee!
“Cream, along with sugar, is one of the most basic condiments in the coffee universe. And by cream, I mean milk and all its variants: half-and-half, whole, skim, nonfat, soy, rice.”
Those are the opening lines of the article Coffee Pollutant No. 1: Cream by Oliver Schwaner-Albright of the New York Times. If he ever gets the chance to peek into my daily cups of coffee, he would probably get a heart attack! I already wrote a post on how I like my coffee a long time ago. I love it hot, sweet, and creamy. I don’t really measure – I am not one for measuring – but I probably put about a teaspoon of sugar and 3 teaspoons of cream (non-dairy) in each mug that I have.
So what’s the deal? Why is cream considered to be a “pollutant” when it comes to coffee? Schwaner-Albright explains:
If it sounds snobby, consider this: would you dab a Peter Luger porterhouse with ketchup? A slab of well-aged beef needs nothing more than salt, pepper and a good char. There’s nothing arrogant about leaving the Heinz out of it.
Uhm, now that he puts it that way, I kind of get what he is trying to say. Then again, a steak is very much different from coffee. More so, I do put A1 in my steak. It is not ketchup but it still is something more than salt and pepper.
I can appreciate a good cup of black coffee but I don’t think I can give up my sugar and cream for now. How about you?
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?
The Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony
We’re all familiar with the English tea ceremony but have you heard of the Ethiopian coffee ceremony? You probably already know that Ethiopia is the birthplace of coffee. Naturally, they have some sort of ceremony to celebrate the wonders of this brew.
The Ethiopian coffee ceremony is part of their culture. In fact, whenever they entertain visitors, the ceremony is required. So how does it go?
Emily Doyle explains the ceremony:
The ceremony is usually conducted by one young woman, dressed in the traditional Ethiopian costume of a white dress with coloured woven borders. The long involved process starts with the ceremonial apparatus being arranged upon a bed of long scented grasses. The roasting of the coffee beans is done in a flat pan over a tiny charcoal stove, the pungent smell mingling with the heady scent of incense that is always burned during the ceremony. The lady who is conducting the ceremony gently washes a handful of coffee beans on the heated pan, then stirs and shakes the husks away.
When the coffee beans have turned black and shining and the aromatic oil is coaxed out of them, they are ground by a pestle and a long handled mortar. The ground coffee is slowly stirred into the black clay coffee pot locally known as ‘jebena’, which is round at the bottom with a straw lid. Due to the archaic method used by Ethiopians, the ground result can be called anything but even, so the coffee is strained through a fine sieve several times.
The youngest child is then sent out to announce when it is to be served and stands ready to bring a cup of coffee first to the eldest in the room and then to the others, connecting all the generations. The lady finally serves the coffee in tiny china cups to her family, friends and neighbours who have waited and watched the procedure for the past half-hour.
I have never experienced such a ceremony but just the thought of being part of one makes me want to go to Ethiopia.
