Morning Coffee & Afternoon Tea

Coffee Cellar for Your iPhone

Man, I sure wish I had an iPhone, so I could test this cutey little app.  It looks nifty. 

It's a personalized coffee library, which I guess would be especially useful if you're a gal-about-town and need to remember where you found that really great espresso you had last week. You can add icons and photos, keywords, and it even includes a rating system, which means you can find your favorite coffee spots sooper easy.

If anybody with an IPhone gets this app please come back and add your comments here!

More info and where to buy here.

Oh So Many New Things!

Tootin this horn that belongs to me. :) 

In the process of trying to clean up my sidebar links, my housekeeping project turned into much much more than I had planned.  I'm still a bit mystified by all this social networking stuff, but I'm trying to catch up to the world.  Even if I am still running behind, I can see all your heinies ahead of me now, bouncing along in the summer sun. 

So here's some of my new stuff:

I'm finally on Facebook. I've created a page just for my coffee/tea/chocolate obsession. Please drop by and say hi.

I've also created an account on FoodBuzz.com, another social networking site for foodies. I'm still kicking around the kitchen there.

 

Now, about those links... I decided to just scrap the old list and start from scratch. It was sooooo depressing to see so many broken links - like dead blog friends, gone forever from the blogosphere. Gone to blog heaven? Sigh.

I've created a couple of new pages for links, which should be easier to manage. I hope. You'll notice these new buttons on the sidebar. They take you directly to the links pages for coffee, tea and chocolate. There is also a category for foodies but I got tired of making buttons. Heh.

I'm slowly adding links to these pages.  If you have a blog or website that you want to suggest please use this form to send me your suggestion.

Let's see, anything else? Oh yeah, new photo album here: Coffee, Tea, Chocolate Pics. I haven't deleted my Flickr albums, just trying something new.

Ok, I think I'm done tooting. I know, I know, where's the Beano?

Coffee Health Benefits

I just love this kind of video/sound byte -- great visuals, short, sweet, to the point, and a narrator with a lovely British accent.

Slice of Heaven

 

Lovely cup, big, deep, thin-rimmed, filled with double shot espresso made from freshly roasted beans, topped by a layer of foam and a sprinkle of cocoa.

 

Great way to start the day!!!

Roasting Again!!!

I'm happy to report that I am roasting again. Woot! After a thorough cleaning, my coffee roaster is up and working, thank goodness. 8 layers of dust did it no harm that I can tell. And as luck would have it, it rained this morning, and the temp is lower, so I didn't feel bad running the roaster.

Progress pics ( I pulled the camera out of retirement too, can you tell? )

From filthy to clean

Roasting and Roasted

I'm going to have to order more beans, these that I used were pretty old -- not sure HOW old, over a year for sure. But since they were dry and cool they should still be good. I'll let ya know if the coffee is any good.

Coffee Slump

slump

noun

1

a : a marked or sustained decline especially in economic activity or prices b : a period of poor or losing play by a team or individual

My slump has been both marked AND sustained. 

Causes?  I blame it on the heat, and a long list of lacks -- energy, health, money ... energy.  One day I didn't have the energy to roast.  And then I forgot to order green beans.  And then money got tight so I bought a cheap brand of beans at the grocery store.  Then one morning I didn't have the energy to grind - it really sux to feel sick all the time -  so I  ** gasp ** used my honey's pre-ground Folgers coffee. 

Enough is enough.  In an effort to rise up from the bottom of my coffee slump, I pulled out the coffee roaster and this is what I found:

Appalling, I know. 

I don't think a simple wash will do it.  I'm getting out the air compressor.  It's got 125 psi pounds per square inch OOMPH. 

Wish me luck!

If You MUST Drink Decaf...

I have this nightmare that one day I'll develop an intolerance to caffeine and *gasp* chocolate.  In this dream I walk around licking the rim of an empty cup, depressed and hollow-eyed, not from lack of sleep but from thwarted desires.  What would I do without my 3 favorite things in the world?  Coffee, tea and chocolate make life worth living! 

Because of this nightmare, this product - D+Caf - caught my eye.  It tests your beverage for caffeine to insure that - if you MUST drink decaf - your cup really does contain unleaded.  I had to try it.

In case you don't know, decaffeinated beverages are not totally caffeine free.  Under federal regulations in the U.S., caffeine levels have to be 2.5 percent of the product or lower in order for a product to be labeled "decaffeinated."  (Check out this article if you're interested in how decaf becomes decaf.  Or this great article if you're a home roaster who needs decaf beans.)  Now, according to most sources, an 8 oz cup of regular drip coffee contains between 104-192 mg caffeine.  Tea can run between 20-90 mg caffeine per 8 oz cup.  What is being sold as decaf varies, too, but this study showed that your average restaurant unleaded can contain caffeine ranging from 8.6 milligrams to 13.9 milligrams, and Starbucks decaf espresso contained 3 mg to 15.8 mg of caffeine per shot.

Which isn't too bad IMO.   But obviously if you have to cut caffeine out of your life entirely, drinking "decaf" won't do the trick.  (Prune juice maybe?  Gaaaah.)

Swenyway, this little D+Caf strip-doo-dad tests for caffeine levels of less than 20mg per 6 oz cup.  I did the test using Millstone Hazelnut Cream, regular and decaffeinated, using the same amount of coffee / water and same brewing method.  The picture here shows the results of the test strips.  Yes, the one on the left is the decaf, the test strips worked.

But I must confess I was a bit disappointed.  I was hoping for something more precise.  Something ... well ok, something less than a tricorder readout, but closer to a pool chlorine test strip maybe, that would show me a range.  Colored stripes ranging from green (really really LOW caffeine level) to RED for "danger zone".   These little strips are more like a pregnancy test.  It's either yes or no.  Heh.  So, if the little line on the left is all you see, then you're safely in the unleaded zone.  If you see two lines, or one dark line on the right, you've got too much go-juice in your cup. 

That is valuable info if you have a caffeine sensitivity and really REALLY need to know what you're drinking.  I still would like to see more precise information, but I might have to keep a supply of these on hand, just in case my nightmare ever does come true.

Related: Can't Get Enough Caffeine?

Foam Sweet Foam

My brother called me a coffee snob the other day. 

"Coffee snob?" says I.  "Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

After we finished this highly erudite and mature conversation, I stopped to think about it.  Am I a coffee snob? 

I don't use all the fancy words like "cupping" and "floral and bright" to describe my tasting experience.  Coffee high mucky mucks can get into the special language trap and that puts people off.  I don't do that.

And I don't look down my nose at other people for what they drink.  I don't care what they drink or how they fix it.  I am very fussy about what *I* drink - ever since I started roasting my own coffee I can't drink much else - but I don't shove it down other people's throats.  Heh.  So to speak.   Except occasionally I play coffee bar for visitors, just so they can see what coffee really ought to taste like.

But I'm not a "purist".  I do sometimes drink black espresso shots with no frills.  But the fact that I like a latte or cappuccino might make me "less than" in a true coffee snob's eyes.  So by way of proof that I'm not a snob,  I have to cop to my latest addiction - sweetened froth.  omg this is good.  I just put a little sugar in the milk before I froth it.  The idea here is not to sweeten the coffee, although that happens too, but to sweeten the foam. 

I wonder if my brother will accept this argument. 

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

Cup Woes

I have a problem with cups.  Coffee cups in particular.

I'm really fussy.

For my morning latte, I like a bigfat (think mini-soup bowl), thin rimmed cup, both microwave and dishwasher safe, with a comfortable handle for my littlish hands.  Not an easy combination to find.  I had one, which I blogged about previously, that I loved loved LOVED.  It was big enough, had a lovely thin rim, pretty blue with little flowers on the outside.  The perfect cup.  Look what happened to it.

Is this not the saddest thing you've ever seen?  I didn't do this all by myself, I had help from a four-legged friend who got a little too rambunctious and paid for it by wearing spilled coffee on his head.

I went back to the store whence it came and tried to find another.  Unfortunately, there were none.  Line discontinued. 

I tried to glue it back together, but ... no go. 

So I got online and searched for the maker - it's one of the dine series made by HD Designs.  I found some HD Design stuff, but no dishware like this. 

Majorly bummed, I bought this, because it was the only BIGCup I could find.

Whimsical, yes.  Colorful, yes.  Big, sure.  But it's got an equally bigfat rim, and it's heavy.  Clunky even.  Not only that but - although it claims to be microwaveable - it heats up way too much in the nuker.  Don't know how to get around that problem.

Anyway, lo and behold, the other day I found a new cup that is almost big enough - just a skoche bigger and it would be perfect - and has a nice thin rim AND is safe in the nuker.  Not blue or flowery, but kinda classy in a country sort of vein.

Guess who makes it?

Yep, same company.  HD Designs.  I wish I could find a website for them, I'd email somebody and say - You're my kinda peeps!

Ok, only one more pic, in homage to this new, almost-perfect cup, and then I'm done. :)

Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

I've missed HOW MANY Chocolate Fridays? 

Well I'm jumping back into the blogosphere with something really easy that combines two of my favorite things: chocolate and coffee.  I've always wanted to try chocolate covered coffee beans.  I wasn't sure I would like them, to be perfectly honest.  I'm really addicted to my liquid coffee, but chawing on a crunchy bean... I wasn't too sure about.

I'm here to tell ya, they're great.  This is the perfect antidote for a long drive, or a hiking trip, when coffee of the liquid variety is hard to come by.  Pop a few of these for some tasty instant rocket fuel.  I'm serious, those with heart conditions beware.  I popped half a dozen and a few minutes later, the top of my head came off. 

And the recipe is so easy!  I tried using flavorings in the chocolate, and different types of coffee beans, some more exotic than others.  And the conclusion I've come to is they're best with a good hearty basic espresso bean, and just plain semi sweet chocolate.  Exotic coffee beans detract from the chocolate.  And added flavorings seem to detract from the coffee.  Basic and not too sweet is best, IMHO.

Easy Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans

1/2 cup espresso beans
1/4 - 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a bowl, melt chocolate chips in microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring every 20 seconds or so, until creamy.  Stir in coffee beans till completely covered.  Spread on a sheet of wax paper.  Allow to cool on counter for 10-15 minutes, then place in freezer.  Once completely hardened, break apart. 

The result looks like peanut brittle... so maybe this should be called coffee brittle.  :)

Enjoy!