First I have to thank Bitchin’ Kitchen for twittering about this.

I like coffee. I like using coffee. I like smelling coffee…I was always sad the Dr. Suess did not write a book about coffee, although he did do some on the edge World War II propaganda movies for the US Army.

Anyway. I like coffee, I like organic coffee, and I like when people figure out how to do awesome things with everyday objects. Soy fabric is incredible, I would not eat soy based products but wear them?  Ah…so soft. Bamboo, same thing. Awesome! But coffee?

Well a company is making fabric from coffee. In fact the company that perfected it has made two shirts from the amount of grounds it takes to make a cup of coffee. GROUNDS mind you, not beans. The after product of your morning ritual.  If the fabric goes viral those of us that drink a lot of coffee could have a brand new income stream.

The fabric is also “quick-drying, odor controlling,  and uv-protective.” Totally organic and produced in an environmentally responsible fashion the only other thing you could possibly want would be to drink the water it is rinsed in…but alas..technology has not yet come that far.

You can read more at the  SCafe site.

Still. It will be interesting to see how this markets, what the cost will be..and most important of all…..will your sweat smell like coffee?

image:marye audet (those vintage magazines and books have to be good for something)

I swore it would not happen. I really hate McDonalds. It is not my kind of place. It is not a happy place. Not for me, anyway. If I am going to do fast food (RARE!) then a quick run by Whataburger or Sonic is my choice.

But I just read that the roaster supplying McDonalds with their espresso coffee blend is Distant Lands in Tyler, Texas. Distant Lands is the same eco-friendly roaster that is supplying Panera. The beans are not organic but I believe that they are Fair Trade coffee beans.

Anyway, I like Panera coffee. That means that more than likely I will like McDonald’c coffee… and the thought scares me. You can read more about that here in the Chicago Tribune.

The Bible, in Proverbs, talks about things that the earth can’t hold up under. Things that are just too weird. Well..this may be one of them.

McDonald’s can’t get environmentally concerned and serve good coffee, that’s like Sonny Bryans BBQ place starting to serve only vegetarian meals. It is the end of the world as we know it!

It could add a whole new Happy Meal concept though. A little Happy Meal bag with a couple of biscotti, a macchiato, and maybe a section of the New York Times?   It could work!

If McDonald’s REALLY wanted to sell a lot of coffee they would turn to the brilliant, albeit criminal, minds in Malaysia.

Sometimes I know I have missed my calling and should be in marketing somewhere. Other times I know that I took way too many hallucinogenics as a teenager in the 70s and should probably be listening to Black Sabbath at 78 speed. You decide which it is tonight..I am going to bed.

Image:SXC

Starbucks has just released a news thingie (yes I know, very professionally put: thingie) that they are removing the artificial ingredients from their baked goods and replacing them with all natural ingredients.

Just remember folks, all natural is NOT the same as organic. However they are promising the following:

• No artificial flavors
• No artificial trans fats (LOL! ALL transfats are artificial)
  
• No artificial dyes
• No high-fructose corn syrup

I think that is a great step for them. They are even giving recipes for a couple of their items. You know what I would like to see them do? Seriously? I would like to see Starbucks and other large coffee shops that carry pastries and such begin to source locally. I realize that they would lose the continuity flow but the items would be so much fresher, so much tastier, and it would be good for local economies.

I don’t know how difficult that would be, how many government and corporate hoops they would have to jump through or anything..but to me it makes much more sense.  Let’s face it. Baked goods are their best within the first 12 hours or so of being baked. The longer they hang around the more stale they get. Having pastries delivered from a local bakery every morning at 5 am would solve the freshness issue for sure.

What do you think? Is it feasible? Should be hit them with a barrage of emails?

image: MaryeAudet

With various types of funding being cut and libraries being closed, Fargo, ND has come up with an innovative plan. They will rent space and help to open a coffee shop in their downtown library.

The library will contribute 10,000 dollars to get the coffee shop up and running and then the coffee shop with pay  rent every month. They will carry pastries, cookies and various coffee drinks.

Now, I ask you, how cool is that? I love libraries. Many times in my life I have used the library in the various places we have lived as a refuge. A place to enjoy quiet, the smell of the books, and recharge my spirit. The coolest library ever was the one near us in West Windsor New Jersey back in the late 1960s. We lived in a new, upscale housing development in the midst of fields and countryside. The library was about 3 miles away but I was allowed to ride my bike there because my mom could watch me the whole way thanks to the fields.

The library was old, I want to say it was in an old house but my memory may be foggy on that. The children’s section was upstairs and there were plenty of nooks and crannies to curl up and read a good book in. It was at this library that I discovered Edgar Eager’s books, Obscure writings by Louisa May Alcott, and other books that continue to by my favorites to this day. Books that I have shared with my children…books that my daughter shares with my grandchildren.

The idea of being able to go to the library, check out a few books and enjoy a latte or an espresso intrigues me. I think it is brilliant. Kudos to Fargo and all involved for thinking outside the government subsidy box.

image:SXC

Coffee fights bad breath. Yes it does.

See, I was always under the impression that coffee was what made my mouth taste like seven desert camels with incontinence had ventured through it with muddy feet. I mean, you get up, you brush your teeth, you drink coffee, and an hour later you need a breath mint…STAT!

Dude, YOU need some coffee, stat!

But according to this ever so cool study done by the Israelis coffee actually blocks a lot of the bacteria that are responsible for bad breath. There is even talk of a salve that would be made from coffee that could eliminate bad breath.

We have reached a pinnacle in coffee history. We are at the dawn of the age of coffee toothpaste. This could revolutionize the free world and give Starbucks a totally new venue for their greed.

Imagine if you will…you could go into your local Starbucks and order a tube of caramel macchiato toothpaste. You could forego coffee in the mornings and just brush your teeth for an extended period of time…

Caffeine junkies, desperate for a caffeine fix would be sucking down coffee flavored Listerine and squeezing the last few globs out of discarded toothpaste tubes.

Interesting thought. Coffee actually freshens breath. Wow.

image:sxc

I just learned that Starbucks is having to recall 530,000 coffee grinders. Apparently they are defective and they fail to turn off, or turn on unexpectedly and the result has been some pretty serious hand lacerations. You can find out  if your grinder is one of them at the Consumer Product Safety Commission. They go by the names, Seattle’s Best and Starbuck’s Barista.

Let’s play three guesses where these are made. Ready? When I count three just shout it out….one…two…thr…….Yep China.

Now, I don’t want to say that the Chinese government has a furtive terrorist plan to subdue the entire  United States by booby-trapping children’s toys, pet foods, and now coffee…but..I’m just sayin.

The only coffee makers and coffee grinders tht I could find that are US made are by Bunn. They are all commercial products and over 500.00

I don’t know about you but that is a little out of my price range.

If you know of a coffee grinder that is made in the US please leave a comment with a link to it!  All of this outsourcing is getting to me. I was looking for a soapbox to get up on but they are all made in China….

image:Via CPSC

I do. Back in the early 1960s air conditioning meant throwing open the windows. I swear you could hear the ring of the bells of the ice cream truck for miles. In fact, in our neighborhood, you could look out the window and see kids sitting there, waiting for the right moment to hit their mom’s up for some money.

You did this carefully. There was finesse and timing involved. If you did it too soon she would shake her head and say she didn’t hear any ice cream truck…but wait one minute too late and you couldn’t get there in time. You timed the quest for ice cream money as carefully as you timed a trip to the bathroom during Bonanza.  Timing was everything.

So…you waited and the minute you could hear those bells clearly you made your pitch as earnestly as you could, eyes wide and innocent, fingers crossed behind your back for luck. A few beads of sweat on your forhead didn’t hurt.  Then you rushed out the door and waited with the other lucky kids while the unlucky kids glared at you miserably from the sidelines, or sidled up to you hoping to get  a lick.

When I saw this story in the Boston Globe it brought all of those memories back. Imagine, not an ice cream truck but a coffee truck. Not just any coffee truck but a truck holding artisan roasted coffees, top coffee technologies, and lots and lots of coffee.

A moment of silence please.

The brilliant mind behind this is Bob Weeks. He roasts his own coffee in 6 lb batches at his home. And apparently this is pretty darn good coffee.  He then sells various coffee drinks to a variety of customers who are, no doubt, waiting impatiently for the sound of his truck…

This is so cool.  And best of all? I have my own money now.

“Hey! Stop! Coffee Man!”…….

image:sxc (photoshopped by marye audet)

My family and I watched Bride Wars last friday night. We thoroughly enjoyed the movie.  I was reminded how people can get really bent out of shape from silly things that seem important at the time.

Well, move on from Bride Wars to Coffee Wars.  Starbucks, Panera, McDonalds, and Dunkin Donuts seem to be in a hand to throat battle over your coffee dollar.  Don’t you feel important?

Read more

Remember the guy that created the cryogenically frozen ice cream treat known as Dippin’ Dots?  Well he is trying it with coffee.

Curt Jones, a microbiologist figured out a way to flash freeze ice cream in a unique way.  The ice cream froze in BB sized pellets and was an instant hit at the local malls.  I would know this  because any time we went to the mall my kids clamored for these things.  Well, times changes everything and Dippin’ Dots is not such a hot  (or cold) commodity any more.  In fact business has been frozen, so to speak.

The dots are frozen at 320 degrees below 0 using liquid nitrogen.  This allows them to be perfectly creamy with no ice crystals, very cold, and intensely flavored.  But at $7 a pop who can afford them?

So the company is trying to market flash frozen coffee in the dot form.  Somewhat like a frappaccino the coffee dots would appeal to an older, more mature, and financially capable crowd- the kids that were addicted to the dots twenty years ago.

So, are you going to try them?

Image:Dippin Dots

Being gentle with the environment is not only popular, it is important.  I do not worship trees, but neither do I take for granted the rich resources and beauty that humans have been blessed with.  I love stories about people doing cool things.

I was emailed the following story.  How cool is this?

A coffeehouse opened in Tunkhannock, Pa in December.  It’s name is Swirls and it is owned by Dawn Kuduk.    She wanted to support the environment and promote sustainability…what to do?

She decided to offer one dollar off coffee to anyone who used a cup that they brought from home.  That means that she has a lower overhead, she has less trash to mess with, and less to inventory.

Brilliant.  You know what?  It is people like this, who do one seemingly small thing, that make the biggest difference! Great job kudos  to Dawn!

Image: sxc