Saturday, April 23, 2011
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Music with the Morning Latte
This morning we have had several extremely rich lattes with double shots of the creamiest crema ever... like overflowing the coffee pot. Look at that:
Getting the grind right is a good first step towards getting the essence of the bean in such an airy state. Equally important is how you pack the ground coffee into the filter. And of course the perfect soundtrack for making cappuccinos this morning is the immigrant punk music of Gogol Bordello. Here's a serving for your ears!
Roadside lattes and gypsy punk music.... I'm lovin' the start of my day!
Friday, April 8, 2011
Coffee & Climate Initiative Announcement
I've been looking for more stories about coffee in the news lately. One big issue out of Germany comes from a press release announcing the desire to form a Coffee & Climate Initiative, which would build an alliance of coffee producers, a group called International Coffee Partners and the two other founding members are the foundation Fondazione Giuseppe e Pericle Lavazza Onlus (Italy) and, on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit. The vision of the partnership is to enable all coffee farmers worldwide to effectively respond to climate change. By bridging climate change science and proven farming methods, comprehensible and hands-on tools are developed and provided to the producers. See the whole press release here.
In another direction, I wanted to announce my next show on blogtalkradio.com, coming up this Saturday night/Sunday morning in the Central Standard Time zone. We will be featuring the Roadside Radio Kitchen Jams, and discussing mine-bending topics around the Krups espresso machine. I've posted some great crema shots from our Krups here too.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
$100 a cup in London...Kopi Luwak
Amazing coffee beans that can cost up to $400 per pound are being produced with the aid of the civet (called a luwak in its native land), a polecat-like animal of Asian origin. The origins of Kopi Luwak in Indonesia go back to the Dutch occupancy of Indonesia, where the rich landowners did not allow the native workers to have any of their precious coffee beans. Coffee has its powerful draw as we all know, and the workers had to find a way to get some beans for themselves. The solution came from the forest critters that fed on the crops of coffee... The red outer fruit that the cats love to eat was digested, but the bean remained whole, altered by its journey through the digestive track, fermented in a way that man could not replicate, and done is a significantly less amount of processing time. The civet droppings were collected and cleaned, then roasted and ground by the Indonesian workers, and discovered that the resulting flavor of the brew was superior to a regular roasted coffee bean.
The demand for these beans has grown 50% in the past year, and does not seem to be slowing its growth. One producer explained in an interview that he was going to triple his civet poplulation, from about 50 animals to 150, in order to try to keep up with the demand. It has been reported that several London coffee houses offer Kopi Luwak for what is equivalent to $100 USD. And at the source, one cup of the brew is nearly $9--where the average worker only makes $2 per day, it is still a huge price to pay.
The demand for these beans has grown 50% in the past year, and does not seem to be slowing its growth. One producer explained in an interview that he was going to triple his civet poplulation, from about 50 animals to 150, in order to try to keep up with the demand. It has been reported that several London coffee houses offer Kopi Luwak for what is equivalent to $100 USD. And at the source, one cup of the brew is nearly $9--where the average worker only makes $2 per day, it is still a huge price to pay.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
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Friday, April 1, 2011
Is that my espresso or did you just change the oil in your car?
by Maria Atchison
I have a Krups grinder similar to this, but in stainless steel finish. A perfect grind for your brew pot takes a count to 8 or 9 seconds, and for the espresso mentioned in the title of today's post, keep grinding till you get to 17. After putting the ground beans into your filter, tamp it compactly to allow your machine to extract the most authentic crema. This morning my crema was 3/4 of an inch on the two shots I extracted from my Krups
espresso machine.
After frothing my milk, which is thick and the perfect texture to create beautiful designs in my espresso, I often let some random design form, and then check out my book, Fortune in a Coffee Cup
by Sophia, to see if there are any divine messages I should receive. This morning the marbling in my froth was very eagle-like, which when located at the top of the cup indicates that I "will soar with the eagle" and that I should know that what I say and do will always lead me to my desires.
My husband had an eye looking out at him from his foamy bean beverage, and this is said to indicate that his charming nature will allow him to accomplish long term goals, ones that will be seen by many eyes.
This little book is a dictionary for the gypsy art of reading grounds, and telling fortunes, similar to reading tea leaves. It is a fun way to add some meaning to your coffee experience. I have enjoyed expanding my own world and being open to intuitive vibrations. Currently, I'm working on a fun idea that invites the coffee drinker to draw a latte design from a deck randomly for a fortune, like a fortune cookie.
I have a Krups grinder similar to this, but in stainless steel finish. A perfect grind for your brew pot takes a count to 8 or 9 seconds, and for the espresso mentioned in the title of today's post, keep grinding till you get to 17. After putting the ground beans into your filter, tamp it compactly to allow your machine to extract the most authentic crema. This morning my crema was 3/4 of an inch on the two shots I extracted from my Krups
espresso machine. After frothing my milk, which is thick and the perfect texture to create beautiful designs in my espresso, I often let some random design form, and then check out my book, Fortune in a Coffee Cup
by Sophia, to see if there are any divine messages I should receive. This morning the marbling in my froth was very eagle-like, which when located at the top of the cup indicates that I "will soar with the eagle" and that I should know that what I say and do will always lead me to my desires.My husband had an eye looking out at him from his foamy bean beverage, and this is said to indicate that his charming nature will allow him to accomplish long term goals, ones that will be seen by many eyes.
This little book is a dictionary for the gypsy art of reading grounds, and telling fortunes, similar to reading tea leaves. It is a fun way to add some meaning to your coffee experience. I have enjoyed expanding my own world and being open to intuitive vibrations. Currently, I'm working on a fun idea that invites the coffee drinker to draw a latte design from a deck randomly for a fortune, like a fortune cookie.
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