And So It Begins…
August 31, 2007
We just placed our first order of green coffee beans from Coffee Storehouse. For our first foray into roasting we chose the Brazil Moreninha Formosa Full Natural which they describe as:
A sweet, smooth fresh Brazil with terrific body, nice fruit and just a hint of nuttiness. Great for espresso. This is a full natural coffee dried on raised African beds.
Grown in the city of Serra do Salitre, Minas Gerais, Cerrado Mineiro.
Average Altitude : 1,200 meters.
Mmm, makes my palette tingle just reading about it.
We are going to try two different roasting methods this time: hot air roasting via a popcorn popper and pan roasting using a skillet and a grill. After talking to the folks a Coffee Storehouse, we’re expecting the best results from the pan roasting. On the other hand, roasting coffee beans in a popcorn popper has intrigued us for a while now.
Be sure to check out Coffee Storehouse’s Selection!
First Russian Starbucks Opens Next Month
August 31, 2007
The coffee mega-chain is set to open its first store just outside Moscow next month. The global chain is already established in China, Europe, and South America but has been slow in entering one of the world’s most populous nations due, in part, to a long running lawsuit with a Moscow lawyer who has tried to claim ownership to Starbucks’ trademark.
Russian culture has traditionally embraced tea but a handful Russian owned coffee chains have been growing rapidly. While several of the Russian coffee houses have alcohol on the menu it is unlikely that Starbucks will veer from its established offerings.
“It’s a powerhouse brand, and that will help overcome some of the hurdles that may be caused by coming in late,” said Lori Daytner, the Moscow-based chief executive of Rosinter Restaurants Holding, which runs T.G.I. Friday’s and other restaurants in Russia.
The country has “changed drastically in 15 years,” she said. “There are very strong Russian coffee brands here, and I like to see competitors because that shows the market is still growing.”
Read the Full Seattle Times article.
Sculpture: Yuanyang II
August 31, 2007
(click the image for larger size)
The pottery, named Yuanyang II, is one of the collections of Hong Kong Museum of Art now displaying at the Central Concourse of Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). It is produced by Tsang Cheung-shing, a ceramic art tutor and product designer.
Yuanyang II is modeled in a distinctive form with two figures indulged in kissing each other. Their heads support two elegant cups for drinking tea and coffee. The form and concept design fully complement the theme “Yuanyang” (a typical Hong Kong beverage of mixing tea and coffee), a symbol of marriage and love, with a touch of humour for artistic creation.
There’s another angle of the sculpture here.
Caffeine Prevents Cognitive Decline?
August 30, 2007
A four-year-long study by French scientists of over 7000 individuals, published in the August issue of Neurology finds that women over the age of 65 with high caffeine consumption rates (three cups a day or more) show significantly less cognitive decline than women with low caffeine consumption (one cup a day or less.) The greatest benefits were seen in - ummm, whats the word? - oh yeah, verbal retrieval. There was also an observable benefit in visuospacial memory in the three cup a day or more crowd. The protective effects of caffeine also increased with age. So for all the ladies 65 and up keep the coffee brewing. Sadly the study show no effects, positive or negative, for men in the same age group. You can read the abstract from the study here.
Black Apron Exclusive: Organic Lomas Al Rio
August 29, 2007
I just picked up a half-pound of Starbucks’ latest Black Apron Exclusive, Organic Lomas Al Rio (Central Valley, Costa Rica), and after pressing the first cup I must say it is quite good.
I’m going to use this as an opportunity to practice cupping, and fine-tune my descriptions of fragrance, aroma and flavor. As with anything on this site, I will share the details of each step so you can learn along with me or, more importantly, so those that know better can correct me if I go awry. However, I can tell you now that this coffee has wonderful, sweet floral notes and a very silky mouth-feel.
Concerning the estate itself, Lomas Al Rio was the first in Costa Rica to receive its SMBC-certification (in addition to its organic certification).
The U.S. has two separate shade certification systems intended to ensure that Latin American shade-grown coffee is produced under a set of scientific guidelines. One is Eco-OK program development by the Rainforest Alliance and a network of Latin America environmental organizations, and the other is the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center (SMBC) criteria. Both systems’ standards require a minimum of 40 percent shade coverage, as well as specified tree heights and numbers of non-deciduous native tree species.
Francisco Mena, a general manager of the Lomas Al Rio coffee farm, recently went through this new certification process, making Lomas Al Rio the first SMBC-certified farm in Costa Rica. He explains that an organic inspector visiting his farm had completed one of the SMBC workshops, so during his inspection for organic, he recommended that he also inspect for SMBC standards. Mena approved his idea, and the total cost for certification was around $320.
I must admit that I didn’t know much about “shade grown” coffee until I read this article (by April Pojman from Fresh Cup Magazine). According to the back of the Black Apron box:
The Lomas al Rio coffee mill is a beacon encouraging small farms to grow organic coffee in ways that help protect the Central Valley’s lush biodiversity and use it to good advantage. In fact, birds and insects play integral roles in the coffee-growing process here.
Perk-LOL-ate
August 29, 2007
We might as well admit this from the start: LOLcats are one of our guilty pleasures. I Can Has Cheezburger? is one of our daily destinations and it never seems to get old.
Here are a few choice, coffee-related LOLcats for your LOLing pleasure (more after the break):
Read more
Coffee and the Bourgeoisie
August 29, 2007
What is it about coffee – and coffeehouses – that makes it so agreeable to the bourgeoisie? Jakob Norberg explores this very question in a (semi-) brief social history of the dark, rich brew.
For Jürgen Habermas, the coffeehouse is a place where bourgeois individuals can enter into relationships with one another without the restrictions of family, civil society, or the state. It is the site of a sort of universal community, integrated neither by power nor economic interests, but by common sense. For Carl Schmitt, coffee is a symbol of Gemütlichkeit, or the bourgeois desire to enjoy undisturbed security. And for Alexander Kluge, drinking coffee provides the opportunity for people to talk to each other beyond the constraints of purpose-governed exchanges, to enter into “human relationships”.
It’s quite an interesting - though, somewhat lengthy - read. Check out the full article here.
MyCuppa Coffee
August 29, 2007
Those looking to maintain absolute consistency in their milk-to-coffee ratio will be interested in the latest creation over at Suck.Uk.com. The MyCuppa mugs - reminiscent of a Pantone formula guide - offer swatches inside to “help you mix your favourite brew to just-how-you-like-it by matching the colour guide on the inside.”
I don’t take milk in my coffee and I still think this is super-cool. The MyCuppa will run you £7.50 each (about $15).
Welcome to Perk-O-Late!
August 28, 2007
It’s finally time to kick things off. Let’s start with a quick run-down of what we hope to do with this site.
First of all, we just love coffee. I assume - since you’re reading this - that you also love coffee. You’ll like it here. Let’s get this fact out on the table now: we’re not coffee connoisseurs…yet. We drink a lot of coffee, know what we like, but we haven’t yet learned the ins-and-outs of regional characteristics, cupping or roasting. We’re embarking on that journey just now, and we built Perk-O-Late to share our discoveries with you.
That is not to say that connoisseurs aren’t welcome. The coffee community is a fantastic group of people, and like our favorite coffee shops, we want Perk-O-Late to be a place for great conversation. We solicit your feedback, your questions, your ideas and suggestions.
That said, we’re going to hit the ground(s) running. Our first order of business is to find the best places to buy green coffee beans. Once our first beans are in hand, we’ll explore the best (and most budget-friendly) ways to roast coffee at home. We’re itching to try roasting in a popcorn popper - and trust me - we’ll document the whole thing.
We have big plans for Perk-O-Late and we look forward to having you along. This will be a repository for coffee-related news and events, as well as an eventual database of coffee shop reviews by city. We welcome your submissions, comments, or just a friendly email!
So, that’s that. We’re live! Check back daily (or subscribe to our feed) to get your fix.
