Coffee Bean Mystery Delight

Last week I ground the last of M.E. Swings's Diplomat Blend.  Too cheap to buy good coffee, I peered inside the "coffee closet" finding an airtight Tupperware.  An odd mixture of light and dark roasted beans were in the container, most likely aged Dunkin' Donuts and Archer Farms coffee.  Yes, the great recession has hit the coffee budget hard.  Gone is Intelligentsia, Counter Culture, and Third Wave coffee.  Enter First Wave.

I poured the beans into the coffee grinder, set it to a coarse grind for a French Press, and boiled water.  Pouring it into the press produced miniscule bloom, a nanometer thick to be exact.  The coffee looked anemic, little life, no luster.   Yet after serving myself, signs pointed towards to a good cup; a nice chocalety film hugged the edges and after first sip, my eyes expanded to the warm, velvety, and bittersweet taste.  After 5 minutes, I voraciously consumed my beverage.

The coffee cup was used and abused. 

I have a half hopper of this mystery coffee left.   This is why I should start a coffee journal; to keep notes and remember which coffee I have bought and when, but then the mystery would be gone...

Coffee Setup in the Office: Spreading Coffee Love

Source: New York Times Ristretto blog

A week ago I brought my Counter Culture pour over to the office.  Along with the porcelain coffee brewer, I packed a handful of filters, two bags of Sumatran and Columbian coffee, and a mug stating, "Don't mess with my Dad."  Thankfully the office had a "whirly blade" grinder and a spouted device that boils water.  Now I can make fresh coffee and not spend two dollars at Starbucks!  The only other game in town is Bourbon coffee, but that is a 25 minute round trip, which is a tad too far for a quick a coffee pick me up.

After bringing in my coffee making materials, I quickly found that other people wanted coffee too!  Gathering around our makeshift coffee kitchen, I waxed eloquent about the benefits of black coffee, the flavor of freshly brewed joe, and the monetary savings from making your own.  After brewing three cups, one for myself naturally, my two companions seemed quite content and impressed by the results.

  +1 for specialty coffee and -1 for Starbucks.

Next, I will need to train people on making coffee with a pour over, so I am not the only person who will  be able to do so.  While my system isn't the easiest, it certainly is fun and a nice distraction from studying and writing.  And besides, what would academia be without coffee? 

Breaking News: Whoppers and Coffee Not Healthy!

Photograph by: Jim Noelker/Bloomberg News

"The bad news about fatty fast food just got worse. Researchers have found that a cup of coffee doubles the adverse health impacts of a greasy meal." - Vancouver Sun, 5 April 2011

False alarm! Well for the most part.  We coffee lovers have read that there are many health benefits for drinking a cup of coffee everyday.  Stumbling upon this article I thought my world was turned upside down.  I was lied to and deceived?!  But upon further inspection, the article assumes too many things, namely that everyone puts sugar into their coffee.  Wheww.  Doesn't apply to me.  Apparently fats found in fast food inhibit the body's ability to deal with sugars and remove it from the bloodstream.

Here is the relevant piece of the article,

The study, published April 1 in the Journal of Nutrition, examined the results of 11 active, healthy men, between 20 and 30 years of age, given one meal consisting of a special lipid concoction that had the saturated fat content of a cheeseburger, large fries and a shake, and six hours later, a second meal of a sugar-laden drink.

[Me interjecting]: Ahem, "Sugar-laden drink!" 

When sugar is consumed the body normally produces insulin, which takes sugar from the blood and distributes it to the muscles. But the fat meal apparently interfered with this process leaving blood sugar levels 32-per-cent higher than when the men had not ingested the fat beverage.

In the second part of the study, test subjects were given two mugs of coffee five hours after the fat beverage. An hour later, they were given the sugar drink. The results showed blood sugar levels were 65-per-cent higher than when the subjects had not ingested the fat and coffee. Beaudoin said the severity of the outcome -blood sugar spiking to pre-diabetic levels -was unexpected.

The study also looked at the levels of incretin hormones, which are released in the gastro-intestinal tract to signal the pancreas to release insulin to dissipate sugar in the blood. Ingesting the fat beverage seemed to blunt the hormones' responses to carbohydrates. In short, fat and caffeine impaired communication between the pancreas and gut, making it more difficult for the body to remove sugar from the blood."

Nevertheless of it being not applicable to Metro Espresso readership :-), if you know someone who loves some BK or McD's, it may be useful to pass on some scientific knowledge. 

Le Coffee & Moore - Specialty Coffee outside of the Metropolis

Source: The Pilot

"Most importantly, the beverage has to be perfect every time. If it’s not, we throw it away and start over." - Rochelle Boone of Le Coffee & Moore.

In my North Carolina hometown of four years, the Sandhills, there is a paucity of quality of coffee.  Generally, you have Cactus Creek roasters and that's pretty much it.  So I was delighted when a family member sent my a copy of the local paper, The Pilot, spotlighting a new coffee house opening up called Le Coffee & Moore.  For those not in the know, the Sandhills area is in Moore county, which accounts for the pun :-).  The link for the article is here and the cafe's website here (Still Under Construction).  What struck me was the fact that Boone traveled  to Portland, Oregon, went and took classes at the America Barista & Coffee School, and set up shop in a market not known for coffee love.

An interesting twist to the cafe is a board-room like table.  The article states, 

"The conference room, which harks back to her banking days, features a table with seating for eight, a dry-erase board and a television that can also be used for PowerPoint presentations.  “I wanted to attract business people as well as students with laptops,” Boone says. “Business people are always looking for a place to take clients. I’ve almost got the whole month of March reserved.”

Generally, cafes have space for groups to meet, but to actively market it as space for businesses to have meetings in a relaxed environment is clever.  Buying drinks, scones, and other caffeinated treats, works quite well.  I am curious to see if it somehow cordoned off to make sure that the meetings and other customers don't bother one another.

Unfortunately, the article doesn't say what coffee they serve, but I am optimistic that it is quality, especially being so close to Durham-based Counter Culture Coffee.  If you're in the area, be sure to check them out, and send me an email.  I would like to know how it is!


  

  

   

Looking Towards the Future - Berlin

Hi all, I have been quite busy this week at my real job and haven't had the time to blog.  This summer I am trying to go to Germany to go study abroad and go through some archives to look for possible dissertation topics.  Getting all the nitty gritty details and funding has been stressful to say the least.  Though, it looks like I will live in Berlin for a month!

Look for some future posts in the coming days, but I wanted to update all Metro Espresso readers for whats been happening :-).  For your enjoyment, here is a Berlin bear at the Brandenburg Gate. I love the way he bobs his head with the music.