Cafe Tidbits - News and stories from around the web

[StillShaving]

Steeped in Darjeeling - A traveler's story of coming for a visit and drinking tea.

 

[StillShaving]

1000+ COFFEES is a fun idea. His blog has a short write up of each encounter:

A project by Matt Kulesza started in September 2014.

I plan to have a one-on-one coffee with every single one of my 1000+ Facebook "friends" over the space of the next three years, or as long as it takes to complete.

An exercise in remembering to socialise with and get to know people outside of the 'book.

 

[August West]

Here is a shot of a coffee house I frequent.

 

[StillShaving]

Interesting hand powered espresso machine. Looks like a device that could be difficult to get repeatable shots from, but I do not dismiss the idea that this could make good coffee with a little practice. The price is affordable.

Review: (Gizmodo) This Minature Hand-Powered Espresso Machine Takes Caffeine Everywhere
Manufacturer's site: http://www.wacaco.com/index.html

 

[StillShaving]

It may be hard to generalize this experiment, but it does demonstrate there is some correlation between grind size and the amount of caffeine extracted. In this example, the amount of caffeine present doubled after quadrupling the grind time from 10 to 40 seconds (using a whirly blade grinder), while brewing with a Percolator. It would have been very helpful if they had also commented on taste, since no one is going to drink a foul tasting brew to either minimize or maximize the caffeine content.

Coffee Grind Time and Caffeine: Is There a Connection? New Research Says Yes!

 

[gearchow]

I bet the taste tended to bitter. Also, wonder if you kept the grind size the same and just brew longer? Like using a CCD and going from 3 minutes to 10 minute. Sometimes I forget I'm making coffee in a CCD and when I finally drain it into a cup, it's gone cold. It's not very tasty and I think I get a bigger caffeine buzz.

-jim

 

[SiBurning]

Caffeine & grind size? And brew time doesn't change things? Very interesting!

No wonder I prefer a very fine grind, though it usually requires a shorter brew time or it becomes mud.

 

[StillShaving]

This is old news now, but I admired that Starbucks (driven by CEO Howard Schultz) instituted a program to help their employees attend college. The Upwardly Mobile Barista, highlights a few individuals who are taking advantage of the new program (it is a long article if you care to read).

The program provides on-line classes offered by Arizona State University. I cannot recall the exact details or find the video I saw before, but since this writeup in the Atlantic.com I believe Mr. Schultz has upped the program to cover 100% of the cost for everyone, not just employees who already had 2 years of advanced education. This was in reaction to finding that the uptake was not as high as was initially expected. A more accepted initiative than his #raceTogether campaign.

 

[Blany]

Great thread!

I thought this was funny;
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...els-his-pregame-coffee-routine-212105544.html