ripneff asked:


I’ve seen a few questions on this but they all require you to buy something from starbucks. Is there a way to make a good enough replica without buying anything too expensive? Thanks!

Jorge

michelle faber asked:


Tips for Finding Perfect Premium Coffee…

There is coffee and THERE IS COFFEE! You likely know about the generic quality coffees you find at the supermarket, using the inferior Robusta beans. And, in contrast, there is the alternative: the coffee regularly termed Gourmet Coffee you buy direct from roasters around the country. Popular large volume roasters, like Starbucks as well as most of the the smaller roasters dispersed about town, essentially utilize this far better grade, high altitude, shade grown Arabica bean.

That being said, and broadly known by all nowadays, how can you siphon out the crème de la crème of gourmet coffee beans to purchase?

To begin with, let’s hone in specifically on taste. Nowadays, coffee has become a “drink of experts”…

evolved into an art of reflection! We’ve begun to savor our coffee…flavor identify and define the subtle hints and nuances, as well as the qualities that identify the bean’s continent of origin. You as a coffee drinker, can begin to explore and experience the undertones of your coffee’s region, but better yet, begin to revel in the independently specific flavors of the bean defined by the specific hill and farm where it’s grown.

Coffee Cupping: Defining Coffee by its “Underlying Flavors”

There are, nowadays, a limited number of coffee roasters that independently test their coffee beans for taste observations and aromas. These beans are graded and assessed just like fine wine. This activity is called Coffee Cupping or Coffee Tasting. Professionals known as Master Tasters are the assessors. The procedure involves deeply sniffing a cup of brewed coffee, then loudly slurping the coffee so it draws in air, spreads to the back of the tongue, and maximizes flavor.

These Master Tasters, much akin to wine tasters, then attempt to measure in detail, every aspect of the coffee’s taste. This assessment includes measurement of the body (the texture or mouth-feel, such as oiliness), acidity (a sharp and tangy feeling, like when biting into an orange), and balance (the innuendo and the harmony of flavors working together). Since coffee beans embody telltale flavors from their region or continent of their origin, cuppers may also attempt to predict where the coffee was grown.

There is an infinite range of vocabulary that is used to describe the tastes found in coffee. Descriptors range from the familiar (chocolaty, sweet, fruity, woody) to the conceptual (clean, vibrant, sturdy) to the wildly esoteric (summery, racy, gentlemanly).

Following are a few key characteristics as defined by Coffee Geek. (http://coffeegeek.com/guides/beginnercupping/tastenotes)

Key Characteristics

Acidity:

The brightness or sharpness of coffee: It is through the acidity that many of the most intriguing fruit and floral flavors are delivered, and is usually the most scrutinized characteristic of the coffee. Acidity can be intense or mild, round or edgy, elegant or wild, and everything in between. Usually the acidity is best evaluated once the coffee has cooled slightly to a warm/lukewarm temperature. Tasting a coffee from Sumatra next to one from Kenya is a good way to begin to understand acidity.

Body:

This is sometimes referred to as “mouthfeel”. The body is the sense of weight or heaviness that the coffee exerts in the mouth, and can be very difficult for beginning cuppers to identify. It is useful to think about the viscosity or thickness of the coffee, and concentrate on degree to which the coffee has a physical presence. Cupping a Sulawesi versus a Mexican coffee can illustrate the range of body quite clearly.

Sweetness:

One of the most important elements in coffee, sweetness often separates the great from the good. Even the most intensely acidic coffees are lush and refreshing when there is enough sweetness to provide balance and ease the finish. Think of lemonade…starting with just water and lemon juice, one can add sugar until the level of sweetness achieves harmony with the tart citric flavor. It is the same with coffee, the sweetness is critical to allowing the other tastes to flourish and be appreciated.

Finish:

While first impressions are powerful, it is often the last impression that has the most impact. With coffee the finish (or aftertaste) is of great importance to the overall quality of the tasting experience, as it will linger long after the coffee has been swallowed. Like a great story, a great cup of coffee needs a purposeful resolution. The ideal finish to me is one that is clean (free of distraction), sweet, and refreshing with enough endurance to carry the flavor for 10-15 seconds after swallowing. A champion finish will affirm with great clarity the principal flavor of the coffee, holding it aloft with grace and confidence like a singer carries the final note of a song and then trailing off into a serene silence.

Coffee Buying Caveat

Buying coffee simply by name instead of by taste from your favorite roaster (in other words buying the same Columbian Supreme from the same ”Joe’s Cuppa Joe Roaster”) definitely has its pitfall! According to Coffee Review, “Next year’s Clever-Name-Coffee Company’s house blend may be radically different from this year’s blend, despite bearing the same name and label. The particularly skillful coffee buyer or roaster who helped create the coffee you and I liked so much may have gotten hired elsewhere. Rain may have spoiled the crop of a key coffee in the blend. The exporter or importer of that key coffee may have gone out of business or gotten careless. And even if everyone (plus the weather) did exactly the same thing they (and it) did the year before, the retailer this time around may have spoiled everything by letting the coffee go stale before you got to it. Or you may have messed things up this year by keeping the coffee around too long, brewing it carelessly, or allowing a friend to pour hazelnut syrup into it.”

Your savvy coffee-buying alternative is to look for roasters who buy their beans in Micro-Lots- smaller (sometimes tiny) lots of subtly distinctive specialty coffees. According to Coffee Review, “These coffee buyers buy small quantities of coffee from a single crop and single place, often a single hillside, and are sold not on the basis of consistency or brand, but as an opportunity to experience the flavor associated with a unique moment in time and space and the dedication of a single farmer or group of farmers.”

Coffee Review: Coffee Ratings

And finally, look out for the very small community coffee roasters that will submit their coffees to be 3rd-party evaluated by Coffee Review and other competitions for independent analysis and rating. Coffee Review regularly conducts blind, expert cuppings of coffees and then reports the findings in the form of 100-point reviews to coffee buyers. These valuable Overall Ratings can provide you with a summary assessment of the reviewed coffees. They are based on a scale of 50 to 100.

http://www.coffeereview.com/about_us.cfm

Bottom line for a certain premium purchase: To find the coffee that will ascertain most flavor satisfaction, seek out beans that been independently reviewed and rated. This approach will, without a doubt offer you the advantage of being able to choose the flavor profile suits you best in a bean. What’s more, it gains you certainty in quality due to its superior rating. The higher the rating, the better the flavor. True premium coffees start from the upper 80’s. By finding a roaster that consistently rates within the 90’s will ultimately buy you the best java for your buck!



Susan

boake moore asked:


The coffee, espresso, and tea that Europeans sip in their cafés hasn’t changed much

over the years. But stop at a coffee house in the U.S. (there are probably two on the

next block), and that 10-calorie beverage has likely morphed into a 500-calorie

milk shake. Here’s how to keep your coffee break from turning into a Big Mac break.

Like their fast-food cousins, Starbucks and

other coffee sellers put nutrition numbers

on their Web sites, but not their menu

boards. If Starbucks did, here’s what you’d

see.

?

Latte.

A grande (16 oz.) nonfat Caffè

Latte (two shots of espresso with steamed

milk) is a bargain when it comes to calories

(160), saturated fat (0 grams), and

calcium (some 450 milligrams). But

you’ll add:

•

70 calories for flfl avored syrups (unless

you get no-cal, sugar-free Hazelnut or

Vanilla),

•

100 calories for whole milk instead of

nonfat, or

•

50 calories for soy milk.

If you’re not careful, your bargain can

balloon to a whole-milk Vanilla Latte

with 320 calories and 7 grams (a third of

a day’s worth) of sat fat. Oops.

Bonus: get any grande nonfat latte iced

and you’ll save about 50 calories.

?

Cappuccino.

The mix of steamed

and foamed whole milk that’s added to

the espresso supplies a grande with just

150 calories, but who needs 5 grams of

saturated fat in their coffee? Stick with

nonfat milk and you’ve got a 100-calorie

Best Bite with around 250 mg of calcium—

20 percent of a day’s worth.

?

Mocha.

A grande White Chocolate



Bradley

Phoenix / Deity asked:


I am possitive they do not make a fresh pot of Decaf every hour like they say. At best they may make it twice a day. The coffee tastes burned because it’s probably been heating up for 7 hrs. or more. When I complain and they make a fresh pot it tastes so much better. This has happened at 5 different Starbucks so far. I wouldn’t go at all except some of my friends drink reg. coffee and like the place.

Mark

. asked:


In the basement theres water all over the one spot near the pipes. like a pond and in the shower down there coffee filters, cigarette ***** and coffee, maybe even some stuff from the toilet is coming up through the shower drain into the shower.. it stinks too.. what happened?

Richard

Paul Ashby asked:


Some people claim it is a triumph of the Starbucks economy over the Ford economy.

Starbucks is governed by the idea that people make choices – in their coffee, their milk, and their sweetener.

But could this be simply more marketing mythology? In actual fact Ford offered more choices than Starbucks ever did. In the mid 1950s the options available to the purchaser of a Chevy Bel Air four door sedan were infinite.

As for Starbucks, well Starbucks is a predatory franchiser and its arrival in any town usually means the extinction of existing small cafes – and Starbucks then asks people to fork over $2 or more for a cup of coffee!

If you think that Marketing and Advertising exist in a world governed by logic and reason, you clearly don’t know just how irrational, off the mark and wasteful marketing, and especially advertising, has become!

So what we must do, more than ever, is to deflate the sweeping generalisations of the advertising and marketing world. We must definitely steer clear of their overarching theories on communication – mass communication that is.

And no wonder, Advertising people love to blame anybody but themselves when campaigns don’t perform – it’s easier than admitting they haven’t got a clue!

Tragically for us all, Advertising/Marketing people will persist in asserting their own superiority, instead of have the humility to learn from what is good in other ideas, as well as to recognise their own past mistakes.

Advertising people love ramming their own failed ideas down the throats of others, which is, in fact, rarely a productive habit!

Advertising’s assertion of superiority has led to the current situation of: Clutter, ineffectiveness and lack of accountability, as well as customer mistrust!

This assertion of superiority has resulted in frequent “put-downs” more than ever before!

The recent carpeting of Rimmel by the Advertising Standards Authority is an interesting one and confirms the above.

One reporter said, “I don’t believe that anyone imagined for a second that’s how their eyes would look if they spent £6.99 on this mascara.”

“Anyway we all know how advertising works: They present some impossibly beautiful model in lacy lingerie…and expect us to believe that we can look like that”.

Far worse and annoying are the TV advertisements. I’d never presume to tell the ASA its job, but maybe it could investigate some current ads for crimes against humanity.

1. A girl’s boyfriend thinks her colourfully wrapped tampons are sweets. What advertising fathead saw this as a USP?

2. Cillit Bang. If it can do that to a 1p piece what might it do to your sink unit?

3. A smug woman fakes traffic noises down the phone to her boyfriend. She’s late because her clothes smell of nice Lenor and she cannot stop sniffing them.

4. A policewoman with indigestion starts dancing to Flashdance while directing traffic – courtesy of Gaviscon-what utter nonsense!

5. A grimacing, constipated woman takes a tablet and is soon happily kicking a football in the park.

We also live in a world where advertising and marketing constantly come up against an inconvenient truth, that is that there is still to day no firm evidence that advertising works at all, especially television advertising.

It is this self-proclaimed consensus amongst advertising agencies and the media that it does work that has detached itself from the questioning rigours of hard research.

Those of us who dare question the dogma “advertising works” are vilified as heretics or worse as deniers.

There is a need for heretics because throughout history heretics have stood up against dogma based on the bigotry of vested interests.

The truth is that there are no facts that link television advertising to sales, even after all these years!

Instead of hard facts, the advocates of advertising resort to talk about the new technology and the future, all based upon false assumptions and unreliable measuring schemes. And of course the main causes of all these problems are the vested interests of television and advertising agencies!

One of the problems, and it is major one, is the fact that there is no need for such bodies as the ASA, customers are well aware that they are being sold to. All the ASA does is give an even greater misperception that advertising is all-powerful, when, in fact it isn’t at all.

These militate against all our interests – and something must be done about it – immediately!



Dora

Dharmendra Chaudhary asked:


Sony has created so many models under their kitty that sometimes even people loyal to Sony brand gets dejected to know which model would be better for their next change. For instance Sony Ericsson W890i Mocha has just been available and when you have thought of getting the phone you have another phone called Sony Ericsson G700. Now you are in dilemma which would be the right choice. Should you wait till G700 comes in the market or should go for W890i mocha.

Let me help you by clarifying the features of both these phones. Sony Ericsson W890i Mocha has a 2 inches TFT color screen that supports 256 K colors and the resolution of the screen is 240X320 pixels. There is a card slot to fix Memory Stick Micro (M2) upto a desirable level for memory extension. The internal memory of the phone is 32 MB which is also good for data storage and collection.The phone enables you to access the web and download and upload data very fast for the 3G facilities. Transfer of files, music, and other data from one device to another is quite fun with a Bluetooth V2.0 with A2DP. You have also USB port for the same function.

Sony Ericsson G700 is a 3G smart phone which runs well in three GSM networks- 900 / 1800 / 1900, and is facilitated by UMTS 2100. G700 is a touchscreen phone and the screen is 2.4 inches in length. In multimedia Sony Ericsson G700 you will find a 3.15 MP camera with auto focus and flash. The 2048×1536 pixels camera has image stabilizer and can shoot quality videos. There is a secondary video call camera in this phone. The media player can play MP3/AAC/MPEG4 files and FM radio with RDS. The sophisticated features of the phone Sony Ericsson G700 are Handwriting recognition technology,  StickyNotes, picture editor/blogging, TrackID music recognition, Document reader as well as editor, built in handsfree with a battery talktime of 12 hours. Its been seen that the new launch Sony Ericsson G700 has better features than Sony Ericsson W890i mocha. So it will be better if you can wait till the phone arrives the market.



Esther

Dr Robin Rushlo asked:


Copyright (c) 2008 Soaring Eagle Companies LLC

If you love the richness of fine coffee and everything about it including the taste and aroma, you know that savoring the finer moments in life over a cup of good coffee is one of life’s simple indulgences.

Private estates coffee from Africa is the perfect way to relax and bring out a soothing atmosphere at the same time. Here are a few places where you might want to share your love for coffee with others.

After dinner-coffee is great when brewed after dinner for a way to relax and reflect on the day. Why not sit down and unwind with African decaf: A full bodied decaffeinated coffee made form handpicked African beans. This taste will be one you will treasure in a ritualistic manner every night after your favorite meal.

Brunch- Whether it be a light breakfast or an early lunch or something in between, enjoy your favorite Boresha coffee with your favorite brunch item. The Ethiopian Sidamo is the perfect companion to any brunch item, but makes a soulful treat all by itself. The Sidamo coffee is a treasure ripe for the picking. With a scent of lemony jasmine with a hint of mild floral undertones, you will indulge your senses in this lovely coffee. The taste is reminiscent of dried peaches and a deep spiced wine, perfect with a croissant or light sandwich.

Breakfast with family and friends- Create a morning tradition by introducing your family to the luscious aroma and taste of Boresha coffee. The Urganda Burgiso is a fabulous choice from the Boresha Private Estates. With exquisite fruity tones and an earthy but sweet blackberry undertone, the Urganda will serve as the perfect accompaniment to eggs benedict or a stack of potato pancakes. This sweet, yet strong coffee will give off a pungent earthy undertone to any breakfast feast.

Hosting the executives from work- When it comes to entertaining co-workers or other VIP’s that only want to talk business, why not treat them to the very best. The Tanzanian Kilimanjaro is classified as private stock. Born and bred in the rich African volcanic soil, this rich and luscious coffee has tones of black currant and caramel, instilling a taste sensation of tart and sweet, with a light wine aroma.

With coffee from the private estates of Africa you can enjoy a savory and soulful moment no matter what the occasion may be. Enjoy private estates coffee today.



Steve

Gaurav Walia asked:


Who would have thought that a berry that was discovered by a herd of goats would be the single most important ingredient in the world’s most popular drink? Legend has it that back in 850AD, a goat herder noticed his herd was full of energy and eating berries he had never noticed. Since the goats seemed to have such a reaction, the herder decided to give it a try! The berries also gave him a burst of energy and he began to feel very happy. Thus, the beginning of the journey for what is now known as coffee!

Actually, the story of the goat herder isn’t the only legend surrounding this discovery. It is also said that an Arabian man was banished to the deserts with his followers to die of starvation. His men became very desperate for nourishment and before long, they were boiling and eating the product of an unknown tree. The broth that was produced by this unknown substance saved the lives of the men! In the nearest town, Mocha, many took their survival to be a religious sign. Because of the discovery, the drink was then named Mocha.

No matter which story you gravitate to, the bottom line is the same: the berries (actually, the seed of the berry) gave energy and zest to all that would consume it! From its earliest beginnings, coffee was thought of as a delicacy and any recipes floating around were considered to be a closely guarded secret!

As time passed, the very first coffee trees were harvested around 1100, in the Arabian Peninsula. The coffee drink became a staple of many early civilizations. In the year 1453, There was a law in Turkey that said that a woman could divorce her husband if he didn’t supply her with a daily supply of coffee!

The very first known coffee shop was established in Constantinople around the year of 1475 and since that initial introduction to the general public, coffee has pretty much taken over the world! Between 1600-1700, there were many advancements, including the world’s first coffee house and the beginnings of commercial production (made by the Dutch). By the middle 1700’s, there were about 2000 coffee shops in Venice, alone!

The first prototype of an espresso machine (made in Italy) was unveiled in the early 1800’s. In the early 1900’s, the first drip coffee machine was invented, making the coffee making process a little less daunting! The automatic espresso maker began its journey in the 1930’s.

By the late 1900’s, coffee became the most popular beverage in the world! The coffee is harvested in many countries, including: Africa, Ethiopia, Brazil, North America, Italy and even Turkey. This kind of crop can also be easily grown and exported by many third world countries, as well. Made to tempt even the pickiest palate, coffee has evolved to include hundreds of flavors and varying grades and prices.



Sara

Dharmendra Chaudhary asked:


The Sony Ericsson W890i comes in various vibrant colors of which mocha is most appealing. The phone is a perfect choice if you are thinking for a mid range phone. This is a better phone than other 3G phone which fall within the same range. You have various features in this phone which are much better than other 3G phones. Let us access the features of Sony Ericsson W890i mocha and then we will try to compare it with some other models from different brands.

Sony Ericsson W890i mocha is a quad band phone which can be carried to almost all places of the world while you travel. The phone supports GSM network of 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 and a 3G HSPDA 2100 network. The 2 inches screen is quite good to watch videos or applications of menus. The TFT screen has resolution of 240 x 320 pixels. The phonebook can store 1000 entries in the phone and also have space for photos for photocall.

The internal memory of Sony Ericsson W890i mocha is wonderful and there is additional card slot to increase your memory. The 3G network support enables the user to upload and download images, music and other data quickly. There is GPRS of Class 10 (4+1/3+2 slots) with a speed of 32 - 48 kbps, HSCSD, EDGE technologies of class 10, 236.8 kbps. The phone has a 3G HSDPA speed of 3.6 Mbps.

Sony Ericsson W890i mocha has Bluetooth and USB port for data transfer, connection to other devices and printers. The phone has  features like SMS, MMS, EMS, Email and Instant Messaging. There is a WAP 2.0/xHTML browser and HTML (NetFront 3.4) with RSS reader. The best part of Sony Ericsson W890i mocha is its 3.15 MP camera which enables the user to become a photographer with such wonderful features like flash, auto focus, video recording QVGA and recording at the speed of 30fps. There is also a secondary videocall camera in this phone.

Now if we compare this mocha W890i with another model like LG KS20 we find that the Sony phone much better than others. LG KS20 is also a lightweight phone and the screen is quite big. Its 2.8 inches. The phone has 400 MHz Qualcomm processor, card slot, GPRS, EDGE, HSCSD, HSDPA, Wi Fi, Bluetooth and its OS is a Microsoft Windows Mobile 6.0 Professional. Overall this is a marvelous phone. But Sony  Ericsson W890i mocha has some extra features which are enough to beat this LG phone and alike.



Irene