Did you know:

• Coffee was used as a murder weapon in New York. A man poisoned his soon to be ex-wife's coffee with cyanide.
• If you are female and drink 3 or more cups of coffee a day, you could be shrinking your breast size. (I didn't make this one up. It's a real study done in Sweden at Lund University.)  Better news from that study, if you have a certain variation of a gene (50% of women have it) then coffee can reduce the risk of breast cancer by as much as 2/3. Seems coffee counteracts the hormone effects on the breast tissue.
  • Limit the amount of coffee you drink if you're pregnant. If you have two or more cups a day, the odds are higher you'll have a low birthweight baby.
  • Starbuck's is giving away coffee if you vote. Honor system. But the state of California considers it be be a bribe since food can be an influencer of voting. California evidently took a donut shop to task 20 years ago.
  • Jeremy Clarkson in the UK TImes Online is convinced coffee drinking countries are staying on top. He despairs of the UK tea drinkers saying,
    

  " Because when you stop and think about it, how many French or Italian banks have gone bust? And while we  wobble, Spain’s Santander bank is stalking the globe like one of the country’s gigantic trawlers, sucking up the broken minnows.  This is because they are all coffee drinkers. They wake up, have an espresso; then, invigorated, they go to work quite literally full of beans.  We, on the other hand, expect to be able to operate on a stomach full of wet leaves. Tea, in actual fact, caused our banking crisis.

  • McDonalds in the Ozarks (Missouri to the rest of us) is offering free coffee to those making donations to the Ozarks Food Harvest food bank. Bring a non perishable item and you'll receive a small regular or gourmet coffee of your choice.
  • If you happen to be up in Maine, not Down Maine on the coast drop by the University of Maine.  The University of Maine at Orono holds an International Coffee Hour every Friday at 4 p.m. in Memorial Union's North Dining Room. This past week they celebrated Guy Fawkes Day(which is actually November 3rd.) Hosted by the International Students Association, you'll meet some people from different cultures and have some coffee as well.
  • From Gillian Hurst Down Under at the CourierMail.au here's a recipe for espresso granita.

  To make your own all you need is 350ml of strong espresso (not instant coffee), about a tablespoon of sugar and 250ml of whipping cream whipped together with a few teaspoons of vanilla sugar. Simply dissolve the sugar into the coffee and place the sweetened coffee into ice-cube trays and freeze. When frozen place the cubes into a food processor and blend.Return to the freezer until required. Serve with the lightly whipped Chantilly cream.

  That's all the news for today. I'm expecting my Sumatra Gayoland Coffee today. Will let you know how it brews.

  Not the usual grind,

• 

Tip of the mug to Woodsy for the use of the photo

Visiting the Gilkatho site I again remembered the great espresso I had experienced with Jura Capresso machines. The machines are well-designed and touch button easy to operate. Jura offers everything from the Jura Capresso mini s Espresso Machine to the Jura-Capresso IMPRESSA Z6 Coffee/Espresso Machine When you are ready for espresso made to perfection then Jura is the choice for you.

As the weather heats up, this cool and creamy coffee beverage is a great way to chill out! (Down Under they're wanting to chill out, while up here we're looking for ways to warm up!)

- Double espresso (40ml)
- 1 to 1 sugar ratio (bring to a boil and then let cool
- Crushed hazelnuts
- Fresh juice from two passion fruits.
- 50ml cold cream
- crushed ice
- 2 tsp honey

- Champagne glass
- Two shakers

Start by dipping the rum of the glass into the sugar water, and then into the hazelnuts. Mix the double shot, passion fruit juice and crushed ice together in a shaker. Let stand briefly and then pour the contents into the glass. Place honey, cream and crushed ice in a separate shaker. Shake briefly and then pour slowly into the glass.

This is on my list of recipes to try. For now I'll just put a log on the fire and find a special someone to cozy up.

Tip of the mug to Gilkatho for the recipe Cool Passion.

In many of the sites nationwide, the golden arches are serving ice coffee, lattes and cappucinos. 

The market and franchisee reaction is mixed according to Retail Wire and 24/7 blog.

McDonald's has made its reputation on fast, convenient economical choices. I'm not sure how that translates to lattes and cappucinos. 

My thought is McDonald's is hoping people will stop by on their way to work for a latte or cappucino instead of dropping by Starbucks.

Now Consumer Reports did give McDonald's a superior rating on their plain black coffee. But how many people actually go to McDonald's for coffee?

In many locations including Seattle McDonald's has launched their coffee expansion.

I was on holiday last week and had a fantastic time doing very little. I flew and stayed there for an entire week. Did nothing but enjoy myself and stay away from the computer. Since the holiday involved seeing family I did have a couple of trips to McDonald's. Uncles have to do that you know, eh?

The location I visited did not offer the lattes or cappucinos.  Well, while the cousins were climbing around the playgym  I tried the ice coffee. 

Being slightly virtuous I tried the sugar free vanilla ice coffee. It's ok, but nothing to write about. Cold and wet.

Giving up the virtuous part was easy. I decided to try the carmel flavor as the cousins wanted to stay longer and my sister and cousins wanted a break. I only do this once a year so I stayed.

The carmel ice coffee was good. It had the sweetness of the iced espresso with dulce du leche. Definitely a taste I will try again.

As for the playgym, it's a good thing the family gathers only once a year. One cousin lost one shoe, how I'll never know. I swear I saw them place it in the storage box.

So if you're at McDonald's and sitting watching the little ones on the playgym, buy yourself a carmel ice coffee. It's cold, refreshing and definitely not virtuous. Enjoy, it's summer!

Not the usual grind,

Thanks to Deborah Burns realtor from Seattle and her blog for the photo of the billboard advertising McDonald's espresso.

The coffee shop barista, following corporate policy said no. The next thing you knew expletivess were flying and the blogosphere reacted. 

The blogger finally ordered the recommended Americano (4 shots of espresso and light on the water at the suggestion of the barista. The blogger liked it; the barista did his thing following policy.

Blogger finishes by leaving a tip. Dollar bill marked "#$%! you and your coffee policy." Photographed the dollar bill for his blog.

Shop owner gives his response. Hey the   Washington Post. got involved and wrote a section for the Metro section and even the US News and World Report joined in. Had to be a slow news day.  I'm at a loss today, what can I say today so I'll jump on the train as well.

 Bottom line: do businesses have the right/responsibility to maintain product standards?

Or when a do it your way philosophy is the norm does a business let the customer decide?

Is the customer always right?

How do you like your espresso? Me, I'll brew it, add some dulce du leche then ice and enjoy. It' s just too hot to complain. I'd leave and go to a shop which served it my way.

I'm ready to listen. So let me know your thoughts. I've plenty of espresso, dulce du leche and ice.

Not the usual grind,

Tip of the mug to Sara Baraz for the photo and to the Glen the reader who sent me the links.

You learn so much when you write  a coffee blog. Here I had always made ice coffee from hot coffee or espresso. Now I know you can make frappe from instant or soluble coffee.

Well, I learned yesterday you can cold brew coffee to make ice coffee. You don't need as much ice so there's less of a problem with watery ice coffee. Basically you make your own coffee concentrate.

Cold brewed coffee gives a totally different taste to your coffee.  With cold brewing you'll have less acid in the coffee so for those folks with sensitive stomachs, this is a real bonus.

Some say the coffee is sweeter, I just think cold brewed coffee is smoother. Plus it makes fantastic ice coffee.

You need to plan ahead, but oh the coffee taste. You get to adjust the degree of coffee taste by the amount of coffee you add to your mixture.

Here's a recipe to try:

Ingredients Needed:

• Coffee beans
• Covered container or pitcher which holds 1 quart
• Coffee filter

Steps:

1. Coarsely grind coffee beans of your choice. You'll need about 2/3 of cup of ground beans when you are finished.
2. Fill the container or pitcher with  3 cups of cold water.
3. Add the ground coffee  to the container(or pitcher) and stir to mix.
4. Put the container (or pitcher) on the counter or set aside at room temperature for at least 12 hours or overnight.
5. In the morning strain the mixture through coffee filter or fine sieve.

You can keep the concentrate in the refrigerator for up to one week (if it lasts that long).

Mix the coffee concentrate in a 1:1 ratio with cold water. So for one tablespoon of concentrate you would add one tablespoon of water (or to taste).

For those of you who want a sweet ice coffee ready to drink, here's the  Dulce de Leche Ice Coffee recipe:

• Take one  2 qt pitcher.  Add 3 cups of coffee concentrate and 3 cups of cold water.
• Add  3 tbsp of dulce de leche* (if available) and stir.  Or you can use  one can (14 oz) of sweetened condensed milk.
• Refrigerate and enjoy whenever you want a glass of refreshing smooth ice coffee.
• Top with whipped cream if you wish or just drink as is.

 *dulce de leche is a carmel style sauce/topping popular in Latin America. My girlfriend keeps a jar  in the refrigerator to use as an ice cream topping, in recipes or as a coffee sweetener. This is powerfully sweet. A little dulce de leche goes a long way but  eh, you're free to add more. It also dissolves nicely in cold liquids.

Not the usual grind,

 Tip of the mug to S W Yang for the photo of the ice coffee.

I appreciate all of you who let me know the correct name for ice coffee that is shaken not stirred. It's frappé when you use instant or soluble coffee. When you use brewed coffee it's called espresso freddo or cappuccino freddo where cold frothed milk is poured in the glass.

Seems frappé started in Greece (at least according to Wikipedia) Nestle was marketing a new product and an employee on break, Dimitris Vakondios mixed instant coffee with cold water and a shaker. Frappé's taste can be altered by the amount of sugar or other ingredients such as Kaluha or ice cream added to the shaker. The key to this frappé is using spray dried instant coffee.

Again according to Wikipedia, there are fewer oils so the frothy top layer which comes with the shaking stays together. In regular coffee there are too many oils to keep a frothy top layer together (the description in Wikipedia reminds me too much of chemistry section which I have tried to never ever remember).

I headed out to get some instant coffee ( or soluble coffee as it is called in the trade).  I got some Nescafe Classico as I like a stronger, fuller tasting coffee. Hey, I do read labels.

 So I mixed, I shook and I drank. Though the resulting mix was a chemistry lab marvel, it did provide a refreshing cold drink. You will have to make one to understand it. The top layer forms in a few minutes, unlike crema which is made in the pouring.

I called Simon to come over and try the frappé. He added sugar to his mixture. 

More proportions/ recipes from Wikipedia:  Adding sugar, in case you ever go to Greece (or maybe a Greek restaurant) These include: glykós , sweet, 2 teaspoons of coffee and 4 teaspoons of sugar); métrios , medium, 2 teaspoons of coffee and 2 teaspoons of sugar); and a skétos , 2 teaspoons of coffee and no sugar). All varieties may be served with milk (με γ?λα, in which case they may be called φραπ?γαλο frapógalo ([fra?po?alo]), or without.

 It looks like a long hot summer in Texas.  I'm looking forward to coffee that  keeps me cool so keep those comments and contacts coming in.

Not the usual grind,

Tip of the mug to DJWebby2002GR for use of the frappé photo.