I'm a fan of coffee news. It's interesting, amusing, and somewhat crazy to read what comes across the news wires.
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.
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
Filed under coffee, coffee news, espresso, ice coffee, recipes for coffee drinks by 
Those Down Under are just getting ready for summer, as those of us in the Northern hemisphere are bringing out our woolies. It was 41 degrees here this morning, but this recipe from Gilkathowas too good not to share.
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.
Filed under coffee, espresso, ice coffee by
You know I enjoy finding information and tips about coffee. This news tip was sent to me by JavaBoy. It seems when someone holds a warm drink in their hand (Coffee anyone?) their response to another person is much more likely to be favorable.
This seems to be a follow up to the psychology section at University where baby monkeys received a heated cloth as a mother substitute. The warmth of the cloth translated into emotional warmth or closeness. Didn't seem to matter whether the outside temperature was hot or cold. The feeling of connection still was there.
It seems people connect the physical sensation of warmth to the emotional evaluation of a relationship. This connection of warmth to social relationships was established through several studies conducted in the early 1940's.
The takeaway from this study in Science? If you want someone to consider you in a favorable light, offer them a cup of hot coffee. So if you're having a first date, you may want to go for coffee instead of drinks.
If you want to slow down a relationship or making a quick decision, then have an iced beverage. (Ice coffee, anyone?)
Not the usual grind,
Thanks to JavaBoy for the heads up, the use of the photo from Martin Boulanger and the details of the study from BBC
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