A quote from Scott's collection

"Good coffee should be black like the devil, hot like hell, and sweet like a kiss."
Hungarian saying

Chinese coffee shops get high marks

On my recent trip to China I visited several places offering coffee on their
outside signs. I found the coffee to be fresh, well prepared, and excellent
service. They all treated coffee as a specialty drink, with prices to compare
to US prices.

O'Farrell Cafe and Mingtien Coffeelanguage were across the street from my hotel
in Xi'an, China. Both served excellent coffee and I have a shot of one of the
coffee menus. The prices are for Small and Large and are in Chinese Currency
(Yuan). To convert to US dollars, multiply by .12---you will see that the are
close to US prices.

Both places brewed per single serving in a vac pot. The barrista ground the
beans and made the coffee in front of the patron on the bar. The espresso was
also good and notice the Americano offered on the menu. She ground the coffee,
pulled a double shot and added a little hot water, just as you would expect.
It was delicious.

I found identical setups at other coffee shops in China. They were all restaurants
and liquor bars, with the coffee bar placed prominently at the liquor bar. The
vac pot pictured uses a gas jet to heat the water and brews one serving at a
time. Most shops also had a larger vac pot for groups.

Robert

Las Vegas COFFEE FEST

Trade show features what's new in the world of java

By JOHN PRZYBYS
REVIEW-JOURNAL

The earthy, delicious scent wafts into the nostrils the moment a visitor walks into the Riviera's convention hall.

Coffee. Hot, freshly brewed, flavorful, stimulating, caffeinated bliss.

But a few other aromas also could be detected in the main exhibition hall of the Coffee Fest trade show, which recently made its third annual visit to Las Vegas.

Chocolates. Teas. Oranges and other fresh fruits. The doughy aroma of pastries, and even the more industrial-accented aromas of plastic, metal and paper products.

All are part of the world of coffee circa 2003, and all were well-represented at this year's Coffee Fest.

Show manager David Heilbrunn said the event is directed primarily toward coffee retailers. And, he said, the coffee business is -- pardon the pun -- perking.

More...

Drive-through coffee shops struggle to gain acceptance from municipalities

By Aeron Marcott-Plooy
Marshfield News-Herald

Finding a home for small express coffee shops is proving difficult for central Wisconsin entrepreneurs.

County Fair Coffee and Expresso, a drive-though coffee shop owned by Gary Hoekstra, opened in January in the parking lot of County Market in Abbotsford, but not without a prolonged battle.

Hoekstra had to deal with city, county and state health officials who didn't understand his business, he said.

"They just refused to let me open the shop," he said. "I had to go and get state approval before the city would even consider it. There are some outfits out there that look like they are selling coffee from a refurbished ice shack and giving us a bad name."
His mother discovered the concept while in California a couple years ago and brought the idea back to Hoekstra. With that, he was determined to open his own shop.

More...

Coffee pickers go hungry as prices plunge

By Greg Brosnan

COMITANCILLO, Guatemala (AlertNet) - A grandson with a swollen belly clutched at Maria Agustin's tattered skirt as she surveyed a dwindling corn supply and wondered when her son and daughter would return to their dirt-poor mountain hut with badly needed cash.

The future of this Mayan family, and of many others in the highlands of north-western Guatemala, looks bleak as its younger members drift back empty-handed from the annual coffee-picking exodus to the steamy south coast where they found plantations either closed or offering miserable wages because of low prices.

More...

Coffee Fest Trade Show Calendar Update

Coffee Fest Atlantic City
New Atlantic City Convention Center
Atlantic City, NJ
June 6-8, 2003

Coffee Fest Seattle
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
Seattle, WA
October 24-26, 2003

Coffee Fest Las Vegas
The Venetian Hotel/Sands Convention Center
Las Vegas, NV
February 28-March 1, 2004

“Specialty Coffee Business Seminar”
New Atlantic City Convention Center
Atlantic City, NJ
June 6-8, 2003

Washington State Convention & Trade Center
Seattle, WA
October 24-26, 2003

The Venetian Hotel/Sands Convention Center
Las Vegas, NV
February 28-March 1, 2004

Coffee Fest Trade Shows have been produced 33 times in 14 states. Each Coffee Fest features a complete exhibition and extensive educational opportunities. Coffee Fest’s industry leading “Specialty Coffee Business Seminar” is limited to 48 students and is presented at each Coffee Fest.

www.coffeefest.com

Baristas strive to make the perfect espresso shot

Java jive: How to talk like a barista

Advertiser Staff and News Services

As a barista, Quenelle Nilo of Mocha Java in Ward Centre knows the intricacies of espresso, including frothed milk.
Photos by Gregory Yamamoto The Honolulu Advertiser

Creating the "God Shot" — the so-called Holy Grail of espresso pulls whispered about in certain obsessive coffee circles — can be a true barometer of a barista's abilities.
The dark, thick, aromatic shot of pure coffee essence topped with a moussey head of crema — espresso's khaki-colored layer of emulsified oils — is said to taste and smell so heavenly it's as if the Almighty had pulled it himself.

More...

Local (Vancouver) coffee artists tops

Greg Middleton
The Province

Forget the Olympics.

A couple of Vancouver guys have brought home the gold in the competition that really counts -- making a great cup of coffee.

For the second year in a row, Cafe Artigiano wowed the coffee-culture crowd to win top honours last week at the cafe latte Olympics at Coffee Fest -- the industry's annual convention.

More...

Coffee Bean drinks are halal

By CT Hj Mahmod
Alleged rumours claiming that "all Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf drinks contain E471 - mono diglycerides which is from pigs origin", are spreading across the state, through forwarded SMS text as well as via the Internet, since last Monday.
This slandering remarks has caused great concern not only to the "Muslim customers of the popular café, who are having second thoughts of going there, but also to the management of the Coffebean & Tea Leaf, as this is not good for business," explained Awg Rano Iskandar, Director of Coffeebean & Tea Leaf.

More...

U.S. coffee drinking patterns changing, survey says

BOCA RATON, Florida (Reuters) - The coffee industry's message is finally getting through to the U.S. consumer in the form of increased consumption, the coffee trade learned at their annual convention held in Boca Raton, Florida on Saturday.

"Nearly eight out every 10, 79 percent, of Americans age 18 and above now drink coffee daily or occasionally, compared to 77 percent last year," reported Mark DiDomenico, manager of market research for Sara Lee Coffee & Tea Foodservice, based in Bensenville, Illinois.

"This is an increase of 5.4 million, to 166.6 million people," DiDomenico added as he presented the topline data from the National Coffee Association's (NCA) 2003 drinking trends survey.

More...

A Pound Of Coffee?

NEW YORK, March 9, 2003
(CBS) A weekly commentary by CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There are certain things in life we ought to be able to depend on.

We have to trust each other sometimes. If you get a roll of 50 pennies at the bank, you don't count them. You trust that there's 50 cents in there. When you buy a container of milk, you trust there's a quart in it.

It's time for another chapter in our continuing series on how some businesses violate this trust by charging more and giving less for what they pretend is the same.

Our first report was on coffee in 1988. Chock Full O' Nuts had not only reduced the amount of coffee in the can, as I told viewers then, but they'd also reduced the size of the print telling you how much is inside.

Back then, the net weight on a one-pound can dropped to 13 ounces. Today, the same can of Chock Full O' Nuts isn't even as chock full as it was then – now it's just 11 ounces.

More...

Study claims coffee combats diabetes

Greater consumption of coffee tends to lower the blood sugar count, reducing the risk of contracting adult onset diabetes, according to scientists from the Tokyo University Hospital and Asahi Life Insurance Co.

Substances in coffee appear to counter the onset of the debilitating disease and scientists hope whatever it is can be pinpointed to be used in the prevention and possible cure of diabetes.

More...