Caffeine Withdrawal: What to do when you fast.

If you are reading this, you are most likely a coffee addict, which means that when you abstain from coffee, you get a whopper of a headache from caffeine withdrawal. There are several reasons to avoid coffee and caffeine, but the most common are surgery and Yom Kippur. Hopefully, you won't have to contend with surgery too many times in your life, but if you are Jewish, "the holidays" come around every fall, ready or not. Yom Kippur is a complete fast day; no water, no food, and no coffee, from sundown Sunday to sundown Monday (more or less).

The best way to avoid caffeine withdrawal headaches is to gradually reduce your caffeine intake to zero before the fast. You will still get the headaches as you taper off, but you can take aspirin or ibuprofen and you won't have the discomfort caused by not eating or drinking. Read the label on your pain reliever because many contain caffeine.

Yom Kippur is on Monday, October 6 this year, so start reducing ahead so that the withdrawal is gradual and relatively painless.

I usually drink about 4 cups coffee per day, so I will start the Thursday before Yom Kippur getting ready. I will drink 3 cups Thursday, 2 cups Friday, 1 cup Saturday, and no coffee Sunday. Yom Kippur begins Sunday evening. I will get headaches during that time, but at least I can still eat and drink and take ibuprofen. By Sunday, I will have almost no headache. Be careful not to ingest caffeine from any other source, such as soft drinks, candy, or pain pills while you're withdrawing. Read the label to be sure.

I have been doing this routine for many years and I urge you to try it. Please let me know how it works.

L'Shana Tovah,
Robert

COFFEE FEST LAS VEGAS TO PARTNER WITH THE GREAT AMERICAN DESSERT EXPO

Coffee Fest, the specialty coffee and gourmet tea trade show where coffee business happens, has announced that it will co-locate with the Great American Dessert Expo at the Sands Expo Center June 12-14, 2004 in Las Vegas. The nation’s multi-billion dollar Coffee, Tea and Dessert industries will be united under the same roof with the exhibition showcasing over 300 exhibit booths and educational programming covering all things coffee, tea and desserts. The educational programming will focus on issues as they relate to retail in coffee shops, restaurants, gourmet food stores, hotels etc.

Coffee Fest, now in its 13th year, is produced by Lifestyle Events Inc. of Bellevue, WA. and was created as both an educational and marketing vehicle to assist the growth of the specialty coffee, tea and alternative beverage industry. The show is designed specially for coffeehouse, specialty retailers, restaurant owners and entrepreneurs. AS such the addition of the Great American Dessert Expo is a natural extension.

In addition to Las Vegas. Coffee Fest also takes place annually in Seattle and Washington, D.C. Lifestyle Events Inc. is headed by New York native Alan Silverman, a former restauranteur, whose Festivals Inc. (parent company of Coffee Fest) has created, produced and managed many large food events since it’s inception in 1982.

The Dessert Expo was launched in June 2003 by New York-based IMC Events and Exhibitions as part of a week-long event held in conjunction with the National Pastry Competition. IMC has an impressive track record in tradeshow marketing and management. It has single-handedly developed Kosherfest, an annual trade show for the kosher food industry, which is one of the fastest growing food trade shows in America. In addition, IMC has been involved in such shows as the Restaurant and Food Service Show, the NASFT Fancy Food Shows, Luggage & Leather Goods, Shoes, and Gold Commodities. IMC is headed by Menachem Lubinsky, who is a respected marketing expert with broad experience in the marketing of many goods, services, institutions and prominent figures.

“We are very excited about this co-location, which offers the industry the best in coffee and desserts under one roof,” said Mr. Silverman. “We are particularly delighted to be working with an organziation that has such an extraordinary reputation for producing quality food events.”

“It is only natural that pastries, ice cream, chocolate and dessert wines should be in the same venue with the best in coffee and teas,” said Mr. Lubinsky. “Co-locating with Coffee Fest will present the trade with an unprecedented opportunity to focus attention on one of the fastest growing segments of the food industry.”

In a first for both, Amazon now is serving Starbucks online

By CHRISTINE FREY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Amazon.com quietly began selling Starbucks coffee online last month, marking the first time that the two well-known Seattle companies have done business together.

The addition of the products -- whole beans, ground coffee and tea -- comes as Amazon tries to expand its selection of food on the site, said Glenn Cunningham, director of home and garden.

He declined to comment on the possibility of Amazon's starting an online gourmet food store. But several local food companies said earlier this year that they had signed agreements with Amazon to sell their goods in such a store.

Starbucks decided to offer its products though Amazon after it stopped selling its coffees on its own Web site, spokeswoman Audrey Lincoff said.

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COFFEE FEST NEW LOCATIONS AND DATES

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

Coffee Fest Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
March 19-21, 2004

Coffee Fest Las Vegas
The Venetian Hotel/Sands Expo Center
Las Vegas, NV
June 12-14, 2004

“Specialty Coffee Business Seminar”
Washington State Convention & Trade Center
Seattle, WA
October 24-26, 2003

Washington, D.C. Convention Center
Washington, D.C.
March 19-21, 2004

The Venetian Hotel/Sands Expo Center
Las Vegas, NV
June 12-14, 2004

Coffee Fest Trade Shows have been produced 35 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 50 students and is presented at each Coffee Fest.

www.coffeefest.com

Sign on Atlantic Books Store

CHEAP BOOKS
NO COFFEE

RABBI PLISKIN'S DAILY LIFT

Daily Lift #361 Do Your Best

Our goal should be to keep improving ourselves, rather than "being the best."

Someone who feels the need to be "the best" should ask himself, "Why do I really have to be better than others? What is so awful if someone else is better than me in any given area?"

People who feel the need to be "the best" often suffer much anxiety. They frequently tell themselves, "If I am not the best, then I am a failure. I am nothing."

There is no basis for this. In ultimate terms, no human can really say who is best. Comparing yourself to anyone else is arbitrary -- so why cause yourself misery by doing so?

(Gateway to Happiness, p.130)
Aish.com

On the scent of good coffee

ROME, Italy (Reuters) -- Angela Holder is passionate about her freshly ground morning cup of coffee which she has before leaving for work, where she will have a dozen more cups made from beans grown in exotic locations around the world.

Despite the high levels of caffeine that would challenge the most hardcore of coffee junkies, Holder sleeps like a baby at night because she does not swallow her coffee at work.

In scenes redolent of a wine-tasting session, she slurps it, swishes it around her mouth and noisily spits it out.

She 'cups' coffee.

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The Espresso is Coming - Dunkin' Donuts Sails into Boston Harbor

The Espresso is Coming - Dunkin' Donuts Sails into Boston Harbor and Declares An Espresso Revolution with New England Launch of Lattes and Cappuccinos
Tuesday September 30, 10:30 am ET
Real and Authentic Espresso-Based Beverages Next Generation of Dunkin' Donuts Great Coffee


BOSTON, Sept. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, an espresso revolution begins in Boston as Dunkin' Donuts fires New England's second 'shot heard round the world' -- in the form of an espresso shot -- launching the brand's new line of real and authentic lattes and cappuccinos. Just as the original 'shot heard round the world' sparked the American Revolution and freed Americans from the tyranny of taxation without representation, this shot will ignite an espresso revolution representing another form of freedom -- freedom from espresso oppression and the tyranny of long waits, high prices and confusing sizes.

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It's coffee without chemicals or caffeine

Local maker markets unique process

Michael McCullough
Vancouver Sun

Swiss Water's Frank Dennis is hoping an aggressive advertising campaign will prompt consumers to pressure major U.S. coffee roasters like Starbucks to start carrying his company's products.

Frank Dennis dips a silver spoon into a glass cup of Guatemalan coffee, takes a loud slurp, pauses and spits into a copper funnel.

Then he repeats the process with a second cup that looks, smells and -- to this layman, at least -- tastes identical to the first.

Dennis, however, knots his brow.

"A bit sour," he says, referring to the second cup. Both come from the same batch of beans, but only the second one has been decaffeinated at this north Burnaby plant.

For 15 years, coffee has been decaffeinated here by a unique, patented and chemical-free process. Now, in advance of a million-dollar marketing push, Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Co. Inc. is coming out of the kitchen cabinet and into the cup you carry with you to work.

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Local Coffee Chain Hubbard & Cravens Withstands Starbucks

In spite of the invasion into the local market four years ago by Starbucks coffee, local chains like Hubbard & Cravens and single independent coffee shops are flourishing here in Indianapolis.

According to unofficial estimates, the number of specialty coffee shops other than Starbucks has doubled since 1998, a period in which the national chain has opened 30 stores in the market. The trend is continuing.

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Peet's opens first coffee shop in Austin

Specialty coffee retailer Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc. has opened its first Austin coffee shop, near the University of Texas at Guadalupe and 23rd streets, Peet's announced Thursday.

In the store's retail section, the employees, called "Peetniks," hand-scoop and individually bag coffee beans to each customer's request.

Peet's stores also offer a bar where "Peetniks" brew Peet's beans and specialty teas for customers. The Austin location is the company's 72nd retail store.

To celebrate its arrival to Austin, Peet's will be hosting a free coffee expo Saturday and Sunday featuring tastings of a variety of coffees and teas.

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Is France Ready For Starbucks?

(AP) Could French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre have found inspiration sipping from a paper cup of steaming Starbucks java?

After much thought, the U.S. coffee empire said Thursday it will open its first store in France, a country where family-run cafes are the standard hang out for everyone from truck drivers to philosophers.

"It is with the utmost respect and admiration for the cafe society in France that we announce our entry into the market," Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz said in a statement.

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Cafe Culture Spawns Coffee-Savvy Society

By Andrew Hurst
Reuters

The decor is a touch Spanish, the atmosphere vaguely Parisian and the whiff of well-roasted coffee conjures up visions of Italy.

But the people sipping cappuccino at the Shokoladnitsa coffee bar are distinctly Russian.

A thriving cafe society is spawning scores of new home-grown chains in Moscow serving everything from high-quality espresso to fruit-flavored coffee inspired by exotic offerings from America's West Coast.

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