Be Your Own Barista, With a Programmable Helper

By BONNIE ROTHMAN MORRIS
New York Times

You have $1,000 to burn. You could head to Paris for a long weekend, perhaps, or get a new laptop.

Or you could buy a coffee maker.

Yes, it is possible to spend that - or much more - on a superautomatic espresso-cappuccino machine. And if you bought one, you would not be alone.

"The supers is the fastest growing aspect of our market because it really fits the American consumer the best," said Gary Salzman, president of Whole Latte Love (wholelattelove.com), an online seller of espresso makers and related products.

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Better beans make better coffee, industry hears

HA NOI — Viet Nam’s coffee producers should grow better beans and carve out a niche in the international market to prosper, a Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development official said.

"Low value robusta strains, which produce less than 2 tonnes per hectare, should be replaced with high-yield varieties selected by the Tay Nguyen Coffee Institute," the official said at a national coffee conference in Ha Noi last Friday.

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Speakers say fair-trade coffee has a better flavor

By Bennett Grossman
Staff Writer-The Oracle

Fair trade is empowering organic coffee farmers all over the world and helping them attain job security, according to Kimberly Easson, director of strategic relationships at TransFair USA.

"You see farmers coming together, and by having access to fair trade, they are actually building strength with each other and they are able to not necessarily feel like victims of circumstance but feel like they are entrepreneurs," she said.

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Dunkin' Donuts Vs. Starbucks

Lisa DiCarlo
Forbes

Remember when coffee was simple? As recently as 15 years ago there were only a handful of options for the world's most popular beverage. Today there are many dozens of ways to drink your cup of Joe, and the stakes in this multibillion dollar business have skyrocketed.

The two biggest players are Starbucks (nasdaq: SBUX - news - people ) and Dunkin' Donuts, owned by U.K.-based Allied Domecq PLC (nyse: AED - news - people ). Between them, they have more than 13,000 locations worldwide.

Dunkin' Donuts was founded 21 years before Starbucks and remained largely unchanged--save for adding foods like bagels and egg sandwiches--until Starbucks' torrid growth forced Dunkin' Donuts to introduce products at a faster pace.

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Woman takes coffee on the road

By Anne Bennett-Ciaglia Special to The Jupiter (FL) Courier

If you feel like you're on an assembly line while ordering your morning, afternoon or evening coffee, Coffee Expresso may make reciting your preference a little easier.

Before Mickie Donan founded her mobile specialty coffee business, her background in the coffee service industry taught her to read the intimidation on customer faces while watching them try to order.

After attending a coffee trade show and an introduction to the idea by the designer of her espresso-making van, she decided she could provide coffee drinkers a more customer-friendly environment. "Just tell me what you want in any order you like, and I'll make it for you," said Donan.

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Seeing, sipping and savoring Kona coffee

By Terry Richard
Newhouse News Service

Coffee isn't just for sipping on Hawaii's Kona coast.
Home to 700 coffee plantations, most of them family farms, the lava-strewn slopes of the Big Island's southwest shoulder produce prized coffee beans.

While a piping-hot brew is the usual way to enjoy Kona coffee, the coffee bean is also blended into coffee jelly, ice cream, tanning butter and liqueur. Coffee is added to skin-care products for exfoliation and aromatherapy spa treatments. Coffee-scented candles are popular, as are clocks and other desk accessories made from wood of the coffee tree.

The importance of coffee to the Big Island is celebrated each fall during the annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, with parades, coffee tasting, a picking contest and an art festival.

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