Reagan on coffee

"I never drink coffee at lunch. I find that it keeps me awake in the afternoon."

- Ronald Reagan

Black & Decker Infuze Vacpot First Impressions

(Robert's note: This review first appeared in alt.coffee Newsgroup and is published here with kind permission of the author. Also, the Infuze has been seen at discount close-out stores at $29.95.)

Well, my family's been after me for a while to come up with a way of
making coffee for a crowd that's easy and relatively foolproof. A
couple of months ago, someone posted a link to the TechnoScout web page
listing the Black & Decker Infuze vacuum pot, so I ordered one. First
impressions:

* Packaging: a mixed bag. It's well done, with attractive pictures, and
it does a good job of protecting the unit during shipping. What it's
not so good at is allowing you to re-pack the unit for storage: there's
a bit of the ten pounds of stuff in a five-pound bag phenomenon.

* They seem to have studied the Bodum units with an eye to improvement.
It's a ten-cup unit, by American appliance standards. There's the usual
timer and keep-warm feature, which can be turned off. It's all plastic,
which is a little flexible and requires hand-washing, but the opening
of the carafe is large enough so that's not a problem. Durability is
yet to be seen. Like the Bodum unit, the heater is part of the lower
carafe. I can't see exactly how the attachment is done. The filter is
easily pulled out for cleaning, and the funnel can be removed from the
upper globe if needed for the same reason.

* Ergonomically, it's OK but not great. There's the aforementioned
flexibliity, and the carafe lid fits into a pocket in the top of the
upper globe when brewing. The carafe/heating unit fits onto a base with
the electronics in the same way that a cordless kettle generally works.
Getting the top off the upper globe is easy once you figure it out (pry
with your fingers at the handle attachment point), but the instructions
don't say, and if you pull at what seems the natural point, one of the
places on the side where the top latches into place, it doesn't want to
come apart. You have to wet the gasket, at least initially, and then
use some force from above, at which point the top snaps into the
bottom, seating completely.

* Performance: Very good for what it is. The plastic filter is a bit
coarse, so I used a grind slightly coarser than drip, about what you'd
use for a Chemex; on my Solis Maestro it was the coarsest setting.
Initial heating takes about five minutes when making the full 10-cup
capacity, then kick-up is rapid. The time up top is fixed at two
minutes to heater off, then another thirty seconds before it heads
south. The trip south is also quite rapid. The timer does not seem to
have the sensitivity to leveling that the Bodum units do. There's a
circular dam in the bottom, centered around the funnel. It appears that
when the water has boiled out of that well, it kicks off. In my initial
use, the coarser grind needed because of the filter was a good match
for the brew time, and the temperature measured at just about 200° F.
The coffee tasted very good at the suggested strength of one heaping
measure, using the supplied spoon, per cup. Because of the filter,
there was quite a bit of very fine sediment in the cup, about what
you'd see with a French press. It came out to general acclaim, though,
and my family is very happy to have a set-and-walk-away method of
brewing coffee.

* Price and availability: $69 from TechnoScout, plus the usual S/H; I
think it came to about $84 all told. That's a lot cheaper than the
Bodum of the same capacity, and while it's not as cool looking, it's
not ugly and a much better value.

David

All-out coffee shop wars

By Steve Hawkes And Elizabeth Hopkirk, Evening Standard (London)
11 June 2004
A new coffee bar war is set to break out in the capital.

Experts predict a wave of intense competition as leading players in the £1billion market chase customers and sites crucial to their lucrative expansion plans.

The sector has moved to high alert with Coffee Republic moving out of a clutch of espresso bars in the south of England and selling them to rival Caffe Nero. The deal confirms the Italianthemed chain is the up-and-coming aggressor and chief threat to the iron grip so far enjoyed by US giant Starbucks and the Whitbreadbacked Costa Coffee. Caffe Nero was once half the size of Coffee Republic but it now owns 171 espresso bars across the UK. American boss Gerry Ford believes there is enough space to take this to 400.

More...

Barista off to give champs his best shot at 'Coffee Olympics'

By JULIE MIDDLETON
New Zealand Herald

Five years ago, Carl Sara rarely drank coffee and didn't know a latte from a flat white.

Fast forward: not only is the 27-year-old an expert and award-winning barista, he co-owns two Muffin Break franchises and flies to Italy on Monday to compete in the "coffee Olympics".

Like any self-respecting athlete, the fast-talking, perpetually busy Sara has an entourage of 14 travelling with him to the World Barista Championship, including Mum and Dad and various industry types. The event will be held in Trieste from June 18 to 20.

Sara's bulging kitbag includes 36 black cups and saucers stamped with silver ferns, supplies of New Zealand milk and his own espresso coffee machine and grinder.

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At some retailers, 'fair trade' carries a high cost

By STEVE STECKLOW
The Associated Press
and
ERIN WHITE
The Wall Street Journal

At a Whole Foods Market in suburban Boston, the coffee aisle recently was lined with leaflets promising to donate 5 percent of sales to growers. Labels proclaimed that beans were "purchased in accordance with international fair trade standards." Pamphlets asked: "Is your coffee fair to farmers?"

The materials reflect a growing international campaign to pay struggling farmers in poor countries more than market rate for commodities like coffee, bananas and chocolate. The extra cash has helped thousands of farmers fund education, health-care and training projects, among other things.

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"How should I store coffee?"

"How should I store coffee?"

I get asked this question more than any other question, and my usual flip answer is, "don't store it, drink it."

Since roasted coffee starts to lose quality soon after roasting, it is better to purchase only enough coffee for one to two weeks and store it in an airtight container. In addition to time, roasted coffee's enemies are air, moisture, heat, and light, in that order.

Store your roasted coffee in an air-tight container in a cool, dark place. Do not store in the refrigerator or freezer. The coffee can pick up odors and moisture is a problem, especially condensation occuring when you take it in and out.

Robert

Michaelo Espresso Teams with BEST on Espresso Machine Training Program

Michaelo Espresso, a Seattle-based espresso machine importer makes committment to espresso technician training program. Michaelo supplied the superautomatic espresso machine training to the cirriculum in hope of promoting a higher level of technician skill for the specialty coffee industry.

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) -- Michaelo Espresso, Seattle-based importer of La San Marco and Cafina espresso machines, has completed a major contribution to the B.E.S.T Certification Program by delivering a superautomatic espresso machine technical training guide.

The Beverage Equipment Service Technician, of America Training Certification Program, or BEST, is the first of its kind in the U.S. and was designed to prepare participants for employment and/or certification in the specialty beverage industry. Sponsored by El Camino College in Long Beach, California and Specialty Coffee Association of America, BEST is currently developing an espresso machine training program to compliment their already established brewing equipment course. Michaelo Espresso has high hopes for the BEST Program to provide the industry with a dependable level of technician training that will promote higher standards in the service community.

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