Thai Iced Coffee

3 cardamom pods

1/3 cup whole dark coffee beans or 1/4 cup dark ground coffee

2 cups hot water

1 tablespoon sugar or maple syrup, or to taste

Ice

1/4 cup evaporated milk or half-and-half


Grind cardamom pods with coffee beans (or mix together ground cardamom with ground coffee) and brew with 2 cups hot water to make very strong coffee. Add sugar or maple syrup and let cool. Pour into two glasses filled with ice. Add evaporated milk or half-and-half and serve. Makes 2 servings.

Specialty coffee market getting hotter

Piping hot or ice blended, market has opportunities spilling out of its cup

By April Y. Pennington
MSNBC

Did you grab a cup of java this morning to enjoy while checking your e-mail? Like technology, specialty coffee is continuing in its skyrocketing appeal and availability.

According to the National Coffee Association USA, 49 percent of Americans age 18 or older drink some type of coffee beverage daily, and many of them are waiting in lines at specialty coffee retailers to get their fix. The cafe segment of the specialty coffee market -- including cafes, kiosks, carts and coffee bean roaster/retailers -- reached $8.47 billion in 2003 and continues to grow. And it's become clear that, even in a world where Starbucks has been crowned the unofficial figurehead of specialty coffee, franchises are reaching for a piece of the bean.

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EXPRESSION OF ESPRESSO

BY JAKE WEYER

DULUTH NEWS TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

Coffee.

For many, the word brings to mind the brew's strong aroma, distinct taste, warmth and energizing caffeine.

But coffee is much more than a drink to Angel Sarkela-Saur and Andy Saur. To them, coffee is a form of expression; it is a medium for art.

"You never know what that cup of coffee could turn into," Angel said.

During the past five years, the Duluth couple, both 28-year-old graduates of the University of Minnesota Duluth, have been painting with coffee.

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Quote

"Actually, this seems to be the basic need of the human heart in nearly every great crisis - a good hot cup of coffee." - Alexander King

A cup of coffee

By Henrylito D. Tacio

WHAT is that drink produced from the roasted beans of the coffee plant? Coffee, that's what. The word "coffee" may have been derived from the Ethiopian "keffa" or the Turkish equivalent word "qahveh." The Arabs call the beverage "qahwa," which means "strength."

The coffee's use as a drink spread through Arabia in the 13th century and it became popular in Europe during the 16th and 17th centuries. In the Philippines, coffee was brought by the Spanish friars in 1740. Since then, the Filipinos have become coffee drinkers.

Coffee is one of the main sources of caffeine. The US Food and Drug Administration classified caffeine as "generally recognized as safe."

For years the public was warned of the dangers of coffee. In one well-publicized "New England Journal of Medicine" study released in 1981, researchers found a link between coffee and pancreatic cancer. But when at least seven other studies failed to back up that finding, those results had to be retracted.

Now, more than 19,000 dietary caffeine studies have been done, and many experts agree that moderate daily caffeine intake - 300 to 400 milligrams, about three to four cups of coffee - is not harmful.

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Brazilians pack coffee shops

By Peter Blackburn

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - As temperatures dip during the Southern Hemisphere winter, business is heating up at trendy city coffee shops in Brazil's biggest tourist resort, Rio de Janeiro.

Though Brazil traditionally has been the world's biggest coffee producer, its people have only recently become big drinkers of the beverage.

In the past, the best coffee was exported. Brazilians had to settle for leftovers -- often mixed with chicory, corn or other grains to save money. The sickly sweet cafeizinho was served at hole-in-wall "botequims" whose main money maker was beer and where women were seldom seen.

Improved quality and marketing have led to a boom as coffee became chic to drink in coffee shops, at work and at home.

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Coffee Rises in Tokyo on Brazilian Crop

Coffee Rises in Tokyo on Brazilian Crop: World's Biggest Mover

Aug. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Arabica coffee futures in Tokyo rose 2.3 percent, the biggest fluctuation of any commodity today, on speculation Brazil, the world's largest producer of the beans, will cut its crop forecast, likely reducing supplies.

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