Alliance for Coffee Excellence

Cuppa help — Missoula organization connects foreign coffee growers with market
By ROBERT STRUCKMAN of the Missoulian

"Most people don't know that coffee comes from cherries," said Sara Pankratz of the Missoula-based Alliance for Coffee Excellence.

The red berrylike fruit yields green pits that are roasted and ground, she said, extending a pamphlet with a photo of ripe cherries on a brown stalk.

Education and advocacy are the heart of the modest Missoula-based international coffee nonprofit. With a budget of $330,000 in 2004, just two employees and an office with no windows, the six-year-old organization still has an outsized impact on the international coffee market.
"Their role on the world stage is huge," said Mike Ferguson, spokesman for the Long Beach, Calif.-based Specialty Coffee Association of America.

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Wake up, get taste of coffee lovers' nirvana

By Michelle Slatalla
New York Times News Service
Published January 21, 2006

The coffee situation at my house got out of control gradually.

Somehow my husband and I have become the sort of full-blown extremists who argue over the finer points of milk-steaming techniques and who polish the chrome on our ridiculously shiny espresso machine as lovingly as firefighters buff a fancy new hook-and-ladder.

So when a fuse recently blew out on our old-fashioned Riviera Baby Lusso, we panicked and rushed it in for the sort of emergency tuneup more commonly associated with a finicky Italian sports car than a small kitchen appliance.

In the subsequent weeks, a bleak wasteland of coffee shop cappuccinos in cardboard cups, we realized that we would have to come up with a backup plan for the next time the Baby Riv went on the fritz.

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Coffee Fest to Debut New Events at DC Show

Bellevue, Washington-based Coffee Fest returns to Washington, D.C., for its late winter show February 24-26, 2006, at the convention center. Numerous workshops, presentations, and events will be debuting. Among them is the inaugural Annual Roasters' Speakeasy, sponsored by Roast Magazine at which roasters can discuss roasting; it will take place on Saturday, February 25 from 5 until 6:30 p.m. in Room #150A.

Kent Holloway, David J. Morris, Tommy Thwaites, and Greg Hartlein, Coffee Fest's popular three-day specialty coffee business seminar presenters, will host the Coffee Fest-International Academy of Specialty Coffee (IASC) Hands-On Barista Training sponsored by Nuova Simonelli and Torani from 8 a.m. until 12:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, plus from 1:30 p.m. until 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Additionally, IASC Barista Certification testing will also occur for the first time ever at this show.

Coffee Fest, along with Murkey Coffee, is hosting the Specialty Coffee Association of America's Mid-Atlantic Regional Barista Competition, as well as the third "Stirling Signature Beverage Open," a free-form competition designed to highlight quality and creativity in beverage making with co-host Stirling Gourmet Flavors. Two cash prizes of $500 each will be awarded -- one for best-tasting beverage and one for most creative beverage.

Six hands-on latte art classes will premier at Coffee Fest Washington, D.C. They will be taught by all-time Coffee Fest Latte Art Competition money winner Chris DeFerio of Carriage House Coffee in Ithaca, N.Y. DeFerio, who has also been named the newest judge in the Millrock Latte Art Competition, joins Sarah Allen, editor of Barista Magazine, and Henry Patterson, owner of Patterson's Coffee. The competition will occur from 9:45 a.m. to noon Friday and Saturday.

On Sunday, the top ten competitors from the previous two days' competitions will face off. The winner will walk away with $1,000, 2nd place with $500, and 3rd place with $250.

For all class and event admission limits and prices, please visit Coffee Fest's web site at www.coffeefest.com, or call 425-283-5058. Admission to the event is $20, if registered prior to February 6; thereafter, it will be $30. All of the above is in addition to Coffee Fest's usual spectacular lineup of more than 65 educational sessions and a focused exhibition featuring more than 175 booths.

Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary and Starbucks Coffee

The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary and Starbucks Coffee Company Launch the Ben Franklin Coffeehouse Challenge

Community-Driven Campaign Celebrates Franklin's Legacy and Encourages Civic Collaboration to Create Positive Change

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2006--The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary and Starbucks Coffee Company are partnering to present the Ben Franklin Coffeehouse Challenge, a grassroots program to encourage lively and informal discussions during which a diverse range of civic-minded individuals can share their thoughts on particular local issues and, most importantly, generate potential solutions. The Ben Franklin Coffeehouse Challenge will run from now until June 2006 throughout neighborhood Starbucks locations in Greater Philadelphia and Central Pennsylvania, and offers the region's residents an exciting opportunity to recreate Franklin's special brew of civic generosity.

To celebrate the launch of the Ben Franklin Coffeehouse Challenge there will be a panel discussion on Tuesday, January 24, 2006 at the Fels Planetarium of The Franklin Institute. Led by CBS 3 anchor Pat Ciarrocchi, the event will bring together panelists Patricia A. Coulter, president and CEO, Urban League of Philadelphia; Mark Edwards, program director, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Philadelphia; and Hal Real, president, Real Entertainment Group/World Cafe Live, who will share their community building experiences and successes.

"Starbucks is delighted to be partnering with The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary for this unique and ambitious initiative, which both celebrates the rich history of coffeehouse discussion and debate and aims to enable our local communities to find real solutions to local challenges," said Morgan Schafer, regional vice president, the Starbucks Coffee Company.

Coffeehouse Challenge discussions are organized by volunteer facilitators with the support of their local Starbucks and The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary. Some facilitators will actively be recruited from The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary consortium member institutions and other regional organizations, while many will come forward after having heard about the program. But anybody can volunteer!

Facilitators will choose a compelling local issue and work with Starbucks partners (employees) to organize the first meeting date/time. Together they will act as coordinators, inviting participants from community groups, businesses, non-profits, local authorities, secondary schools, colleges and universities, as well as Starbucks customers, to join them for a dynamic blend of discussion, fresh-brewed coffee, and new ideas. At the end of each inaugural discussion, Coffeehouse Challenge groups can commit to regular meetings in order to work out the practical details of their best ideas - and they can even submit a proposal for funding, due to The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary by July 4, 2006.

Ultimately, a panel will review the proposals, and in September 2006, a ceremony will be held to award five proposals with $3000 each from Starbucks, so that they can continue their work, and make their vision a reality for their community.

"Franklin had a lifelong belief that people who banded together for a common purpose could achieve greater goals than individuals could do separately," said Dr. Rosalind Remer, executive director of The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary. "We want to encourage 21st-century Ben Franklins to carry on his legacy of civic generosity and create lasting benefits for our region."

The Ben Franklin Coffeehouse Challenge is sponsored by CBS 3, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Daily News and Philly.com. Each of these media partners will be actively involved in creating awareness and enthusiasm for the initiative.

About The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary, a non-profit organization supported by a lead grant of $4 million from The Pew Charitable Trusts, was established to mark the 300-year anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth (1706-2006) with a celebration dedicated to educating the public about his enduring legacy and inspiring renewed appreciation of the values he embodied. The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary was founded in 2000 by a consortium of five Philadelphia cultural institutions: the American Philosophical Society, The Franklin Institute, The Library Company of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the University of Pennsylvania. In addition, an Act of Congress in 2002 created The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary Commission, a panel of fifteen outstanding Americans chosen to study and recommend programs to celebrate Franklin's 300th birthday. The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary can be found online at www.benfranklin300.org.


About Starbucks Coffee Company

Starbucks Corporation is the leading retailer, roaster and brand of specialty coffee in the world, with more than 10,500 retail locations in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific Rim. The Company is committed to offering the highest quality coffee and the Starbucks Experience while conducting its business in ways that produce social, environmental and economic benefits for communities in which it does business. In addition to its retail operations, the Company produces and sells bottled Frappuccino® coffee drinks, Starbucks DoubleShot® espresso drink, and a line of super premium ice creams through its joint venture partnerships. The Company's brand portfolio provides a wide variety of consumer products--innovative super premium Tazo® teas and exceptional compact discs from Starbucks Hear Music(TM) enhance the Starbucks Experience through best-of-class products. The Seattle's Best Coffee® and Torrefazione Italia® coffee brands enable Starbucks to appeal to a broader consumer base by offering an alternative variety of coffee flavor profiles.


Contact:

The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary
Cheri LaSpada, 215-790-7825
cell: 215-850-4647
cheri@alta247.com
or
Erin Carr, 215-790-7847
cell: 215-850-5240
erin@alta247.com

Source: The Benjamin Franklin Tercentenary

Benefits of Coffee Detailed in Health Studies

Benefits of Coffee Detailed in Health Studies: Reduced Likelihood of Breast and Liver Cancers, Reduced Diabetes, Improved Short-Term Memory and Increased Sex Drive

PARLIN, N.J., Jan. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Health benefits of coffee keep pouring in. A new cancer study links higher coffee consumption to lower percentage of women who develop breast cancer. Recent studies have shown that those who drink more than three cups of coffee daily are less likely to develop high blood pressure, suggest that coffee drinkers are less likely to develop liver cancer, showed that coffee is the number one source of healthy antioxidants in the American diet, and that coffee reduces development of type 2 diabetes. Other coffee studies suggest that coffee contributes to better short-term memory and that coffee may increase sex drive in women.

The latest coffee study was conducted by Steven Narod of the University of Toronto. The study, published in the International Journal of Cancer in January, studied women with a very specific gene mutation known as BRCA1. Those women have an 80 percent risk of developing breast cancer before their 70th birthday. But according to Narod, those involved in his study, "... who drank six or more cups of coffee a day on average had about a 75 percent reduction in the risk of developing breast cancer."

A recent study of sexual behavior in rats suggests that coffee serves as the equivalent of female Viagra. That study was tentative at best, and looked only at rats which were not habitual coffee drinkers. So women who consume coffee rarely may find coffee to be a sexual stimulant.

But other health studies link coffee consumption to solid evidence that high levels of antioxidants in coffee carry health benefits and may reduce the risk of several cancers. A separate cancer study shows coffee drinkers are less likely to develop cancer of the liver as consumption levels increase.

A paper presented last year at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) in Chicago linked coffee drinking with better short-term memory. Florian Koppelstatter, M.D., Ph.D., said, "We were able to show that caffeine modulates a higher brain function through its effects on distinct areas of the brain." Koppelstatter is a radiology fellow at the Medical University-Innsbruck in Austria.

Health benefits of gourmet coffees can be discussed at the Coffee Talk Forum: http://www.tastesoftheworld.net/talk/. Tastes of The World was recently interviewed by Radio New Zealand and profiled in a Reuters "News of the Weird" on their gourmet coffee called Kopi Luwak, because it passes through the digestive tract of the cat-like Palm Civet, and is the most expensive coffee in the world. Exotic Kopi Luwak coffee, from Indonesia, sells through the Tastes of The World web site at $175 per pound.

About Tastes of The World

Tastes of The World coffee company focuses on specialty gourmet coffee not readily available in the US. Rare gourmet coffee is their business, so they make shopping with them risk-free: "If you are happy, tell a friend; if you are not, tell us."

http://www.tastesoftheworld.net




E-mail: CustomerService@tastesoftheworld.net
1-877-895-2662

"BCE's Starbucks Watch"

Starbucks Celebrates Ben Franklin's 300th Birthday

Jan 16, 2006 (Philadelphia Daily News - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News via COMTEX) --

After years of preparation and anticipation, the day has finally arrived. Our most famous citizen, Mr. Benjamin Franklin, turns 300 tomorrow . The city has gone Ben crazy to celebrate the tercentenary, spending millions of dollars to promote the big day and to draw thousands of revelers to shops, museums, restaurants and theaters. Although one of the most talked-about birthday events, a 400-person bash tomorrow morning at the National Constitution Center, is completely sold out, there are still plenty of ways you can party this week - and in the months to come. Read on for some of the best of Ben events.

Be on the lookout. Ben and a crew of revelers will appear in random places all over the city to throw impromptu birthday parties. On the street, in restaurants and in hotels, various acting troupes will sing happy birthday to Ben, then hand out prizes. To make sure you catch one of these "roving parties," head to Starbucks at the Park Hyatt Bellevue Hotel, Broad and Walnut streets, at 9 a.m., or to the lobby of the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, between 2 and 4 p.m., where there will be a party every half hour.

Although the National Constitution Center, 525 Arch St., is closed for a sold-out birthday bash tomorrow morning, its 8,000-square-foot, interactive and archival exhibit "Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World," reopens to the public at 2 p.m. Author Walter Isaacson will sign his book "Benjamin Franklin: An American Life" in the Center's lobby from 4:30 to 5 p.m. The signing is free. Tickets to the exhibit, which runs now through April 30, are $14 for adults, $12 for children. Call 215-409-6600 or go to www.constitutioncenter.org.

The Free Library, 1901 Vine St., will throw a party for Franklin at 10 a.m. Franklin will appear in the main lobby, along with fife and drum players and other special historical guests. Ben will also take time to read the kids book "Ben and Me" to children. The event is free. Call 215-567-7710 for more information.

At the Please Touch Museum, 210 N. 21st St., visitors will get to write with quill pens and wear a Franklin powdered wig during their visit. Children will hear a story about Franklin, then sing happy birthday to the big guy. Admission is $9.95 per person. Call 215-963-0667 or go to www.pleasetouchmuseum.org.

Franklin scholar Blaine McCormick will sign copies of his book "Ben Franklin: America's Original Entrepreneur," at Borders Books & Music, 1 South Broad St., at 7 p.m. For more information, call 215-568-7400 or 610-642-4896.

On Thursday, from 6 to 8 p.m., Daily News brew expert Joe Sixpack will host a Ben Franklin evening at McGillin's Old Ale House, 1310 Drury St. For $25 per person, guests can sample Yards Brewing Company's new beer, Poor Richard's Tavern Spruce, a beer brewed with a whole Alberta spruce tree in the vat, according to Franklin's historic recipe. For more information, call 215-735-5562.

From now through Jan. 21, the Philadelphia Theater Company, 1714 Delancey St., will perform "Ben Franklin Unplugged," which explores Franklin's relationship with his son, William. Tickets range from $30 to $40, and performance times vary. Call 215-985-0420 or go to www.phillytheatreco.com for more information.

Families can all go to Ben's Birthday Salons, parties held the first Friday of each month from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Free Quaker Meeting House, 500 Arch St. The evening of entertainment replicates one Franklin would have enjoyed, with colonial games, story reading and minuet dancing. The salons will continue on First Fridays through the end of April. For information, call 215-629-5801 or go to www.onceuponanation.org.

More than 65 city restaurants are keeping Ben Franklin-inspired dishes and drinks on their menus from now through April 30. For a full listing of restaurants, special foods and prices, go to www.gophila.com.

You can chat with Franklin's ghost at the Peco Energy Liberty Center, 6th and Chestnut streets., through the end of the year. The free event features a technology called a "synthetic interview" that makes it appear as if Franklin is speaking with guests through a video screen. The Energy Center is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. For information call 215-LIBERTY or go to www.lightsofliberty.org.

By April Lisante

Source: Comtex Wall Street News

MLK Quote

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
Martin Luther King, Jr.