Cup of coffee wakes up desserts

BY KAREN FERNAU | THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC

Americans, it seems, want coffee to taste like dessert.

A cube or two of sugar is no longer enough for our collective sweet tooth. We want our caffeine spiked with more - from cinnamon and caramel to blueberries and vanilla.

So why not flavor dessert with coffee?

Pairing coffee with desserts is nothing new. An 1869 French cookbook includes a recipe for what is believed to be the original coffee dessert - parfait au café, a mix of brewed coffee, sugar and heavy cream. During the following century, coffee continued sporadically to infiltrate desserts from ice cream to cakes.

With our passion for coffee at an all-time high, experts predict a renaissance in coffee desserts.

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Colombia's new Juan Valdez is an authentic coffee grower

The Associated Press

BOGOTA, Colombia -- After a two-year search among more than 300,000 candidates nationwide, Colombia unveiled the new Juan Valdez, the country's iconic coffee ambassador to the world.

His real name is Carlos Castaneda.

Like his two predecessors, the 39-year-old sports the leather bag, bushy mustache and straw hat typical of rural Colombia where the world-famous arabica coffee is grown.

But unlike those other Valdezes -- who were played by a Cuban-born actor and a silk-screen artisan -- Castaneda knows a thing or two about growing coffee. The oldest of 10 children born on a coffee farm, he picked his first bean at age 6.

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Vivace founder, David Schomer is a coffee prophet

By Melissa Allison
Seattle Times business reporter

A few feet into a dark corridor alongside Espresso Vivace's walk-up coffee bar on Broadway East, visitors come upon The Sacred Shrine of Caffeina, Goddess of the Waking Day.

The goddess is painted on a rock embedded in the wall where Caffeina "visited upon the lonely globe the gift known as Java," according to a maudlin tale in small type by the shrine.

The shrine is an apt symbol for the espresso Mecca that Vivace and its founder, David Schomer, have become to coffee connoisseurs and baristas around the world. While Seattle-based Starbucks brings high-quality coffee to the masses, Seattle native Schomer is determined to perfect the beverage on a smaller scale for true believers.

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An Art With Aroma - Coffee Painting

Next time you would say "Waiter, I need coffee with water, a brush and nice canvas". Here are glimpse on using coffee as painting medium.

What would you look for in chill, cool and freeze winter or cloudy & cold monsoon? Of course – a cup of warm and wet coffee!! What would be your answer if I ask you to use coffee in other way? Artist truly enjoys coffee while creating new art work. Coffee has always been creative lighter fluid. Coffee adds on a lot of inspiration, freshness, creation and mood. However would you not raise your eyebrows if I say – coffee is good for painting? Does it make sense? Amita & Mira Chudasama – coffee artists have answers for these all doubts.

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