"Just a decent cup of coffee"

Barista Training Workshop at the Kona Coffee Cultural Festival

Thursday, November 8, 2007 9:30 am - 5:30 pm
Kailua-Kona, HI

This professional barista training workshop led by Andrew Hetzel of Cafemakers will provide instruction in a variety of areas designed to improve espresso and other specialty coffee beverage preparation skills.

Novice and practicing baristas alike will learn the fundamentals of successful espresso preparation and practice preparing traditional espresso-based beverages, such as the cappuccino, caffé latte and caffé machiato under the guidance of experienced station instructors with state-of-the art equipment. Tasting exercises will equip participants with the ability to articulate coffee taste profiles and identify potential faults.

Topics Will Include

* Barista basics and orientation
* Espresso 101
* Tasting exercises and coffee "cupping"
* Equipment orientation
* Step-by-step espresso extraction
* Milk frothing, steaming
* Advanced milk texturing
* Equipment care

From beginners learning basics to experienced baristas looking to polish skills, there will be something of value here for anyone serious about coffee.

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How Coffee Effects our Cholesterol Levels

Posted by EditorsChoice
Tuesday, 02 October 2007

There has been a lot of talk recently about how coffee seems to raise our cholesterol levels. And I am referring to the LDL (aka ‘bad’) cholesterol levels. After doing some research on my own I have found some pretty interesting things as well as some tips on how to lower your risk of heart disease and/or higher cholesterol levels due to coffee. First thing’s first, research has shown that it is not just any cup of coffee that raises a person’s cholesterol levels, but it is mostly due to unfiltered coffee such as French press coffee and espresso.

Many people may choose to automatically blame this issue on the caffeine in the coffee, but that would not be the right assumption. The reason coffee has the ability to raise our cholesterol levels is because of oils called terpenes found in coffee. These oils are easily filtered out with our normal paper filters. However, just make sure that those filters are not the ones with extra ‘aroma’ holes plugged throughout them as these will raise your chances of consuming the terpene oils that can potentially be harmful. Now, all of this at first seemed very disappointing as I personally have always consumed my coffee in the form of espresso. Not anymore, I like it iced, so rather than an Americano I get an iced coffee.

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Coffee soars as rain slows in Brazil

By Andres R. Martinez
Bloomberg News

CHICAGO: Coffee rose to the highest price in 30 months as forecasts for dry weather in Brazil, the largest producer, renewed speculation that crops might be damaged by a prolonged period of below-normal rainfall.

No significant rain is expected to fall in Brazil's major coffee-growing states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo at least until next week, according to the forecaster Meteorlogix. Prices jumped 11 percent in September as the lack of moisture raised concern that the flowering of coffee trees may be disrupted.

"There is still no rain, just dryness," said Donna Heidkamp, a broker at RJO Futures in Chicago.

Coffee futures for December delivery rose 6.4 cents, or 5 percent, to $1.3505 a pound on ICE Futures, formerly known as the New York Board of Trade.

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Kenya: Coffee Auction Prices Hit New High

Business Daily (Nairobi)

2 October 2007

Allan Odhiambo

Prices at the coffee weekly auction reached yet another high yesterday, extending a record-breaking streak witnessed in the last four consecutive weeks.

Riding on the laurels of constrained quality offer supplies and speculation in key international markets , the average price of the commodity at the Nairobi Coffee Exchange (NCE) hit a mark of $141.30 (Sh9,749.70) per 50kg bag amid indications that a similar fate could be in the offing come the next sale because the currently supply situation is unlikely to change much, at least in the short term.

It is important to note that the dollar is the preferred denomination among coffee traders and they use it in all dealings.

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Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee Helps Children

Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee is a non profit organization, a 501 C Corporation, dedicated to helping children. Our main focus is to help orphans and children in need; impoverished children in third world countries and homeless children in inner city neighborhoods in the United States.

Mission Grounds is currently helping children in the US, China, Russia, Costa Rica, South Africa, Kenya and Venezuela. We provide support in many ways; from food to shelter and clothing. We also provide monthly support in Africa, Russia, Costa Rica, China and Venezuela.

We are engaged in two large construction projects which include building a school in China and an orphanage in Venezuela. Both projects should be completed by Spring 2008. Plans are also under way to build another school in China and another orphanage in Venezuela for 2008. We are also looking at construction projects in Nigeria and in Sudan.

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Badgett's Gadgets - Digital Scale

Badgett's Gadgets - Digital Scale

I have been using this Escali digital scale for over a year and I can't imagine ever doing without it. I use it to measure green coffee for my roaster so my batches are always the same. That's important because different volumes in the roaster give different results. We want to strive for consistency in coffee roasting and brewing as much as possible.

I also use it in the kitchen, especially when I bake bread. It's really more of a convenience issue and the constistency is an added benefit. It measures in either grams, ounces, or pounds and ounces. It's difficult to measure flour accurately with just a measuring cup. The flour's density varies with the weather (humidity), and even how much flour is in the cannister or bag affects its density. The best way is by weight. Some recipes give the weights of the ingredients, but if they don't, I have kept a record of common ingredients' weights.

One of the great features of this scale is its "return to tare." Here's how it works. Turn it on and place a mixing bowl on it. Hit the "on" button again and the readout returns to zero. Then, just scoop or pour the ingredient into the bowl until the desired weight is reached. Then, hit the "on" button to return to zero for the next ingredient. You can do this again and again until all ingredients are added. There is no need to use (and have to wash) all those measuring cups.

Here's Amazon.com's review:

"A friendly, everyday-use unit from the renowned manufacturer Escali, the Primo digital scale is compact, straightforward, and playfully colored. With a capacity of 11 pounds or 5 kilograms, the little unit features simple two-button operation and a spill-proof, quick-clean body. The LED face is easy to read, and the readings are rated in increments of 0.1 ounces or 1 gram for high accuracy. Designed for a wide range of kitchen or offices uses, the scale also includes automatic shut-off and a tare feature, so you can weigh ingredients without weighing their container. Available in an extensive palette of fun colors, the Primo was awarded the Kitchen Tested Seal of Approval by the Cooking Club of America in 2005. It runs on two AA batteries, measures 8-by-6-by1-1/4 inches, and carries a 5-year warranty."


CLICK HERE to purchase from Amazon.com. It sells for $25 and BCE gets a small commission. What a deal!