Posts filed under 'News'
The Roasting Plant, a new cafe in New York, has taken coffee roasting to the next stage - roasting on demand, allowing customers to even request their own custom blend of beans. Their automated roasting machines also help ensure freshness, being able to roast whatever is needed, whenever it’s needed. I do wonder how the results are, for I’ve always been a believer of human interaction with the roast - you can’t just set time and temperature, for the ambient temperature and humidity can affect the roast, as can the specific batch of green beans you’re roast. Still, it’s entirely possible that The Roasting Plant’s machines can take this into account. Having truly fresh roasted coffee really DOES make a huge difference in my experience. It’s certainly worth trying. If any of you are near their shop at 81 Orchard Street in New York, stop on in and report back here with what you think! (via CoolHunting)
April 23rd, 2007
So what does it take for a mega-corporation like Starbucks to invent a new coffee drink? Well, this article over at MSNBC goes through the work that went into the creation of the Dolce De Leche Latte. It took them over a year to get it to the point where it was ready for the public! There’s a neat video about the drink at that site too.
April 11th, 2007
If you care about quality, don’t buy coffee from Vietnam. Well, since they mostly export robusta beans, this may not be something the average person would be doing anyway (Arabica beans are typically more highly desired, for many reasons). The Vietnam Coffee and Cocoa Association has admitted that they use old criteria for quality, and there are no quality tests at ports before customs clearance. European ports have had some trouble with Vietnam coffee, much more so than beans from anywhere else. Read more over here.
April 9th, 2007
Ever been wine tasting? Well, coffee lovers sometimes do something similar, and it’s called cupping. Basically, it involves a lot of slurping and spitting. You want to run each sip across your whole mouth, to ensure that all taste buds on the tongue have a chance to sample it. There’s a long article about this over at Planet Blacksburg that’s worth reading.
April 5th, 2007
We first reported on solar coffee roasting last year (see this story). Well, what started as an experiment in Oregon has moved to sunny Pueblo, Colorado, and has evolved into a business, Solar Roast, that uses solar power to roast up to fifty pounds of coffee a day. Actually, the coffee roasting facility is on nearby St. Charles Mesa; the cafe at 226 Main Street is just where they sell the coffee, along with the usual bagels and pastries you’d expect. Read more here.
March 26th, 2007
As if there weren’t already too many Starbucks…they plan to double their number of stores in five years! (full article in Bufaflo News Business Today)
March 26th, 2007
Wow, talk about brand dilution and degradation. Starbucks is teaming up with Pepsi to distribute a whole bunch of hot drink vending machines. You’ll see them in some test markets this summer, and if all goes well, expect them to spread like wildfire. (via Slashfood)
March 23rd, 2007
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