Coffee Face

I am not sure how much coffee during a day is too much, but I think my body gives me a hint from time to time. Yesterday, I reached 4:00 p.m. and my sixth cup of coffee for the day and I noticed that my face was flushed and I seemed to have an insatiable desire for water. Of course, this is the result of dehydration likely brought on by the diuretic properties of the coffee. There are certainly ways to avoid this condition. Examples include:

• Stopping after one cup in the morning (sounds lame)
• Pacing myself throughout the day (different shade of lame)
• Switching to decaf in the afternoon (what is the point of drinking that swill)
• Stopping my habit all together (I can't believe I even typed that)

No, I think I have settled on a solution. I am going to keep drinking coffee until I get that flushed coffee face and then I will binge on water to recover. I realize this may not sound like the healthiest solution, and my doctor may one day suggest it's time to make a change. Until then, coffee face it is.

What about you?

Coffee for Haiti?

Just saw this on the Brewed Coffee blog and thought I would pass it along. It is a quick story about Haitian Coffee for purchase as another way to support this country that has suffered so much recently.

Take a look for yourself at  http://www.brewed-coffee.com/blends/haitian-bleu-coffee/

To Chicory or Not To Chicory

I spent most of the week at a conference in New Orleans and it was my first time to experience chicory coffee – a bayou favorite. This brew is so thick that it clings to the side of your cup and delivers a taste unlike anything else I have ever tried. Ms. Darkroasted and I discussed the merits of chicory as we munched on shrimp and grits and Creole surf and turf at the Commanders Palace (I highly recommend it if you are near the Garden District of New Orleans.) The bottom line, I like chicory, she does not. She says it tastes like, “Coffee soaked in a wood sponge and then wrung out into your cup.” I have a more enlightened view. (Ms. Darkroasted rolls eyes as I type this)

 I think it is like taking rich coffee and carefully-aging it in a wood barrel similar to fine wine. As you take your first sip, you can savor the woody and pleasant finish that is strong without a harsh acidic bite. I drank the stuff all week and brought some home as well to use in my French press.

 The real test of this coffee will be whether or not I still like it away from the ambience of New Orleans. I am a big believer that experience can affect taste as much as the actual properties of the product. For example, will I like it quite as much when I am not drinking it while simultaneously stuffing beignets down my throat at the Café Du Monde?  We shall see. I would love to know your thoughts for those of you who have tasted this Big Easy delight.

 I also included below some pictures of me at the Café Du Monde, the view of the Mississippi River from our hotel room and some street musicians who were lighting up a version of “When the Saints Go Marching In” complete with a “Who Dat Say They Gonna Beat Dem Saints” bridge.

 

 

Starbucks Revolt Better Explains the Gold Card Debacle

For my last post, I lamented about the new Starbucks Rewards program and the obvious loss many of us more serious users will experience through this "new and improved" rewards approach. Christian at Starbucksrevolt.com has a great site that explains the numbers behind this travesty. I also included some other links to serious Starbucks members raging away. The Facebook link has some particularly angry people.

http://www.starbucksrevolt.com/ (This guy really has a handle on the situation complete with charts)

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=22092443056&topic=12532

http://www.businessinsider.com/starbucks-dumping-10-off-gold-loyalty-program-2009-11

http://blog.adam-jackson.net/2009/12/22/the-starbucks-gold-level-rewards-card-a-review/

Really Starbucks? Gold Card is For Fools

In 2009, Ms. Darkroasted and I paid $25 each to become Starbuck's Gold Card members and reap the benefits of this exclusive club. For our money, we received 10 percent off of all our purchases from drinks to beans to merchandise. It was a great deal for high volume users like my family. As we cracked 2010, I received my updated card in the mail. It was shiny and had my name personalized on it once again making me feel special. Then the truth ripped the shine right off that worthless piece of plastic.

Gone! Gone was my 10 percent discount. Under the new plan,  I get some peripheral perks and after every 15 drinks I get a freebie. This hurts a little bit. I mean, anyone who knows me is aware that I am a leading spokesperson for Starbucks. And now, I am left to swim in the same pool as the unwashed masses.

I have to hand it to the Starbucks marketing department. Here was the explanation for those of us who became members back when this perk mattered:

"To our dear early adopters of Starbucks Gold...  You made 2009 a great year, and you showed us that a rewards program was exactly what you wanted from Starbucks. As a special thanks, we're inviting you into the Gold Level of My Starbucks rewards."

Let me translate for you:  "Dear existing Gold member. Wow, you really took us for a ride with that discount. I mean, whew, we couldn't afford that for another year if we tried. So here are some nice words and we are going to hope that this prose and this new shiny card with your name on it will confuse you into forgetting the perks are all gone."

Message received.

Bach's Coffee Cantata

While recently playing Trivial Pursuit with my family, I found out that Johann Sebastian Bach shares the same love as I do. No, it is not our great musical talents. Although to be sure, they are very similar. He was a coffee guy and wrote a cantata about coffee as a result of his affection for the drink.

Called, Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht (Be still, stop chattering), the piece is the story of a father who has a daughter addicted to coffee. This seems like a very worthy topic indeed. Here are a couple of lines from this amped-up musical number:

Mm! how sweet the coffee tastes,
more delicious than a thousand kisses,
mellower than muscatel wine.
Coffee, coffee I must have,
and if someone wishes to give me a treat,
ah, then pour me out some coffee!

I think this should be a Kennedy Center performance immediately and will be writing several letters to see if I can get this on the the schedule.

The Bach Choir of Bethlehem has a more expansive look at this cantata. Click here to enjoy.

DAZBOG -- Thank You Comrade

If you are like me, sometimes you find yourself in an airport without a good cup of coffee. And then you may aimlessly wander the corridors daring yourself to get coffee from Einstein Bagel or some other place that you know will leave you sad. (As an aside, love your bagels, but stop making coffee)

I recently found a great place in the Denver Airport, Concourse C called Dazbog Coffee. The place claims to be the brainchild of Soviet immigrants who started Dazbog in Leningrad and was fulfilled as they escaped to America. It's a nice story, but all I care about is the fact that their coffee has some kick -- especially important when I am bleary-eyed on a long trip.

I also have to give props to their marketing department. Check out some of the coffee poetry on their Web site:  

"A great cup of Dazbog coffee is a conversation. It begins by taking a deep cleansing breath and saying to yourself "slow down, relax". Be present.

Start with fresh cold water. Touch it with your fingertips. Imagine a Russian winter. Cold, fresh, pure water is the canvas.

Pour your coffee and smell again. Savor the old-world charm and complexity. Now you are ready for your first taste of the day. . . your Dazbog moment. Let the coffee dance on your tongue. Roll it around so that coffee is touching every taste bud in your mouth. Taste the Richness? Enjoy!"

Good Stuff. You can find a store near you at this link:  http://www.dazbog.com/stores.html

$1 Coffee and Skiing

One thing I love about traveling is enjoying the simple things along the way. For example, this morning Mrs. Darkroasted and I took Tiny Roast up the mountain for his second skiing lesson in the last three days. We figured it was time for him to learn (he is 3 and a half you know.) As we sat in the lodge surveying the picturesque landscape and lightly falling snow, I sipped on warm coffee and listened to the sounds of the lodge as people slowly began to start the day. Was the coffee good, well... no. But as I have said many times, it is sometimes as much about atmosphere as it is the brew.

This was $1, all you can drink coffee served by the friendly staff at Great Divide Ski Resort and through the window I could watch a poor young man try to convince by stubborn son that sliding down the hill with these boards strapped to his feet was a good idea. Yes, the simple things are nice.