Coffee

With summer just on our doorstep we have for you a Pacas selection from the Las Flores farm, in the La Paz region of Honduras. This single varietal coffee is a great example of Pacas, and is full of notes of cherries and grapes, with some subtle peach in the finish. A lovely full mouthfeel that reminds us all of treacle and a crisp red apple freshness makes this a delicious coffee, hopefully to enjoy in the sunshine! You can get some here.

Peet's Coffee & Tea sent us over a sampler pack to try out of their new Peet's Single Cups that will work in any Keurig K-Cup Brewers. We only had one single cup of each to try out over the past few days and tried to savor each one to make sure we got our thoughts and impressions right. Overall these single cups taste like Peet's from whole ground coffee. The resulting coffee in your single serve coffee cup is rich, intense, and delicious. It's nice to see Peet's join the single serve coffee craze, and these are a welcome addition to the the single serve coffee world. Major Dickason's Blend - this is an everyday medium roast coffee for just about anyone. Yum. Cafe Domingo - Medium roast blend with subtle richer notes. We love the aftertaste that lingers with a little bite on this one. House Blend - Lighter and really good for mornings.  Decaf House Blend - Lighter and for a decaf - yes please. French Roast - their darkest roast and our favorite. It's on par with Tully's French roast coffee.     Related StoriesReview: Brown Gold 100% Colombian Real CupsReview: Brown Gold 100% Peruvian Real CupsReview: Brown Gold 100% Costa Rican Real CupsBest Yet K-Cups Store Brand 

Hamptons Lane offer a variety of high-end coffees from various roasters. The Montauk Sunrise is a smooth, light coffee with a gentle acidity and no sharp edges.

Trumansburg, New York is an interesting little village on the outskirts of Ithaca (an even more interesting little city). An eclectic blend of farmers and artists and commuters and transients. A distinctive mix of rural living and modern funkiness and home to the annual Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance (an event happening next month that has to be seen to be believed). T-Burg, as it's known, is also where you'll find Gimme! Coffee, 7 Main Street, USA. Along Main Street, and situated at the end of a row of classic Upstate New York commercial buildings, sits Gimme! Coffee. The little cafe that offers the same selection of award-winning coffees as the Soho Gimme! Coffee in Manhattan. Within its walls, congregating daily is a collection of regulars who have referred to Gimme! Coffee Trumansburg as "the center of the universe."One cafe regular, and an artist on literally a massive scale, is Jay Seaman who goes to Gimme almost every day to get his medium coffee with cream. Having grown up in Trumansburg, he has seen the town change, "T-Burg is a friendly town. I've made many wonderful friends here over the years," he remarks, over his to-go cup. "We run into each other at Gimme and it allows me to share my experiences and get some constructive criticism and feedback on my work. It's good to step back and take a break."Jay also mentioned, "If I'm struggling with a certain part of a sculpture, a good cup of Gimme helps. If it's a really tough problem, I might order a double latte."If you've seen Jay's sculptures, which sometimes crawl down the sides of city buildings, you'd see why he faces challenges in his work. With a welding torch in hand, he has designed and created stunning metal sculptures that are larger than life. Striking metal against nature in dramatic ways that is truly awe inspiring. Whether it's the human form, a horse, or a spider -- Jay Seaman's work is undeniably his."Right now I'm working on one of my biggest pieces yet. It's a Longhorn Steer. It's a commission piece and bound for Texas," he continued. "I work best on a large scale and my inspiration comes from all over. Mostly my own energy. I have countless ideas tucked away inside myself that will one day be realized. I get most of my ideas from nature and watching certain creatures move and studying their form. Other pieces simply evolve all by themselves. When I work I let the tools rule the sculpture. You can only make what the tools and material will allow."If you're ever in Trumansburg, stop into Gimme some afternoon and say "hi" to Jay. He'll be the one drinking the double latte and sketching on a napkin, staring intently at the fly in the window.Author's note: Do not expect to see the dinosaur shown in the photo above. She was visiting Trumansburg from her permanent home in Vermont.

Another day and another single serve coffee K-Cup debuts at your local grocer. From AB: While at Danforth’s in Bangor today, I happened to spot Best Yet k-cups. Best Yet is the store brand for Danforth’s, IGA, Piggly Wiggly, and many other independent grocery stores. They run $7.99 for 12 K-Cups. At our location they offer: Breakfast Blend Dark Roast Coastal Blend We're impressed with how many of these in house K-Cups are coming out and this means more selection for the single serve coffee drinker. Sound off in the comments if you'd tried these K-Cups and are they the Best Yet?     Related StoriesSoloGrind 2 In 1 Automatic Single Serve Coffee Burr Grinder at Bed Bath and BeyondECS Coffee release own brand of Single Cups for Keurig K-Cup brewersFrench Market Coffee Single Cups for Keurig K-Cup BrewersMelitta 100% Recyclable Single Serve Cups for Keurig Brewers 

Bottom Line: Overall this coffee maker has great features and makes great coffee, but the price Is very expensive and most customers have complained about technical failure's and weak coffee.Read review...

I shall be joining Ben Kaminsky for a lecture on the 2nd of July at the Joe Pro location and, if you are able, I hope you will join us.  It starts at 6.30pm, and will end around 8.30pm (or whenever the Q&A stops – I suspect it may end up being a pretty involved session).  Some info on Ben’s part: Ben will be presenting some of his research on coffee and espresso brewing, grinding, and roasting, that are sure to answer some long standing questions (e.g. Is espresso brewing inherently flawed? What actually constitutes an espresso roast?). He will also be outlining how to produce a “coffee shot”, the new way for brewing filter coffee that he thinks will likely replace the industry’s best and fastest brewers to date. Ben recommends you understand the basic elements of extraction, including practical use of an extract mojo if you want to get the most out of the class, though beginners are also welcomed. I will be talking about how some of this fits into the wider picture, where I see speciality going and the challenges ahead.  I’ll discuss wages, careers, profitability and how that all fits in with actually having a passion for coffee. I will also get to talk about the stuff that I’m generally not allowed to do at things like the SCAA. Tickets are $75.  They are available here. Side note:  I’d recommend grabbing a ticket in advance, rather than aiming to get one on the door… Related posts: Brewing outside of Gold Cup This isn’t really supposed to be a contentious or confrontational post. It is just something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Lots of people now have sufficient equipment to... Back to the mysteries of the bean I was involved in a training session under the broad title of advanced barista. It was just one person so we were able to tailor it to exactly wha the... SCAE Brewmaster Certification In the world of Speciality Coffee filter coffee isn’t very sexy. One criticism leveled at the SCAE is that it seems obsessed with espresso and yet espresso only makes up...

The SoloGrind 2 In 1 Automatic Single Serve Coffee Burr Grinder has snuck it's way into Bed Bath, and Beyond. AB spotted the Sologrind in his local BB&B and we think the packaging and general appearance is pretty interesting.  The SoloGrind 2 In 1 Automatic Single Serve Coffee Burr Grinder can make refilling your SoloFill resizable K-Cup a breeze, because the SoloGrind will put the coffee right into your reusable cup. We'll be getting one of these to review in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!     Related StoriesECS Coffee release own brand of Single Cups for Keurig K-Cup brewersFrench Market Coffee Single Cups for Keurig K-Cup BrewersMelitta 100% Recyclable Single Serve Cups for Keurig BrewersThe Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf Joins the Keurig Family 

Bottom Line: 10 Rating Across The BoardRead review...

Recently, I had the pleasure of conducting a short interview with Master Herbalist and Nutritional Consultant Adela Hasas, who has an inspiring and insightful way of describing the benefits of drinking tea. I am also a fan of her blog and appreciate her candid writing style. While Adela values a holistic approach to wellness and appreciates tea’s role as a healing agent, she is very level-headed and sensible about the advantages of herbal medicine. It may not be a cure-all, but there’s just something to say for a hot cuppa of verdant leaves. As Adela so aptly explained, it’s a lot better than a “‘one pill for one ill’ mentality … [it's] fast and easy medicine right from your pantry!” You know, you’ve tried it?  Right? Alexandra: When did you become interested in tea and how does it work into your overall concerns with holistic health? Adela: I grew up with herbal tea being ubiquitous, but green tea specifically didn’t figure much into my life until a few years ago. Holistic health is all about the mind-body-spirit connection, about how everything affects everything else. It’s the opposite of the “one pill for one ill” mentality. What I love about green tea is that it brings balance to so many of the body’s systems, including emotions, and it’s not so much a functional thirst-quencher as it is a multifaceted healing modality. It’s this all-in-one power drink from such a delicate little leaf. I have such respect for it. Alexandra: When you lived in Romania, did you drink tea there? Adela: Romanians love their herbal teas (my mom has an overflowing cupboard of boxes and boxes of bagged and loose-leaf teas), but I didn’t really drink green or black tea until I came to the States. I don’t even know if we had it in Romania! As a kid, I don’t remember having iced tea, ever. I grew up during the Communist regime, so our imports were pretty limited. Alexandra: What inspired you to attend a natural medicine school?  What have you learned from the experience? Adela: For years I’d studied nutrition and natural health on my own, so I figured it might be a good idea to have some credentials to back up my knowledge. Honestly, I don’t even remember exactly how I found the school! I’d been researching natural medicine colleges for a couple years, but in general they were too pricey or unaccredited. Somehow I eventually stumbled upon the Global College of Natural Medicine (GCNM), and the curriculum (and price!) were right up my alley, so I enrolled that very same day. As far as what I learned—that’s probably the most interesting part. I went in believing just about everything, but I came out a skeptic. I definitely still believe in herbs and nutrition and a holistic approach to healing, but I am against anything that’s been proven time and again to be nothing beyond a placebo effect. Let’s call it what it is, shall we? Alexandra: Why should a non-tea drinker consider drinking tea? Adela: It’s interesting; I think from the outside, non-tea drinkers may view green tea as a hippie drink, as something too “soft” and bland. But there’s just something about it that completely changes the pace of your day. If you start your day with green tea rather than coffee, you’re off to a mellow, slow, indulgent start. Or if you’re having a hectic day at work, instead of reaching for a cuppa Joe at 3:00 PM to continue the mad rush and sustain your hectic heartbeat, why not slow down for a bit? Your body wants something comforting, and a nice mug of hot tea is just the thing. Alexandra: What are the most important concepts, ideas, or skills you have learned as a master herbalist? Adela: Resourcefulness! I am so in awe of the wide range of healing properties of the most basic little plants found all around us. If I have a stomach ache, I don’t need to rush to the store for some Tums; I can just pour some hot water over mint leaves from my mom’s backyard. If I’m anxious and can’t fall asleep, I steep some chamomile flowers that my good frien