This week I came across a Chris Pirillo video on a new product being made by XPress, called the XPress smartcup. The smartcup is a portable, recyclable french press, completely made of plastic. It works like a regular 3-cup french press would – add the ground coffee to the cup, pour in hot water (195-205 degrees Fahrenheit), stir after a minute, then after 3 more minutes of steeping, slowly push down on the plastic ‘T” part until it clicks and you’re ready to drink (you can see this about 4 minutes into the video linked below).

I don’t really see too many people using this in the home (but I could be wrong). I do see the value of the smartcup in coffee shops and coffee bars. Most shops use drip brew coffee machines which can limit the flavor potential of the coffee, but a handful of shops offer french press coffee to customers (small, 3-cup presses or large, 8-12 cup presses for groups).

Plastic french presses don’t really hold heat too well, though, and glass french presses are dropped far too often. For these reasons, I think individual, recyclable french press cups that customers can take with them has a lot of potential, as long as coffee shops make sure to grind the beans coarsely, use the right temperature of water and also educate customers on how to use the french press cups. What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

Last week, our blog post featured Cheeming Boey, an artist who draws amazing artwork on foam cups with a sharpie.

We came across an article this week about Dirceu Veiga, a Brazillian designer who creates art using coffee for ink. Click here to see Dirceu’s Web page featuring his coffee art.

I recently came across a collection of amazing coffee cup art. Cheeming Boey draws on foam coffee cups with a sharpie. I thought this was just too good to not share.

Check out the collection of photos on Flickr. Click here to view the images. Here’s the background story on Boey.

Downtown coffee shop pulls plug on power-hungry patrons
A big debate is brewing between coffee shop owners; should they continue offering free Internet access to patrons, knowing a few will stay for hours, occupying limited seating, without making a purchase? Or cut off access and hope customers still visit without the free Internet perk? I think there should be a time limit, with a code printed on a receipt… need more Internet time? Make another purchase. Happy medium. What do you think?

Coffee brims with health benefits, researchers say
An interesting article on some of the health benefits of drinking coffee by researchers at Harvard Medical School. Most interesting to me was the increased life span, with researchers commenting, “women who drank at least five to seven cups a week had a death rate 26 percent lower than non-consumers.”

Coffee-shop chemistry: The resurgence of single-cup brewing
I’ve recently began brewing more coffee in my Japanese cone dripper, a ceramic, Melitta-like filter that sits on top of a mug, where you can brew a single cup of coffee. Although I really enjoy this method at home, there aren’t too many coffee shops that offer coffee this way… which is a shame. There’s nothing like watching your very own cup of coffee being freshly brewed right before your eyes.

Coffee filters can be used for more than just coffee
A few unique ideas on ways you can use coffee filters other than for brewing coffee. I’m not quite sure how many people would actually use these ideas for brand new filters, I would have liked to have read some ideas for recycling used coffee filters. On a similar note, here’s a blog post we wrote a few months back with ideas for recycling spent coffee grounds.

Is Yirgacheffe a Coffee or a Brand?
You’ve probably heard of Yirgacheffe coffee (like Sumatra coffee, or Kenyan coffee)… but is the word ‘Yirgacheffe’ a coffee or a brand (such as Blue Mountain)?

How to use a blade grinder for optimum coffee flavor
Although we recommend using conical burr grinders for grinding coffee, as they precisely slice coffee beans in a consistent manner (which greatly improves flavor), many home brewers still have blade grinders. If you have to use a blade grinder, this examiner.com article gives some good tips on the best way to use one to maximize flavor. They also quote one of our prior blog posts on using white rice to clean your grinder, which is a quick and effective way to clean out any type of coffee grinder.

What’s Inside a Cup of Coffee?
From Wired Magazine, a look at a few of the chemical components that make up a cup of coffee and what direct and indirect contributions the chemicals make. Why does drinking coffee tend to reduce your chances of getting cavities? The credit goes to the chemical trigonelline, which also gives coffee its sweet, earthy taste.

Please comment below with your thoughts on any of these stories and share this post with a coffee loving friend. For more coffee news, as I find it, follow me on Twitter and let’s connect.

Coffee 101: What is latte art?
A short explanation of what latte art is, including a video of a barista making lattes of zoo animals (pretty neat!). You likely won’t find baristas making latte art at your local retail coffee chain, but you may be surprised if you have an independent coffee house near you.

Coffee mug-shaped cubicle is a cramped reminder of how much you hate your job
This is a very interesting cubicle created by a Brazillian designer… it’s a very small space in the shape of a coffee mug. It has a place for a laptop, a slot for you to hold your coffee, and a place for you to sit down… and that’s about it!

Clever coffee mug keeps your drink warm
Heat loss has long been a problem with drinking coffee out of mugs. My recommendation is to always rinse your mug out with hot water before you pour any coffee into it, as this lets the mug keep your coffee hot longer. Still, it doesn’t stay hot for long… but a German researcher has developed a way to keep hot coffee hot in your mug (or cold liquids cold). No, this isn’t a USB-powered mug warmer (although those do exist), this is a coffee mug made out of PCM (phase change material), the same stuff used in buildings to regulate heat, which can keep your coffee hot for up to 30 minutes.

10 Mistakes That Will Ruin Your Coffee
A short article outlining a few things we can do to make our coffee taste better. A few tips to note were #4, to store coffee at room temperature and #9, to not let your coffee “stew” on a warming plate. I agree with both of these. Coffee should never be stored in the freezer as coffee is porous and will soak up odors from its surroundings… and coffee shouldn’t be left on a warming plate, either, as the longer coffee sits there cooking, it actually changes the chemistry of the brew and the coffee will not taste fresh. Only brew how much you can drink within 30 minutes.

The top 5 worst coffee drinks in America
Do you know how many calories are in that large mocha you get at the local coffee shop or fast food restaurant? What about that large frozen cappuccino? You’d be surprised. You can make equally as delicious coffee drinks at home, even with better quality using fresh roasted coffee beans and using healthier alternatives than what you might find outside your home.

New Eco-Friendly Printer Needs No Ink, No Electricity, Just Used Coffee Grinds
A pretty neat concept, this printer uses used coffee grinds for printing. The printer also does not use electricity (the printing is done manually) so this is about as ‘green’ as you can get it. See my prior blog post on other uses for spent coffee grinds.

Please comment below with your thoughts on any of these stories and share this post with a coffee loving friend. For more coffee news, as I find it, follow me on Twitter and let’s connect.

Freshness valve keeps coffee beans at their peak
If you want fresh roasted coffee to stay fresh and great tasting, it’s so important to properly store beans to maximize flavor. Always store coffee beans in a cool, dark place, and not in a refrigerator or freezer as you may have heard. Actually, even sealing up coffee beans in canisters or bags isn’t perfect as there is oxygen still left in the canister or bag you just sealed up, quickly degrading the bean and causing flavor loss. The canister in this article helps to prevent this by removing oxygen and any C02 from the beans through a freshness valve.

French Press Coffee: A Step-by-Step Guide to Handcrafted Coffee
A pretty good article on making french press coffee. I agree with most of it except where it suggests steeping for 10 minutes for a strong brew. Normal steep time is about 4 minutes. Anything more and you’ll be overextracting (10 minutes is way too long), anything less and you’ll be underextracting… unless you have a very small french press (ex. 3 cup), then 3 minutes might be OK. For more information on french press coffee, see my blog post on it.

The Fisticup Coffee Mug
You know, I’m not even quite sure what to think about this product… it’s a coffee mug that uses something that resembles brass knuckles for the handle. I thought it was unique and mildly humorous, though you might not want to take it to work with you… probably breaks your company’s code of conduct. 

Home brewed: Making your own coffee in the comfort of your home
This article explains how making coffee in your home can not only be more affordable than going to a coffee house, but you can also make better tasting coffee at home as well. I really liked this part: “In general, the more recently your coffee was roasted, the better your cup will be. That’s why you should consider buying your coffee locally.” That is spot on, especially since fresh roasted coffee only stays fresh for 10-14 days max after roasting. You might not have a coffee roaster locally, but you can always buy fresh roasted coffee from an online retailer. This is one of those articles that validates what we do at Weekly Roast Coffee since not everyone has access to a local roaster.

Coffee Shop Customers Donate Cups Of Java
Have you ever gone up to pay for your cup of coffee only to be told that you don’t need to pay anything because the person in front of you already paid for your drink? It’s only happened to me once, at the hospital when my son was born last October. I was so tired from being up all night, I said “thanks” and walked out without ‘paying it forward’ to the next customer (hey, I was really tired). Well, this is a nice story about a coffee shop in Missouri who had customers ‘pay it forward’ over one thousand times!

Kopi Luwak: Coffee beans or coffee buttons?
As mentioned in the movie The Bucket List, Kopi Luwak is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. This article explains why, but more importantly, will probably deter you from ever wanting to try it. Although I’m in the coffee biz, I’ve never tried this kind of coffee (and never want to!), but it’s supposed to be good to the last drop(ping).

Please comment below with your thoughts on any of these stories and share this post with a coffee loving friend. For more coffee news, as I find it, follow me on Twitter and let’s connect.

Finding one can be difficult, though. Some communities have many… others, such as in Orlando, FL where I live, have very few (and the ones we’ve had have, for the most part, gone out of business!).

I recently came across the Delocator.net Web site, which helps you do just that. Simply pull up the Web site, enter in your zip code and choose ‘coffee’ from the drop-down menu (the site started out focusing solely on coffee but now also offers search for books, movies, music and organic food).

Not only is it important to support small businesses found in the Delocator, but you may also find that a lot of these coffee houses use fresher beans and are more dedicated to maintaining high quality, giving you a better tasting coffee or espresso-based drink (they almost have to be, to compete with the big guys).

If you’ve used this site with success, let me know in the comments and please share this post with a friend who enjoys good coffee.

Delocator.net

One of the most frequent questions I hear in coffee shops is “what’s the difference between a cappuccino and a caffe latte?”. I’m also frequently asked on email and Twitter how to make certain coffee or espresso-based drinks and what proportions are needed to achieve the best taste. I happened to come across Lokesh Dhakar’s blog who posted a great illustrative picture (shown below) which describes the different ingredients for making these drinks and the layering involved.

This is a great resource for the home barista or anyone new to espresso-based drinks who wants to know exactly how to replicate those $5 specialty drinks (now you can make them at home for a fraction of the price). Enjoy and share with your friends via the link below.

Return to our Coffee Library to read more coffee tips.