Here are a few coffee articles I found interesting in the news and tweeted to my followers on Twitter this past week:
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.
3 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
Nice site for coffee news. Been looking for a good site. I only use my coffee filters for coffee, however
That’s Wired article is really interesting. I thought I knew what was in my coffee company until I read that.
I had always wondered about Yirgacheffe. Now I know. Thanks Ken!