The Reading Room

J. S. Bach's Coffee Cantata (Peasant Cantata) ''Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht'' BWV 211 - Final Chorus Libretto by Christian Friedrich Henrici This cantata, a short musical drama, was composed for performance by Bach's Collegium at Zimmerman's Coffee House, Leipzig, between...

There are coffee songs popping up from classical to modern musical venues. One such song, by Josh Woodward, is a cute song by itself, but it’s made 100 times more enjoyable when coupled with the high-energy antics of Jesse, the...

There have been many reports this week about a University of British Columbia study of antioxidants in roasted coffee. Some of the discussions were a bit confusing, but some writers, including reporter Randy Shore, have clarified the conflicting conclusions. Antioxidants...

Not too long ago someone offered to send me some Coffeeduck Espresso adapters since they did not work in his machine. Being a coffee gadget fan I gladly accepted and came in the mail today as promised. My Nespresso machine...

Some might say the coffee shops in Tokyo have gone to the dogs, or more correctly, cats. Not only in Japan, but also in Korea and Vietnam, the popularity of or fascination with cats is getting a little over the...

Jessica Webster of Ann Arbor’s online news has a problem that many of you share - forecasts of more snow. If the stormy weather is still threatening and there are concerns of potential power outages, Jessica has some advice, most...

Erin Meister recently traveled to Nicaragua so she could taste a fresh coffee cherry. Well, maybe not just to taste the cherry, but as a barista trainer and coffee culture writer, she’s presumably interested in the whole coffee story and...

The energy drink controversy is in the news again this week. JAMA, Journal of the American Medical Association and a NY Post writer have come out punching with no holds barred. They just do not like these drinks and they...

I stand corrected and again acknowledge that I oversimplified by reducing coffee drinkers to the two end-of-the-line groups. As pointed out by Julie Fisher in LinkedIn, there is a “massive market between the two”, meaning the people who are not...

If you’re not quite sure what Kopi Luwak coffee is, there’s a great photoblog on msn.com news that goes into more detail about the Kopi Luwak process. The blog’s photos steal the show, as they feature the adorable Asian Palm...

Kickstand Coffee has to earn the award for the lowest overhead of a multi-site coffee shop in New York City. It doesn’t get any simpler than the mobile coffee stand of the entrepreneurial trio, which also probably has the lowest...

A British Online Recruitment site reported on a study this week about the on-the-job drinking habits of Brits. The study set out to examine caffeinated beverage drinking, in particular, during the workday. It was found that the average British worker...

News from the small nation of Croatia proves that the coffee world is not discriminatory. You don’t have to be a Starbucks to institute a new trend. Techmash in the UK posted a story this month about a coffee shop...

A couple of days ago my dad remembered easy doughnuts my mom used to make. She would fry store bought biscuit dough (the kind in the cylinder) and coat in sugar. I did not have biscuit dough or flour. The...

The Examiner.com ran a short article announcing that today, January 25, is the annual Irish Coffee Day. There’s still time to celebrate with the delicious hot coffee-Irish Whiskey combo that’s perfect for a cold January night. Apparently it was in...

It seems that actor Ashton Kutcher and I have something in common – we love our coffee. At least one of us can sing about it – well, technically he plays the guitar to step-daughter Scout Willis’ singing. The video...

The idea of being able to freeze coffee is attractive. Maybe you don't even come close to using up a bag before the beans start to go stale. If you could freeze coffee, however, then you could enjoy beans at...

We couldn’t finish out January without noting that this month is the birthday of the paper cup. It was 103 years ago, January 1908, when Hugh Moore came up with the idea, in the interests of improving health. Up until...

Many of us are familiar with Southeast Asian coffee and may have tried a few from Sumatra, Thailand, Indochina, and even Vietnam. We might wonder where the Japanese coffees are, since the islands are in the same latitudes as Hawaii...

Iced Coffee is the newest cold weather trend. You heard that right. Cold weather, as in winter, is no barrier to enjoying freezing chilled coffee, which in summer is a welcome cooler. So just when you thought your favorite coffee...

Not all coffee cherries are alike. Oh, they look alike alright, but looks are only skin deep, as we say. Lurking inside 5% of those pretty red cherries is a different appearing bean. In fact, it’s a single bean that...