Coffee Scoops

Your Biscuits, Sir.

2005-12-25T13:54:00.000-08:00

Finally I have gotten a very solid explanation of why I never enjoyed sweets in combination with coffee that much. According to a research made by famous Nobel laureate Dr Len Fisher of Nottingham University in 1999, coffee, as well as tea, "washes away" a flavour of a biscuit before the mouth and nose have had time to fully appreciate them. At the same time, biscuits release up to 11 times more flavour when we eat them with milk.

In order to get the results the scientists had for two months made tests using hi-tech laboratory equipment. It included insertion of a nasal tube which measured the flavour released into the back of the nose by combinations of different drinks and biscuit brands (Digestives, Jaffa Cakes, Hobnobs). If you still insist on loving you coffee with biscuits, fear no more, soft drink like another can of your Diet Coke is the worst drink to have with your cookie. (Want to know more? - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/510044.stm)

Find a Head

2005-12-22T15:16:00.000-08:00

(For more funny illusions go to http://www.log-in.ru/dtSection/Galleries/?cat=10&dog=276&hamster=1. The site is in Russian, but it's easy to navigate)

Capuchin Hoods

2005-12-12T14:09:00.000-08:00

I have just recently found out the origin of the word Cappuccino. According to many sources, like for example, SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) cappuccino is named after the brown robes f the Capuchin monks. That’s because if you make it right, you can see a brown ring in the cup and that resembles the hoods of the monks. According to some, Capuchin monks are considered to be “the most macabre religious orders in the Catholic Church”. They are well known for their strange practice of making interior ornaments with the use of human bones and skeletons – br-r-r. This can be found in Rome, in the Capuchin Crypt beneath the Capuchin Church of the Immaculate Conception (1645), located on Via Veneto, near Barbarini Square. If you want to see how these ornaments look like follow the link at http://www3.sympatico.ca/tapholov/pages/bones.html.

I decided not to include the photos on the blog though. It’s a bit too much for light-hearted chat. However, the story is interesting and one day I would like to know more about why they followed such a strange tradition. If you know anything about it – just leave a comment. Anyways, no matter what the word “cappuccino” entails, the drink is definitely good. I just had a chance to prove it again to myself today.

Two Cups of Espresso

2005-12-10T07:16:00.000-08:00

~Coffee Tips Series
I decided to start Coffee Tips postings just to share any tips and tricks I might have ever used or heard from other people.

So, here's the first posting. What do you do if you just made espresso for two in your moka pot and it's ready to be poured into cups? How would you do that? Thing is that there's a stronger espresso at the bottom of the pot, so if you pour it in the first cup, finish and then pour it into another, then you will end up drinking two different flavours of espresso. Since it goes against all norms of proper sharing, I'd suggest you have 2-3 goes where you switch between two cups several times. This way, you'll make sure that both of you will be talking about the same coffee afterwards.

Italian Coffee Provinces

2005-12-06T13:43:00.000-08:00

As they righteously say, every province and city in Italy has its own blend of coffee. This is why sometimes, when you look into an often busy Italian store you don’t actually know what brand to buy or what stands behind it. Just to make this task of self-education a little bit easier you can use the following link at “The Mostly Italian Coffee” http://hem.bredband.net/akeisr/caffe/cfenglnk.html, which links to a big number of Italian coffee producers grouped by provinces. Some of you may also find quite handy to have a map of Italy to it as well.

For Lavazza Fans

2005-12-05T14:11:00.000-08:00

If once in a while you are up for sprucing up your desktop with something funky and distantly coffee-related, then check out this page on Lavazza.com with promotional downloads. My favourite is an active desktop with Lavazza images and a Calendar for 2005 which even lets you to put Post-it–like notes on your desktop. See it on this page: http://www.lavazza.com/default/channel/index_eng.jsp. Unfortunately, the calendar will only be working until February 2006, but I hope that the Calendar 2006 is not far away.

Illy or Lavazza?

2005-12-03T07:36:00.000-08:00

I had not thought much of coffee until the moment when I met one crazy Italian who could not spend any 2 hours without a cup of espresso. Addictions are easily picked up and in no time at all I myself was drinking it cup after cup.

The two espresso brands that we were using at the time were LavAzza and illy. Those are probably the most available pre-grinded espressos in the Western Europe. Although many more other brands exist on the market. I was always asking myself – “which one do I prefer?” and although I drink Lavazza Oro most of the time and find it very good to start you off for the day, Illy is personally my favourite in terms of the smoothness and the taste.

Do you want to know more or you already have an opinion to share with the rest of us? I have found one really good forum at Xpressivo.com where coffee drinkers heatedly debate Illy, Lavazza and other espresso brands. Here are the forum links: LavAzza and illy.

About Coffee Scoops

2005-12-01T14:57:00.000-08:00

I'm just starting this blog and I would like to use it as a place to talk and chat about anything connected to a beatiful drink named coffee... any other fabulous things there are in life and which are made for pure joy.

I found this photo of a woman smoking cigar somewhere in Cuba and thought that it will be a good starter to put it on the blog first. She does look a little ridiculous, does not she? And yet, I would probably trade myplace with her right now, to just sit on this porch, dressed pink and puffing out cigar smoke from my red-lipped rinkly mouth.

Since I'm not currently in Cuba, and I quit smoking a while ago, I would just use this blog as a place to sit and reflect on the life with a cup of coffee in my hand instead of a cigar.. And talk about coffee of course:)

hej ho

2005-11-30T14:29:00.000-08:00

hej ho