That little something is some sort of alcoholic beverage of your choosing. Here without further ado is a recipe for a Cappuccino with a Shot (or two).

Cappuccino with a Shot ingredients – makes four 8 oz. cups
4 cups of espresso (or strong coffee)
2 cups of half and half
4 oz of Creme de Cacao
2 oz of rum
2 oz of Stock 84 Brandy

Start by heating water to almost a boil and pour the water into four – 8 oz. ceramic cups. If you have a microwave oven, you can skip this step and heat your cups right before serving in the microwave.

If you have an espresso maker with a steamer, starting with the half and half, put all of the ingredients in a steamer vessel and bring to approx. 130º F. You will probably not get a nice foam with the amount of alcohol in this recipe. So don’t go higher than 120 or 130º, since the object is to heat the mixture and not get a nice foam top.

If you don’t have an espresso maker, starting with the half and half, put all of the ingredients into a medium saucepan. Get the mixture really hot but not to a boil. You microwave folks can use the microwave to heat the mixture, which will be faster.

Take the hot espresso (or strong coffee) and pour it into the steaming vessel (or saucepan). Take a spoon and stir a few times to blend everything together.

Empty the water out of the cups and pour the coffee mix into the cups and serve with a napkin. Enjoy!

Drop me a line and let me know what your favorite Fall brew is. do you have a pumpkin brew recipe you care to share? Stay toasty! Java Guy

Thank you for all of your e-mails. And a big THANK YOU to Jim Fortune for keeping everything afloat while I get back to business. I won’t go into all of the gory details, it would only creep you out. But I should be able to start posting next week, September 28th, on a somewhat limited basis.

Jim Fortune will be joining me as an editor. Go easy on him. He’s in his fifties and is the Budget Travel Editor at Bellaonline.com. You can read his posts at Budget Travel . His feet are a lot bigger than mine and he should have no problem filling my shoes and maybe a couple of other people’s shoes at the same time. I think he told me that he wears a size 15 M. That a real shoe and a lot bigger than my ladies size 7.

Jim has been drinking coffee for a while and his views will bring a different view of java that you will enjoy. The Recent Jobs lising on the right hand side of our front page was his idea. If you would like to post a job feel free to click the link. It’s only $10 for a 30 day listing. Not a bad value for online advertising today. We’ll talk again the week of September 28th.  If you have any questions, leave me a comment. I will answer you back. I hope you are enjoying a nice brew of coffee. Java Girl

You may have noticed that I added a box in the upper right corner of the main page for the Colorado Coffee newsletter. I thought I would take a minute to tell you about it. The newsletter is a sort of coffee klatch. For you guys, that’s girl talk for a social gathering for coffee and conversation. Seven or eight of my friends and I will sit around a table for four and chat about trips, clothes, guys, vacations, pictures we took with our digital cameras, review DVDs we’ve seen, etc.

The Colorado Coffee newsletter is more of a coffee klatch about coffee, grinders, makers, cups, recipes, and general coffee topics. I promise there will be no girl talk. I’ve never done a newsletter before, so I might be a little hair brained starting off. Please don’t e-mail me and tell me that.   Well if you must, I guess that’s O.K.

I use a program from Aweber Communications for my e-mail list. You can see what it does here AWeber. This is called an auto responder and it’s kind of like an e-mail program like Outlook where you set it up when you are out of town, it will respond with a note telling people you are away on vacation, etc. Aweber is really good at subscribing and unsubscribing people so when the day comes that you want to subscribe, fill out the box on the main page and it will send you an e-mail for you to confirm that you want the newsletter. This is called a double opt-in and reduces any unwanted e-mail from me to you. You have to really want the e-mail newsletter. If you don’t reply back, you aren’t on the newsletter list.

On the other hand, if you decide one day that you do not want the newsletter any longer, (and I hope that day never comes) every e-mail you get from me has an unsubscribe link at the bottom that you can use to unsubscribe from the list.

I also plan to use Aweber to track what articles people read in the newsletter, so you might see links in the newsletter that start out like this:
http://click.aweber.com/ and lots of other capital and lower case letters. I’m just trying to see what people are reading so I can target my articles to the ones that are popular.

If you ever want to get a hold of me, the best way is to leave a comment, under one of the articles I write on the blog. Every comment is moderated, so I read each one before it posts on the  blog. If you want to ask a question or see an article about a subject, leave me a comment.

I’m still getting settled after my vaca. And I need to tell you about Molly. If you have any questions, leave me a comment. I will answer you back. I hope you are enjoying a nice brew of coffee.  Java Girl

If you want a good cup a coffee, you will need to add some oil. Coffee oil is very flavorful and improves the taste of coffee, but it is lost during the normal filtered brewing process. Coffee made with a French press doesn’t pass through a filter so you don’t lose those natural aromatic coffee oils. Most coffee lovers agree that a French Press Coffee Maker makes a superior cup of coffee. 

A French press (sometimes called a coffee press) is usually a glass cylinder with a plumber like device inside. You place your coffee grinds inside and pour hot water into it. The water should not be boiling or you will scald your grinds, which will affect the taste. 200 degree water is the optimum temperature for a fine cup of coffee. If you’re using a kettle to heat your water, remove it from the heat before if starts whistling. Either that or you can let the water boil but let it sit for a few minutes before pouring it into your coffee press. Remember to leave at least an inch of space when filling up the French press.

Coffee beans that are ground too finely will clog the filter. You will probably be okay with automatic drip coffee grind but the best way to enjoy French press coffee is to grind the beans yourself. Try to grind the beans to a size a little bigger than automatic drip coffee grinds. This may take some practice to get comfortable with your coffee grinder but it’s worth it. And remember that once you grind your coffee beans they should be used immediately or kept in an air tight container to keep them from getting stale.

Let the coffee steep in the water for about 4 minutes. Now it’s time for the press part of the French press. Place the French press on a no slip surface and slowly and smoothly press the plunger down. Press too hard or too quickly and in a worst case scenario, you could have boiling hot water shoot out all over you. This step is how the coffee grinds are forced to the bottom of the container and you’re left with delicious fresh brewed coffee in the top chamber. You are now ready to pour and serve.

The French press has undergone a makeover in recent years. Manufacturers have added French presses to travel mugs and thermoses. As long as you have hot water you can make a fresh brewed cup of coffee anywhere. And most of these travel mugs and thermoses are insulated so that your coffee will stay warm longer.

With coffee becoming such an important part of most people’s days, isn’t it time that we pampered ourselves with a better tasting brew. The French press is an easy and flavorful way to make a cup of coffee. So if you’re tired of the brown water that comes out of coffee vending machines in your office, then the French press is perfect for you.

If you have any questions, leave me a comment. I will answer you back. I hope you are enjoying a nice brew of coffee. Java Girl

When it comes to specialty coffee and camping or backpacking, there are, shall I say, two camps. There are those who like a more refined and perhaps more expensive method of making coffee in the rough. And then there are those of us who like coffee a little bit cheaper, but have it taste just as good.

While thumbing through a recent issue of Backpacker Magazine, I noticed an ad for a Brunton Coffeemaker. 
Brunton makes a maker called, BrewFire Dual-Fuel Coffee Maker. It is not for the weak of heart nor for the slight of pocketbook. This coffee maker will set you back $100.00+ US dollars. Yes girls, $100.00+. But remember it is dual fired. You can use propane or butanne and it can be taken anywhere. Dump in your coffee, turn a knob, flip a switch and you are brewing 8 cups of coffee in no time. It comes with a stainless steel carafe, butane attachment, durable ABS plastic, and has a foot print of 10″x14″x10″ with the carafe. It weighs 6.5 pounds.

To give you an idea of the weight, my backpacking, 2 person, 3 season tent weighs 6.8 lbs and includes the vestibule. So getting just a coffee maker that weighs 6.5 pounds, is something to consider, if you are backpacking your gear into the interior.

As I mentioned, there are two camps. The folks in the Brunton camp are probably not backpackers but are probably car campers or RV campers. I wouldn’t call RVers campers, campers, but that is probably another article for another day. So there is the other camp.

The other camp is probably the camp where you’ll find me. I have a little MSR MugMate Coffee/Tea Filter that costs $16.95. I also have a One-Cup Coffee Maker from REI that goes for $5.50. I read about the MSR MugMate Coffee/Tea Filter in Backpacker magazine. I think it was the annual “gear of the year” issue that came out a few years ago, but don’t quote me on that, because I am not sure if it was or not. I do know from searching Backpacker.com that it got the Backpacker Magazine Editors’ Choice 2009 Gold Award. You probably want to know how much it weighs, right? Try one ounce on for size.

The weather is warm here through the weekend. We’ve had rain all last weekend so I am ready for some dry weather. 20% chance of rain on Saturday, though. Early mornings will be good for coffee drinking. Make up a fresh cup and get out on the deck first thing before the sun gets too hot. If you have any questions, leave me a comment. I will answer you back. I hope you are enjoying a nice brew of coffee.  Java Girl

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