Gourmet Coffee Shop

Gevalia is Stalking Me and I Wish They'd Stop

2007-03-25T19:38:00.000-05:00

What is the deal?
I kid you not - I am getting up to three emails a day from the Gevalia company and they wanna give me a coffee pot and 4 bags of their "premium" coffee and in small letter they tell me I'll receive another bag or two ever month and ohh yeah I get to pay for this priveledge, could they have my credit card number please?
No way I'm giving them any information.
I've written about five times now to have myself removed and these emails keep coming.
If they can't even remove a person from their email list how the heck can they possibly manage to handle something larger like oh say...a customer's account?

They use dried coffee beans anyway - I wouldn't switch from fresh roasted coffee beans for money (or a free coffee pot).

But I really wish Gevalia would leave me alone.

Good News For Coffee Drinkers!!!

2007-03-25T19:36:00.000-05:00

Healthy people, drink up coffee
Sun, 25 Mar 2007 22:17:39
A new study shows if you are healthy and do not suffer from high blood pressure, you may not have to cut back on coffee.

Caffeine in the short-term can increase blood pressure.

Therefore, drinking coffee has been linked to an increase in the risk of high blood pressure over time.

But based on a study, healthy women who drank up to six cups of coffee every day had no more risk of developing high blood pressure than those who did not drink it.

On the other hand, women who drank coffee in moderation, between one and three cups a day, had a higher risk of developing high blood pressure than heavy drinkers or non-coffee drinkers.

A possible reason is that drinking several cups of coffee a day may increase tolerance to the blood-pressure-raising effects of caffeine.

In men, it did not matter how much coffee they drank, the risk of high blood pressure did not increase.

However, coffee has some health benefits as well in healthy people, such as lowering the risk of diabetes.

MGP/TM/IS

Article link: http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=3834§ionid=3510210

Another Good Reason to Drink Coffee - Especially Fresh Roasted Coffee!

2007-03-09T17:43:00.000-06:00

Two New Studies on Aspartame and Diet Drinks Confirm Source of Obesity, Cancer/Malignant Brain Tumor Epidemics
THE Cancer Research Center of the European Foundation of Oncology and Environmental Sciences in Bologna, Italy reported this week that a long-term study to evaluate the potential carcinogenic effects of aspartame demonstrates the chemical sweetener "induces an increase in lymphomas and leukemia in female rats." The research will be presented at a September international scientific conference, "Framing the Future in the Light of the Past: Living in a Chemical World."

Neurosurgeon Russell Blaylock M.D. commented: "The new study released in the European Journal of oncology by Morando Soffritti and co-workers should terrify mothers and all those consuming aspartame sweetened products. This was a carefully done study which clearly demonstrated a statistically significant increase in several types of lymphomas and leukemia in rats. Both of these malignancies have increased significantly in this country since the widespread use of aspartame.

"This study confirmed the previous study by Dr. Trocho and co-workers, which also found the formaldehyde breakdown product of aspartame to be damaging to cellular DNA and that this damage was accumulative. The type of damage was a duplicate of that associated with cancers. Along with this most recent study, this means that drinking a single diet cola sweetened with aspartame every day could increase one's risk of developing a lymphoma or leukemia.

"They also found an increased incidence of malignant brain tumors, even though it was not statistically significant. This does not mean there is no association to brain tumors, since only the animals exposed to aspartame developed the tumors. With children and pregnant women drinking the largest amount of diet colas, this puts their children at the greatest risk of developing one of these horrible diseases. Their study found that even low doses of aspartame could cause these malignancies; yet, the higher the dose, the more cancers that were seen.

"Since aspartame can increase obesity and may even cause the metabolic syndrome that affects 48 million Americans, there is no reason to ever consume this product. At the least it should be immediately banned from all schools."

Dr. Blaylock wrote the Miami Herald to counteract propaganda by the Calorie Control Council, an aspartame front group: "It is known that the amount of toxic phenylalanine reaching the baby is twice as high as that in the mother's blood because the placenta concentrates the toxin. In addition, numerous metabolic breakdown products of aspartame are known to damage the developing infant's brain, including methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid, diketopiperizine and phenylacetate.

"Aspartame has been shown by several studies to damage DNA, which can lead to cancer and degenerative brain disorders later in life. The risk of increased brain tumors in such a child would be enormous. Similar mechanisms of damage would be expected in these with liver disease. Studies on aspartame safety have shown that the product increases tumors throughout numerous organs, especially the brain. It was shown that brain tumor incidence increased over 47 times in animals exposed to aspartame.

"With the public concern over childhood obesity and diabetes few are being told of the overwhelming evidence that early exposure to excitotoxins as found in aspartame consistently produce gross obesity and insulin resistant diabetes, just as we are seeing in our youth. The promoters of aspartame use have been lying from the beginning and continue to use their money and political clout to cover up the real and present dangers of this toxic product." Astonishingly the Miami Herald ignored Dr. Blaylock's lifesaving cry of alarm. "Clout" in Miami means advertising dollars!

The Division of Clinical Epidemiology of the University of Texas Health Center at San Antonio just reported a study by Sharon Fowler, MPH that reviewed eight years of data confirming a diet soda link to obesity. She said: "Something linked to diet soda drinking is also linked to obesity.

An earlier study found weight gain among 78,694 women using artificial sweeteners: Stellman SD, Garfinkel L: "Artificial Sweetener Use and One-Year Weight Change Among Women. Prev Med 1985: 15: 195-202.

Joe Stalin said: "One man's death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." Consider the tragedy of an 8 year old child who consumed aspartame products as told by Dr. H. J. Roberts in his 1038 page magnum work "Aspartame Disease, an Ignored Epidemic". "In two years she developed marketed swelling of one shoulder which then involved the neck. Her arm almost tripled in size. ... Numerous physicians and consultants diagnosed histiocytic leukemia. The patient received large doses of Prednisone. Of particular interest is there was dramatic clinical improvement and virtual normalization of the blood changes when the mother eliminated additives. Prednisone was stopped. The patient subsequently ate several bowls of an aspartame cereal. Marked swelling of the checks developed, coupled with recurrence of the aforementioned features. When aspartame was discontinued, the swelling receded without Prednisone.

"Several months later, the girl was given aspartame chewing gum without the mother's knowledge. Swelling of her entire body, recurrent enlargement of the liver and spleen, a dramatic increase of bone marrow histiocytes, and severe pain in many joints ensued. Total abstinence from aspartame again affected the disappearance of her symptoms and blood abnormalities within 6 months. At the time of Dr. Roberts last discussion with her mother, the child had minimal enlargement of the liver, and was receiving Prednisone in low doses only intermittently.

"The patient had two sets of head x-rays, three CT scans of the brain, two spinal punctures, four bone marrow studies, two electroencephalograms, two heart monitoring studies, two baraium enemas, and a host of other studies. Her mother estimated the medical costs at $750,000." [Page 476]

Statistics? Says Dr. Betty Martini: "There are millions of victims like this little girl! Once documented reports like hers were received as field research by medical professionals. That time has long passed. Today her near-murder is just an "anecdote", a statistic! What unspeakable torture to visit upon an innocent child by these heinous mass poisoners: the chemical sweetener cartel! I've sent thousands of case histories to the FDA and could as well be talking to the Egyptian pyramid of Cheops. The price of medical treatment in the USA means most American families are but a single serious illness from financial destruction. The agony, disablement, death and family ruination wrought by aspartame wrecks our land with a trail of devastation exceeding category 5 hurricanes! With incomparably greater cost and pain!"

Continued Dr. Martini, founder of Mission Possible International, a worldwide volunteer force which for 14 years has exposed chemical sweeteners: "How shall we count aspartame atrocities? Our FDA once listed them, named 92 symptoms from more than ten thousand volunteered complaints by American consumers. Their Buchenwald list included four kinds of seizures, blindness, sexual dysfunction, mental destruction and death. Then FDA shut the report window and no longer takes and tabulates reports. I've sent them more cases than they listed, but you can't get the death list now; they deny it existed. Think of FDA simply as the branch office of the pharmaceutical industry inWashington!"

Martini states: "There's a war going on in our schools. A war for their health, their futures, their lives. It's a covert war, unannounced by the media, unknown by those to be sacrificed or their guardians. Our schools are dope houses. Millions or our children are on Ritalin, et al. Aspartame and toxic MSG is dumped on their lunches. An ever greater list of vaccines is commanded to contaminate their blood. The chemical cartel is insatiable! And what the harvest? Is our kids’ healthier, fitter, better balanced and more secure than we were generations ago? We don't understand health! Every normal physical condition has become a malady treatable, not curable, only by medication, for life. Dr. Gary Null reported on his 6/5/05 interview with Dr. Peter Rost, Pfizer Marketing VP, who candidly revealed the unbelievable drug company profits: Retail price of 100 Prozac 20mg tablets is $247.47. The active ingredient in ALL these is eleven cents! Jesus spoke of those who devour widows houses. Who could say it better?

"But in some states a minuteman call is going out: Ditch the drugs, void the vending machines packed with poisoned potions. A school system in Wisconsin set the pace, reported by the Finegold Association, whose mission includes generating awareness of the role of foods and additives in student learning, health and behavior problems. Dr. Martini explained this in a letter to the Alabama Board of Education who recently met July 12 to decide about pop: "Aspartame has been proven to destroy brains, trigger psychiatric and behavioral problems, cause eye disorders (including blindness), addict and trigger brain tumors." http://www.wnho.net/alabama_boe_meeting.htm

Betty Peters, of the Alabama Board of Education asked for an amendment to remove all soda pop from Alabama schools, but this was reduced to simply revise the current system and allow diet drinks, this with full knowledge that diet drinks cause more obesity. The vending machine proposal was gutted to appease the soft drink industry. But where was the concern for the children?

Dr. Roberts reviewed the Italian study, concluding: "It's now incumbent upon researchers of leukemia and lymphoma to inquire about the use of aspartame products routinely in such patients. And it’s also highly relevant, the striking increase of primary brain lymphoma which I reviewed in my books and articles. You are dealing with a unique lymphoma of the brain. which most neurologists had not seen before the availability of aspartame. In view of the unequivocal induction of brain tumors and of leukemia/lymphoma in experimental animals the intent of the Delaney Amendment should be invoked. This justifies aspartame as an imminent public health hazard and should be removed from the market as I've emphasized for two decades."

In the "Journal of Advance in Medicine" Vol 4 #4, winter '91 article: "Does Aspartame Cause Human Brain Cancer" Dr. Roberts said: "The increasing frequency of primary brain lymphoma of B cell derivation - including reticulum cell sarcoma, microglioma and histolytic lymphoma - also requires explanation because this subset was previously rare. Eby et al reported a nearly threefold rise in its incidence among immunologically normal persons in the l982-l984 SEER data, which they could not explain. Specifically, the rate increased from 2.7 to 7.5 cases per ten million population (p=0.001) in the time periods l973-l975 and l982-l984, respectively. The age-adjusted rise was more striking among women which increased from 4.9 per ten million in l979-l981 to 8.9 per ten million in l982-l984. http://www.dorway.com/betty/brainc.txt

Again Dr. Roberts tells us "Hockberg and Miller reported a tripling of incidence of this tumor in non-immunosuppressed persons during the 5 year interval between l980 and l984."

Dr. Blaylock is author of Excitotoxins: The Taste That Kills, Health & Nutrition Secrets to Save Your Life and Cancer Strategies, ( http://www.russellblaylockmd.com ) He also has a newsletter that keeps you up-to-date on these matters: https://www.newsmaxstore.com/newsletters/blaylock/action.cfm

How was aspartame ever approved by FDA? For 16 years it was rejected. FDA even asked the Department of Justice to prosecute the manufacturer, G.D. Searle Co. for submitting fraudulent test data on aspartame. Two prosecutors were appointed, but the defense lawyers hired both of them and the case expired with the statute of limitations. When the Godfather hires the District Attorney don't expect a conviction. Next Don Rumsfeld, CEO of G D Searle, returned to Washington and a new FDA commissioner was appointed immediately who approved aspartame over the objections of the FDA scientific board. This new commissioner was under investigation for conflict of interest when he switched to take $1,000/day consulting job with the public relations firm that represented NutraSweet. All in the family! The plague loosed on humanity by this chicanery is also known as Rumsfeld's Disease. Hear attorney James Turner explain it in this clip from the documentary: "Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World"http://www.soundandfury.tv/pages/Rumsfeld2.html
http://www.docworkers.com

The Italian study press release says the results demonstrate for the first time aspartame is a carcinogenic agent -- "As recognized by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organization, results of long-term bioassays conducted on rodents (rats and mice) are highly predictive of carcinogenic risk for humans. In light of this fact, the results of the CRC/ERF study on aspartame call for urgent reconsideration of regulations governing its use as an artificial sweetener in order to better protect public health, in particular that of children."

This is the most recent of many projects which confirms aspartame's toxicity beyond controversy. FDA & Searle have always known aspartame is a Class A Carcinogen. The late FDA toxicologist, Dr. Adrian Gross, told Congress that aspartame, beyond a shadow of a doubt can produce brain tumors and brain cancer, and violates the Delaney Amendment which forbids anything in food which causes cancer. His last words to Congress: "If the FDA violates its own laws who is left to protect the public?" Ten thousand tombstones show that only a concerned citizenry can achieve save itself from all the 92 symptoms FDA once listed.

To children aspartame is murder. It's an abortifacient and teratogen; causing abortions, birth defects and retardation. If a live child is born aspartame may have heinously damaged its DNA for generations to come. Our schools are so inundated with problems that today the norm is "abnormal". Only eradication of this poison will eliminate aspartame's physical, behavioral, psychiatric maladies and learning disabilities. Industry's greed is keeping it schools to addict our children for life. They even got FDA to approve new deadly chemicals: Splenda and Acesulfame Potassium. See: "The Lethal Science of Splenda" http://www.wnho.net/splenda_chlorocarbon.htm

Coffee May Pack Dietary Fiber

2007-02-25T21:44:00.000-06:00

This is a great article on the true benefits of coffee!

Coffee May Be Higher in Soluble Fiber Than Wine or Orange Juice, Experts Say
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Louise Chang, MD
on Friday, February 23, 2007

Feb. 23, 2007 -- Your coffee may come with a little something extra -- and not just cream and sugar.

Some of the dietary fiber in coffee beans may make it into your mug, Spanish researchers report.

They say coffee has more soluble dietary fiber (the type of fiber that dissolves in water and helps prevent cholesterol from being absorbed by the intestines) than wine or orange juice.

Fulgencio Saura-Calixto, PhD, and colleagues at the Spanish National Research Council in Madrid brewed instant coffee, espresso, and filtered coffee.

They measured how much soluble dietary fiber was in each drink.

Instant coffee contained the most -- about 1.8 grams of soluble dietary fiber per cup. Espresso had 1.5 grams of soluble dietary fiber per cup, and filtered coffee contained 1.1 grams, the study shows.

The report is scheduled for publication in the March 21 edition of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Fiber Recommendations

You would have to drink a lot of coffee -- about 17 cups of instant -- to reach the recommended daily intake of 31 grams of dietary fiber per day, based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet.

That fiber recommendation comes from dietary guidelines published in 2005 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In their study, the Spanish scientists simply measured dietary fiber in coffee. They didn't study coffee's health effects; and they don't make any recommendations about drinking coffee.

Past studies on coffee and health have had mixed results, note Saura-Calixto and colleagues.

Fiber Sources

Looking for other sources of dietary fiber? Beans, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables are leading sources.

Those foods also contain insoluble fiber, which doesn't dissolve in water, rather than the soluble dietary fiber found in coffee.

Insoluble fiber (roughage) may help keep bowel movements regular and reduce the risk of colon problems. It also makes you feel full.

Let's say you start your day with half a cup of 100% bran cereal (8.8 grams of dietary fiber) and a cup of instant coffee (1.8 grams of dietary fiber).

Then you lunch on chili containing half a cup of cooked Navy beans (9.5 grams of dietary fiber). In the afternoon, you snack on an ounce of almonds (3.3 grams of dietary fiber) and a small, raw pear (4.3 grams of dietary fiber).

For dinner, you have chicken (sorry, no fiber there) and half a medium-sized baked sweet potato (4.8 grams of dietary fiber).

Add it all up, and you've reached 32 grams of dietary fiber. That's a smidgen more than the recommended amount.

That menu is just an example to give you an idea of foods' fiber content. Your doctor or a nutritionist have more pointers for creating a healthy diet with plenty of fiber.

SOURCES: Diaz-Rubio, M. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, March 21, 2007. U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: "Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005." WebMD Feature: "Why You Need More Fiber." News release, American Chemical Society.

Happy Valentine's Ermmm,,,,,,,Love Day!

2007-02-14T16:52:00.000-06:00

It's no longer Valentine's; apparently some people felt left out and when I went to buy my honey a new coffee mug among his other LOVE DAY presents, I was corrected by the girl in the store for calling it Valentine's. And was given the Reader's Digest Condensed Version of "Love Day".

We just had one humdinger of a snow storm blow through here - my first blizzard in Ohioland. Am I ready for the beach? You bet. I'll take sand over snow any day.

We've been keeping warm brewing coffee and even busted out the trusty stovetop espresso maker and made some coffee that made the whole house smell like fresh roasted coffee beans. Don't know about you, but I love the way that smells!

Okay, off to paint I go and Happy Love Day everyone!

So Far This Year

2007-01-23T13:24:00.000-06:00

Are we this far into 2007 already?

A horrible nasty upper respiratory infection has invaded our house and felled us each one by one. The kids had it maybe 2 days with coughing and general icky-ness; my partner got it and he was over it in a few days. For once, I'm the one that didn't bounce back.

I couldn't even drink coffee - which is a rare for me and when I had my first cup in days today - it was like heaven!

Also, about a week ago we did a taste test with some friends (for fun) with a bag of Starbucks and a bag of America the Beautiful Blend from Bello Montana. It was totally unscientific - we brewed up two pots side by side and momentarily forgot which coffee we put in which pot until the aroma easily cleared that up.

We weren't sure how to clear palates since coffee and coffee beans are used to do that... so to be fair we made it so half the people started with Bello Montana and half with Starbucks.

Results - No one in our group liked Starbucks better.
Another home run for fresh roasted coffee!

Coffee New Year!

2006-12-30T17:09:00.000-06:00

Just a post to wish everyone a Happy New Year.
We will not be repeating coffee and egg nog experiment - it's like the 7th circle of vile.

We did however come up with a cool coffee creation using some real cinnamon. We found out that the cinnamon sold in America is almost
exclusively this Chinese type of cinnamon called Cassia. We ordered some actually cinnamon from Ceylon and it's not the slightest bit hard.
It's the same curled bark that you've seen before like other cinnamon sticks, however it's relatively soft and you don't have to knock the side off your
grater trying to get some cinnamon flavor off those little sticks!

This stuff just turns to dust and it's got a natural sweetness that you may or may not have ever tasted before.

With a shot of cream and nutmeg and a little bit of sugar (or Stevia) it makes one delicious coffee drink. America the Beautiful Blend does the best with this mixture.

Have a safe and fun New Year's!

Happy Hot Coffee Holidays!

2006-12-25T14:30:00.000-06:00

Happy holidays everyone!

We have had a great holiday season. We've made a lot of coffee gifts by getting some cool looking mugs and filling them with coffee beans (America the Beautiful) in a pretty bag and some other yummies to go with the coffee like coffee cake and cookies.
We did it last year and people actually asked for the same thing again this year because they LOVED the coffee.

No problem, we love spreading the word.

Also you gotta love this guy, his name is Jolt and he reminds you to have your cup of coffee every morning!

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!!!

Something that Made Me Pass Coffee Through My Nose

2006-12-10T09:53:00.000-06:00

Let me preface this by saying I'm a big time animal lover.

When I was drinking my coffee the other morning and just basically waking up, my partner came bouncing in with this photo that he had printed off of the "World's Ugliest Dog" wow no joke there - this dog is majorly unfortunate looking.

Anyway - he jammed the picture in my face and i actually almost passed coffee through my nose laughing - i really thought he had photoshopped some poor poochie's pic - nope this is the real deal.

Put down your coffee mugs and look:

Yeah, now you see why......

The Portable Coffee Roasting Machine -With Duct Tape!

2006-11-09T07:16:00.000-06:00

I have a friend that is a living example of every "You Might Be a Redneck If......" statement ever made and he knows it and is a really fun person...and sometimes he still manages to surprise me.

Jimbo is his name (really) and he's a great guy. He is always inventing things and trying to make a better mousetrap. He made a coffee roaster during the week of Halloween - I thought he was kidding when he e-mailed me to tell me - I "didn't need to buy that sissy coffee no-more" he was going to hook me up with my own coffee roaster. I still thought he was kidding.

No he wasn't. He showed up on my doorstep with a weird looking contraption that I'm pretty sure was once a hot air popcorn machine. He decided he was going to make me fresh roasted coffee. So he set up this duct taped covered "thing" and I made him promise it wouldn't catch my house on fire and he proceeded to "home roast" his green coffee beans he brought over. He got the beans cheap he told me proudly!

Oh man, it smelled vile. Nothing like Bello Montana out of the bag. So they finally turned from green to this weird off color brown - and he announced "They are done!".Which was a good thing because the duct tape was starting to smell a little overheated.

Then he popped out his bean grinder (I have no idea what it used to be but he made it himself too). During this time I decided I was going to need something to reward myself for even trying this so I ground up my own beans and started a pot of Mystical Moose.

He put his ground up "beans" in a filter and started making his own pot of coffee - oh man it was bitter and bad. My partner came into the room, sniffed the air, said it smelled weird in the kitchen and he left.

Jimbo tasted his brewed cup of his "fresh roasted beans" and agreed that coffee was just foul. So over a cup of the good stuff - he told me what he think went wrong (I'm thinking the whole idea..ha ha) and he is going to stick to having coffee with me and work on something else to help improve mankind besides a portable coffee roasting machine.....

Halloween Coffee

2006-10-23T16:56:00.000-05:00

If you want something extremely yummy for Halloween and you want to serve up something to cater to the sweet tooth. I was given a great recipe by a friend and you will love the way this tastes.

Coffee Punch

6 Cups Hot America the Beautiful Blend coffee,
1 Scoop Vanilla Ice Cream
1 Scoop Chocolate Ice Cream
Dash of Creme De Cacao

In 6 cups, put a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a scoop of chocolate ice cream in a mug. Add a dash of creme de cacao. Pour hot coffee on top and stir until melted.

This is great!

Snow and Espresso

2006-10-17T17:32:00.000-05:00

October... can you imagine that we've already had some snow?

I was cursing the snow for making our gardening season so short this year. We had late snows that made planting late and now it's effectively over a month earlier than last year. Well my partner was more upset than I was, he loves doing the gardening, I like what comes out of the garden not the gardening part.

We normally make a lot of salsa and other spicy yummies to keep us warm during the winter months but not this year.

When the flurries started falling, I went down to the basement and got out our funny old espresso pot and made a great little pot of what else - Espresso!
It was so nice - it's been months since we've even had time to make it and it great to watch the @#$%^! snow fall and sip our coffee.

Now, that it has warmed up a little again, I'm kind of looking forward to the next cold snap so we can have some down time and enjoy another pot of coffee.

Health Benefits of Coffee

2006-10-17T17:26:00.000-05:00

Coffee gets seriously beaten up but did you know what was recently found through research about coffee? This study applies to freshly roasted coffee, not the sad old can of Folgers that you picked up on sale at Kroger.

This comes from the Coffee Review:

It has been found that drinking moderate amounts of coffee (two to four cups per day) provides a wide range of health benefits. Most of these benefits have been identified through statistical studies that track a large group of subjects over the course of years and match incidence of various diseases with individual habits, like drinking coffee, meanwhile controlling for other variables that may influence that relationship.

According to a spate of such recent studies moderate coffee drinking may lower the risk of colon cancer by about 25%, gallstones by 45%, cirrhosis of the liver by 80%, and Parkinson's disease by 50% to as much as 80%. Other benefits include 25% reduction in onset of attacks among asthma sufferers and, at least among a large group of female nurses tracked over many years, fewer suicides.

In addition, some studies have indicated that coffee contains four times the amount of cancer-fighting anti-oxidants as green tea.

How cool is that?

Coffee Experiments...

2006-10-16T12:01:00.000-05:00

We've been experimenting with coffee, well my partner has. I like my coffee just plain and black - I used to make my cup an overload of cream and sugar and other things to overcome the bitter taste but since we go the fresh roasted route for coffee now - it's not really an issue for me. My partner has a major sweet tooth (though he denies he likes anything sweet including me) yet he is always filling up his cup with these heavy ready made coffee creamers (we jokingly call it "fluff") and now Mister Health has been looking for something a little better for the bod (besides giving up sweet coffee).

We went through several incarnations but he has a neat little mixture now that is very simple and doesn't have all the additives and garbage in the mix. It consists of a very simple mix of half and half, organic sugar and a shot of organic vanilla. I'm not a huge fan of sweet coffees but I have to admit - it's really good!

We're experiementing with making it sugar free right now by using leaves from our Stevia plant (stevia is a natural sweetner and is roughly ten to fifteen times sweeter than sugar and it doesn't cause tooth decay or mess up the body's sugar levels like refined sugar does). Our stevia coffees have been wayyyyy too sweet - like cringingly sweet - but eventually we'll get it right!

Caffeine and Me

2006-10-08T16:41:00.000-05:00

So I've gone from trying to be relatively caffeine free to needing a shot of coffee everyday. I like to think I'm a person who is pretty in tune with my body and it's signals. About 24 hours after my last hit, I start getting a headache. I get cranky. It's not pretty. So then if I lay off the coffee for a few days, when I do have a cup of coffee, I can really feel the caffeine. Sometimes it makes me jittery and distractable. Sometimes it makes me feel more focused. If you are familiar with the children's book Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, the caffeine makes me feel like Mike and Mary Anne. I work a little harder and a little faster.

So, I'm riding that wave of indecision. Should I make it a habit everyday? Can I live with the jitters? Will I eventually get over them? If I cut out the caffeine, I will have a headache for a few days which I will also get over, but my synapses just won't fire as fast. Maybe I'll just go brew a pot of Bello Montana and think it over.

Stop by the BeanDaily.com for free email and a discount on fresh roasted coffee.

Coffee and Donuts

2006-09-24T09:41:00.000-05:00

So no one felt like cooking breakfast at our house on this Sunday morning.
Well, unless it can be heated from a package in the microwave - it's not happening if I have to cook it. My partner has developed a real love of cooking and he definitely has a flair for it. Cereal sounded boring and we couldn't think of anything to eat - then a Dunkin' Donuts commercial came on - Hey...........

I don't think I've had a donut from Dunkin' Donuts in roughly 15 years and they make so many more kinds than we remembered - still ended up with old favorites like chocolate dipped, jelly filled and eclairs....WOW they are still great but everyone raves about their coffee - I skipped the free coffee with a dozen donuts and we oh so pigged out on donuts and cup after cup of America the Beautiful Blend coffee.

Now, I am off to work off those calories by tearing the carpet out of a room we just had redone and now needs to be painted, and taking my coffee cup with me - heck I might take the whole coffee pot up there!

Workmen and the Aroma Finger....

2006-09-23T17:12:00.000-05:00

Did you ever see the old Bugs Bunny cartoons where the aroma finger came out of something delicious and enticed Bugs back to whatever he shouldn't have been getting into:?

Well, we kind of had the same situation. We had massive storm damage to our house and insurance has finally settled we were getting a new roof put on and the company we hired said they do a roof in one day - they weren't kidding either. They showed up with this enormous crew of guys who just went to work like crazy.

So my partner decided to make coffee and we had to move everything from our upstairs kitchen to a downstairs art studio (was a kitchen in the 1920s) and one by one the roofers came down the ladder as the aroma of the coffee wafted out the door. And they were really funny about asking for it - one said it "smelled just like the coffee he gets" and my partner rolled his eyes at me and then said "So you like like fresh roasted coffee too?"
and the roofer said , "Well Duh, aren't all coffee beans fresh roasted?"

and we couldn't quit laughing.... now it's a running joke when someone gets a cup of coffee ...."Are those fresh roasted?" "Well Duh...":

All the roofers loved the coffee though - they got treated to our brand new bag of "America the Beautiful Blend"!

Celebration at Our House - We got Coffee!

2006-09-20T16:58:00.000-05:00

We did it - we ran out of coffee.... What are two coffee junkies going to do when they need more and they are hooked on Bello Montana and none of the stores around us sell it? Go in search of a temporary replacement. We're all spoiled now and have to have fresh roasted coffee.

We went to a local place to buy a bag o' beans until our Bello Montana coffee arrived and it was just totally pathetic. It was bitter, bitter, bitter and my partner had to put about half a container of liquid vanilla coffee creamer in his cup to make it palatable.
Speaking of pathetic, we are so hooked on this coffee (especially America the Beautiful Blend) that my partner actually ran out side to meet the mail person when he saw that she had a box that looked suspiciously like it came from Bello Montana. (No bomb squad this time - we were expecting the box).
We gave the nearly full bag of the other coffee to our neighbors who were excited because they love this particular company's coffee - I gotta admit - we felt a little guilty not giving them the good coffee.

My cup is empty and I just heard the whirring of beans upstairs in the grinder. Off to fill up my cup with good coffee.

Spreading the Love of Fresh Roasted Coffee

2006-09-15T09:12:00.000-05:00

It's been really chilly, nippy here in Toledo and we live about 4 hours down from the elementary school so there is a crossing guard lady that stands outside of our house and this morning when we got back from the grocery store (we shop as early as possible to avoid the crowds) and the crossing guard lady joking said, "Hey where's the coffee?!?"

So my partner and I said "Be right back!"

She said she was only kidding but took the cup of coffee and we asked her if she wanted any cream or sugar and she said no this was kind enough.

Right before she left for the day, there was a gentle knock at our door and it was Sheronda, the crossing guard lady and she was bringing back our cup and she said, "I didn't want to be a bother but I normally put a lot of cream and sugar in my coffee and I don't drink it black, but this is the best coffee I've ever had and I drank it black!"

I told her where we get our coffee from and gave her the website address for Bello Montana - I bet she logs on as soon as she gets home, she couldnt wait to get a bag for her house.

Just spreadin' the Love!

Fresh Roasted Coffee on My Space?

2006-09-14T09:35:00.000-05:00

I love My Space. I had put off joining forever and everyone I know seems to have their own space so I thought I'd get one too. Finally I gave in to the relentless asking from my friends if I had joined so I finally did.

Actually I thought it would be a bunch of people in their underwear lookin' to hook up and there is some of that going on but 99.9% of the people I have met have just been outstanding individuals. I use My Space to network and I have met the coolest group of artists and musicians and just really fun, like-minded people. I met one guy and found out through exchanging mail back and forth that he loved coffee as much as I did, so I told him a little about what fresh roasted coffee actually is and then sent him a bag o' beans.

He LOVED it! Ha! Another coffee lover converted to fresh roasted coffee!
He told me his girlfriend now refers to me as "the coffee lady" and always says to "tell the coffee lady THANK YOU!" ha ha

Speaking of which.... it's early and I still haven't started my day off right with a cup of coffee - so off to do that!

I passed America the Beautiful Blend Coffee through my Nose When I Saw This

2006-09-13T15:13:00.000-05:00

Previously, I thought the Crayola electronic coloring book was the dumbest toy I had ever seen, I gotta tell you - I have a new winner. I was trying to kill a couple of minutes waiting for my partner to get ready to go out and I flipped on the television and I saw this commercial and it was for a Mattel Barbie Doll and I looked up to see which one of one million Barbies this one was... it's Pooper Scooper Barbie.

Barbie now has a dog named Tanner and she feeds him dog biscuits and he ummm, does his business and then she gets to clean it up. How fun right kids? I had just taken a large sip of coffee when they zoomed in to show an action close up of the dog doing his thing and then Barbie happily scooping away. I actually passed coffee through my nose laughing.....

When we got back from running errands, I logged online and went to the Mattel site and found out the specs for this fun incarnation of Barbie, the dog's little poopies are magnetic so Barbie can pick them up easily. I'm wondering where the fun in this toy is....

I need another cup of coffee.....

Drinking Coffee to Raise Money For The Fight Against Cancer

2006-09-11T20:59:00.000-05:00

This is a great story from across the pond - more people should consider doing this!

Bid to bust £300k total by drinking coffee for cancer fund

Sep 11 2006 By Eryl Crump, Daily Post

NORTH Wales charity fundraisers are gearing up to make a £300,000 gift to the world's biggest coffee morning.

Macmillan Cancer Support is aiming to host the event, which will aid those suffering from the killer disease. North Wales fundraising manager Eleri Brady said: "'Every penny raised from the World's Biggest Coffee Morning is important to people affected by cancer. "It helps to fund nurses, pay for information booklets and pamphlets and provide grants for those in desperate need of some financial assistance.

"The money raised will be used to help us be there for people at everystage of their illness.

"We have such amazing supporters who have some truly innovative ways of raising money on coffee morning day, from homemade cakes and raffles to a very early Irish coffee morning.

"This year we need everyone's help to make the event even bigger and better and to break the £300,000 barrier in Wales."

One in three people will get cancer, with 1.2m people in the UK now living with the disease. And 16,000 people are diagnosed with cancer in Wales every year. Macmillan Cancer Support improves the lives of people affected by cancer, providing practical, medical, emotional and financial support.

Eleri added: "A coffee morning is easy to organise. You could have one at home, at work, as part of a club or maybe at school. It is a way of getting together to catch up on the gossip and meet new people.

"You could hold a public coffee morning somewhere like your local community centre or church hall and invite everyone in your village or neighbour-hood to come along."Macmillan provides everything you need to make your coffee morning a success - from posters and invitations to balloons and a collecting box."

Last year two million people had a coffee for Macmillan and helped to raise £6.5m. This year more than 50,000 events are planned.

CAN YOU HELP?

The World's Biggest Coffee Morning for Macmillan Cancer Support takes place on Friday September 29. Register by calling 0845 6021246 or visit www.macmillan.org.uk/coffee

Spare Pickin's for Coffee

2006-09-11T20:55:00.000-05:00

I haven't been able to post in a little while, we had some major, major storm damage to our home and in between scheduling contractors and insurance adjustors to show up at our house at the same time (oh man let me tell you that is a feat in itself); and dancing with FEMA and the insurance company has been a real delight let me tell you. So far 2 months later, nothing has been done.

Anyway, I moved here to Toledo, Ohio from a much larger city. I was used to being able to go to my local little coffee house and get a cup of java whenever I wanted. No so in ToledoLand. There is one place here that is everywhere (No, it's not the "S" word) but the place is set up exactly like one.
And the coffee is mediocre at best.

I am SO glad I found out about Bello Montana - I am so addicted to the fresh roasted taste now. Even coffee I thought I liked seems bitter to me know...and if I didn't have my coffee to escape to and get some quiet time.....whew! I think I'd be bald!!!
And off to brew another pot - I'm up all night painting tonight!

Another Great Reason to Order Your Own Fresh Roasted Coffee

2006-08-17T20:05:00.000-05:00

I honest to goodness haven't been in a Starbucks since I started drinking Bello Montana - but you have to read THIS gem from the NY Daily News:

Should it be Starbucks or Star...bugs?

Current and former employees of the gourmet coffee chain filed a federal complaint yesterday claiming their corporate bosses have refused to heed repeated warnings about inadequate training and chronic infestations of roaches, rats and other vermin in New York stores.

But the company strongly denied the allegations, noting the complaints were coordinated by a handful of activists who are trying to unionize the chain's normally merry band of baristas.

Out of the 201 Starbucks stores in the city, the Department of Health issued notices of violation to 44 for rodent or insect activity in the most recent round of inspections, city records show.

The complaints filed by Starbucks employees with the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration focus on three stores - at Union Square East, E. Ninth St. and Second Ave., and E. 57th St. and Lexington Ave.

"I constantly have to deal with mice, cockroaches and fruit flies all over the place," said Tomer Malchi, 24, who works at the Union Square store. "The root of the problem is that we're never staffed properly to clean the place right and we never have the right equipment to clean the stores."

Starbucks, which has refused to recognize the union, brushed off the allegations as "the latest tactic in an aggressive campaign against Starbucks and our partners that is designed to damage the credibility and good name of the company" by a "very small number" of current and former employees.

The average restaurant in the city received 12 violation points from the city health inspectors.
Among the 201 Starbucks stores in the city, 51 stores received 12 or more violation points.

Did you know you can get fresh roasted coffee without the worry of bugs and other additives you didn't want just by ordering Bello Montana? Even better, if you get a spam free zbean account you can get cool discounts on your coffee order just for using that as your "order from" address!

Ever Heard of the World Barista Championships?

2006-08-17T09:27:00.000-05:00

A Barista is someone that makes espresso on a professional level so you know there is a competition for it!
There is even an organization WBC that oversees that competition.

It has been held every year since 2000 and last year it was held in Seattle and the winners were :
1st Place: Troels Overdal Poulsen (Denmark)
2nd place: Hiroyuki Kadowaki (Japan)
3rd place: Salvatore Piccolo (Canada)

This year the WBC was held in Oslo and The 2006 winner was Klaus Thomsen of Denmark who dazzled judges with his coffee based
beverage originality and creativity. A competitor from the United States, Matthew Riddle, became one of only a handful of North Americans ever to place among the top competitors, finishing third.

They make some cool signature drinks for the judges and if you like shows like the Iron Chef or other competitions - you will love checking out a WBC.

Get a bag of fresh roasted espresso and start creating - it could be you next time around!

Did you know you could get a zbean account and get cool discounts on your coffee just for using that spam free email address when you order?