Starbucks: Bring Back Calling

Remember the days when Starbucks’ Baristas used to “call” the drink order: “iced tall American” or “tall no-foam latte.”
That was part of what made Starbucks special.
Before Starbucks became the McDonald’s of coffee (funny, McDonald’s is going to start selling fancy coffee), I was one of those callers, cranking out the caffeine as a Starbucks barista in Las [...]

Barista Perry

Perry is a Barista in Greece. Check out his latte art.
Isn’t it lovely!
Here is his flickr photo stream.

Siphon Coffee Machines

photo from javaholics
Siphons look really cool, don’t they? Read the history of ”vacuum pots” (siphon machines). 
At Last, a $20,000 Cup of Coffee
By OLIVER SCHWANER-ALBRIGHT
SAN FRANCISCOWITH its brass-trimmed halogen heating elements, glass globes and bamboo paddles, the new contraption that is to begin making coffee this week at the Blue Bottle Café here looks like a machine from [...]

Winona Goes Fair Trade

Published – Tuesday, January 29, 2008
On moral grounds: Winona shops feature fair-trade certified coffee
By Tony Borreson / Winona Daily News
The consensus among Winona’s coffee shops: Fair trade is the way to go.
Every coffee shop in town buys at least some coffee from raw-bean wholesalers and roasters who offer fair-trade certified coffee.
To be certified, a coffee [...]

Barista Competition

LONG BEACH, Calif. USA (Dec. 18, 2007) – The Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA), the world’s largest coffee trade association in the world with members in more than 40 countries, presents six regional barista competitions this winter – starting February 8 and continuing through March 30. SCAA’s upcoming barista competitions are a prelude to [...]

I Love Coffee

The best part of this book is its drink recipes and its review of home coffeemaking gadgets and machines.
Here’s a recipe from the book for iced cafe cola. Talk about a caffeine jolt.
4 ounces cold espresso
2 ounces of rum
6 ice cubes
16 oz Coke
Stir coffee and rum and top off with cola. Makes 2.
This tip from [...]

Coming Soon Red Barn Coffeehouse

I can’t open my own coffeehouse – yet – so this is my online shop, where I’ll have coffee news, stories, products books– anything related to the coffee life. It is a lifestyle, right?