Red Barns of North Country

At the tippy top of New York is my inspiration for my coffeehouse blog–North Country. Farms are everywhere and you can buy worms on Main Street. North Country has cities such as Potsdam, Canton and Brasher Falls. It’s beautiful.
While I was visiting last year, I heard a story about a men’s coffee klatch. They meet regularly for [...]

CNN Poll on Starbucks

In case you haven’t heard, Starbucks is closing for training tonight.  

CNN asks: How will you survive the three-hour Starbucks closure?

Visit another coffee shop
9%
5086

Hide under my desk
8%
4626

I don’t go to Starbucks
83%
47400

Total Votes: 57112

Come on people, you go to Starbucks once in a while. Admit it. It’s okay. There’s room for the fantastic independent coffee shop [...]

Starbucks Closing Early Tomorrow

Baristas are getting a bit of learning at the behest of chief Howard Schultz.
And now, he’s closing stores for training that he promises will re-energize baristas and enhance the customer experience. Translation: Baristas will learn how to pull the perfect shot again and steam milk to order, not just press a button on the automatic espresso [...]

Espresso Spritz

Here is a fab recipe from I Love Coffee.
1 cup of ice coffee
6 oz of crushed ice
soda water or coke, just a wee bit
My addition, fresh whipped cream on top.

Fun With Foam

My rather lame attempt at latte art. Do you know what it is?
I’ll put in some more practice time.

Complaining of Coffee Roaster Smoke

I love the smell of a coffee roaster but it seems that the smoke was offensive to some in Maine. So Rock City Coffee Roasters is going to raise its smokestack.

ROCKLAND, Maine (AP) — Neighborhood complaints about the odor emanating from a local gourmet coffee roaster have prompted its owner to come up with a [...]

Kiss Coffee

Beth I hear you calling But I can’t come home right now Me and the boys are playing And we just can’t find the sound….

Starbucks to Train and Free WiFi

Starbucks has answered the call. 
Employees are going to get some learning and free wifi is coming. Starbucks is always a good second choice.
The comprehensive educational curriculum for all U.S. store partners will provide a renewed focus on espresso standards that will help ensure the exceptional quality of every beverage. As a result, baristas will be [...]

Coffeehouse Confession

I’ll do that here regularly.
Okay. So I fancy myself a writer. I make a living at it anyway. But what I really want to do is finish writing a children’s book I started 2 or 3 years ago. Seems I get bent on doing other projects and never seem to get amped up on mine. What’s [...]

This I Believe

Here’s a great coffeehouse writing exercise, This I believe. I’m a fan of the NPR series, which is now a book.
The most popular This I believe essays.