Today is the day we raise our mugs and celebrate our favourite bean and beverage.  How are you celebrating National Coffee Day?

Coffee plays a big role in the lives of many people, real or imagined.  One of the TV characters who was always seen with a cup of coffee was Lorelai Gilmore of Gilmore Girls, played by Lauren Graham.

Sadly Gilmore Girls is no longer on air, but here’s a compilation of clips about Lorelai Gilmore and her coffee obsession.

Costa Coffee recently held their Barista of The Year 2009, involving baristas from over 1,000 Costa stores around the world. They were judged on technical skill, presentation, personality and passion for coffee. Six UK finalists, and four finalists from China, India, Europe and the Middle East and North Africa made it through to the Champion of Champions Final. Video after the break.

The 2009 winners are :

1st Gabor Kamondi
Dorking

2nd Jonathan Scott
Carlisle

3rd Elia Burbello
Cork

* #3WordsAfterIcedCoffee: From January 11-15, describe that perfect iced coffee in three words or fewer.
* #MyIcedCoffee: From January 18-22, tell Dunkin’ Donuts how you like your iced coffee.
* #IcedCoffeeTwitLibs: From January 25-29, get creative by including an iced coffee reference in a take off of a famous quote, song title, lyrics or movie line.

Facebook

Dunkin’ Donuts is also doing a contest on their Facebook Fan Page. Each week, one person who posts a picture of himself or herself, along with his iced coffee to Dunkin’ Donuts’ Facebook Wall, will be featured on Dunkin’ Donuts fan page as “YeDDi of the Week.”

How Dunkin’ Donuts makes its Iced Coffee

Dunkin’ Donuts has been at the forefront in developing an innovative process for brewing iced coffee, which has set the standard for the industry. The unique process, called double brewing, uses twice the amount of coffee when making the beverage to achieve consistent flavor and freshness that are never compromised at the expense of serving it cold. The result is a smooth, rich taste sensation–iced coffee that is never bitter or watered down.

Enjoy a cup of coffee, not just for the energy boost, but also for the brain boost. Dr.Miia Kivipelto, an associate professor of neurology at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, and her colleagues tracked coffee consumption in middle-aged men and women and found that those who drank three to five cups of coffee a day were 65 percent less likely to develop dementia than people who drank two cups or less.

Good to know, right?

[ via TBO Life -> Keep energy up during the holidays ]

Here are the chosen 10 :

Lamill Coffee – Los Angeles
Four Barrel Coffee – San Francisco
Novo – Denver
Octane Coffee Bar & Lounge – Atlanta
The Coffee Studio- Chicago
Kopplin’s Coffee – St. Paul
Abraço – New York
Little T American Baker – Portland, Oregon
Progress Coffee – Austin
Peregrine Espresso – Washington, D.C.

What would your choice be for the best boutique coffeehouse?

Here was the typical Malaysian feedback on the promotion :

- Is it really free?
- Oh, it’s free. How come only between 11am to 1pm?
- Only black coffee?

I’m sure the people who took part in the promotion greatly enjoyed their free coffee.

Later in the evening, Starbucks held a small masquerade party to celebrate. Check out more photos at their Facebook fan page, which they also launched yesterday.

Happy 11th Anniversary, Starbuck Malaysia!

Note : Not being paid to do this post, but my company and Starbucks are mutually following each other on Twitter

You might have noticed — 2010 is just around the corner. That means it’s about time to pick up a calendar. What better calendar for the coffee lover than the 2010 Sketchtoon Coffee Calendar. This is a unique coffee calendar illustrated with by the talented Mike Rohde (of Rohdesign fame).

This high-quality calendar features sketches of common and not so common coffee drinks. The calendar is printed on thick 100lb cover weight paper.

* Each page measures 11″ x 8.5″
* Measures 11″ x 17″ when hung on wall
* Full bleed dynamic color
* January 2010 – December 2010, 2011 preview, US holidays marked

Buy the 2010 Sketchtoon Coffee Calendar. I’m just a fan — I don’t make any money out of this.

I don’t know anyone who reads the Archives of Internal Medicine journal, but you may want to give the current December 2009 issue a look. According to a new analysis of previous studies done on coffee, decaf coffee and tea, people who drink these beverages seem to have a lower risk of developing type two diabetes.

Researchers combined data from 31 studies and found that for each cup of coffee consumed in a day, there was a 7% reduction in the risk of developing type two diabetes. People who drank 3-4 cups per day had approximately 25% lower risk than those who drank two cups per day or less. People who drink decaf are at 1/3 lower risk compared to non-drinkers.

So, you have yet another excuse for drinking coffee.

[ via KRQE ]

Author: Matt LeClair

Making your own coffee grounds can be an enjoyable and rewarding experience for a number of reasons including the fact that you are using your own resources and effort to make something that you really enjoy, you are saving a little money, and you’re creating the opportunity to make great tasting coffee. There are a few important tips for preparing your own coffee grounds that will help to keep your ground making experience joyful and rewarding.

One of the most important tips is to always keep enough coffee beans on hand to be able to make the grounds which will be used in making your coffee. If you don’t have any beans, then you can’t make any coffee, which is exactly what you are trying to avoid.

Second, you want to make sure you are storing your coffee beans properly so as to avoid any decrease in quality or freshness of the coffee beans being ground. One great way to keep your coffee beans fresh and stored properly is to use sealed containers like Tupperware, or an even better solution than this would be to use a vacuum sealable container. This would ensure that all of the air is removed from the storage device and no freshness is taken away from your coffee beans. Your coffee is going to taste much better if it is fresh so it is highly recommended that you do not store your beans in a container where air can get in.

Finally, when grinding your coffee beans, always make sure that they are completely ground to the max. This will guarantee that you will get the most grounds and the most flavor during the coffee making process. This the flavor depends so much on the quality of the grounds, it is important to make sure that you have done the best possible job of grinding the beans. You can make sure this happens by allowing your grinder to run a little bit longer than the recommend time.

If you would like to prepare the best possible coffee grounds that you can, but you’re just not sure what the right plan of attack would be, just keep these few tips in mind and you’ll be well on your way to being successful at it.

Buy your own coffee grinder.

About the Author:

Search for information on the coffee bean grinder and more at CoffeeBeanGrinderplus.com.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Tips For Grinding Your Own Coffee Beans