Stacked Cup

My coffee cup collection has standard sized mugs and jumbo mugs, and I’ve often heard people comment about the larger mugs, saying that each holds far more than just a cup of coffee. This mug would be the perfect illustration of their point, yet still deliver a big cup of coffee when it is called for. The Stacked Cup appears to be three mugs stacked one on top of another, but is actually one large mug that has been cleverly shaped. It’s made of porcelain and is – fortunately – dishwasher safe. They’re only sold individually, but it would be great to have a whole set of these for entertaining.

Trader Joe’s Gingerbread Coffee, reviewed

You know it’s really fall and that we’re headed for the holiday season when Trader Joe’s rolls out its flavored coffee blends. Unlike most “flavored coffees”, TJs mixes whole beans with pieces of real spices that get ground up alongside the beans and actually flavor the coffee. not just scent it. Their newest addition is Trader Joe’s Gingerbread Coffee, “coffee spiked with real ginger, cinnamon and gloves.”

When you open the can, it smells just like gingersnap cookies: sweet and spicy.

Brewed, the coffee is very good. It has a mild scent and flavor of cloves, which gives it a very gingerbready feel. The beans are a medium roast and the coffee overall is smooth and rich tasting, with no bitterness to it. This is definitely an excellent choice for fall and is perfect for serving with cookies – especially gingersnaps or molasses cookies, as well as with anything chocolate.

The best thermal carafes from CI

I have a couple of thermal carafes collecting dust at the back of my pantry. I don’t use them often, but they always make an appearance around the holidays when I’m entertaining and need to have coffee for a group hot and available. I like a carafe that looks attractive, keeps coffee hot for at least 2 hours and will hold almost a full pot of coffee, if not a whole one.

Recently, Cook’s Illustrated put some thermal carafes to the test, choosing a variety of stainless steel carafes to compare. All the models they tested – Avantro Ultimate Server Vacuum Insulated Coffee Carafe, BonJour Julia Thermal Carafe, Krups Brushed Stainless Steel Thermal Carafe, Thermos Nissan Stainless Steel Carafe, West Bend Thermal Carafe, Zojirushi Premium Thermal Carafe – kept coffee above 120F for at least three hours. Their top choice was the the Thermos Nissan Stainless Steel Carafe, which not only met my critera above, but it also passed the CI “tip test” and didn’t leak when knocked over.

Calf n’ Half Creamer

The Fred design team comes up with the most fun products for the home and this Calf n’ Half Creamer is no exception. I don’t usually even take cream or milk in my coffee, but this little double-walled glass creamer is so udderly delightful with its cow-inspired design that I think I might have to change how I take my coffee just to justify having this out on the table.

30 days of Starbucks

Morgan Spurlock did it in Super Size Me at McDonalds. Could you do the same thing at Starbucks? Thanks to Cockeyed, I found the blog of a woman who intended to try and eat all her food at Starbucks for 30 days. Unlike Spurlock, who started out with a point to prove and a specific roadmap on how to achieve his goal, Kristen says she just thought it would be an interesting experiment and wasn’t trying to prove a point.

The coffee shop does carry all kinds of food options these days, from hot breakfast sandwiches and oatmeal, to pastries, regular sandwiches and salads. Kristen didn’t quite decide to see her project through to the end (yet), but it’s obviously possible based just on their offerings, and from the first week of the experiment it’s easy to see that is possible to be reasonably healthy while doing so, although it’s not an inexpensive prospect.