Home Coffee Dispenser

The best coffee is generally made from recently roasted beans that have been ground just before being brewed. This maximizes the amount of oil in the coffee beans and gives the finished coffee the richest flavor. But we can’t always have our coffee this way. Sometimes a batch of beans sits around on the counter for a while before we get around to drinking it. Sometimes, we end up buying preground because there was a new flavor/brand available or we don’t have a bean grinder at our disposal. Whatever the reason, it is still possible to preserve the freshness of the beans by keeping them in an airtight container. The Home Coffee Dispenser is an airtight container that should keep beans – especially preground coffee that is prone to drying out – much fresher than other containers. Once the chamber is filled up,  you can dispense coffee a tablespoon at a time into your coffee maker (or even your espresso machine) without opening up the whole thing and exposing all the beans to more air. It holds up to half a pound of coffee.

The Dispenser is especially useful for an occasional coffee drinker, who likes to keep some coffee around but doesn’t make it much, since it not only keeps things fresh, but it makes it much easier to measure it out when you finally get around to using it.

Kicking Horse Kick Ass Coffee, reviewed

I picked up this can of Kicking Horse Kick Ass Coffee based purely on the name and the package design, and I’m glad that I did because I otherwise might have overlooked this brand. Kicking Horse Coffee is a Canadian coffee company that sells all organic, Fair-Trade coffee – and it’s actually Canada’s number one Fair Trade coffee company. While it’s available at stores in Canada, it’s not too common in the US (not my part, anyway). I found this at Cost Plus World Market, which seems to carry their whole line.

The Kick Ass coffee – as you might expect from a blend with a name like “kick ass” – is a very dark roast. It reminded me a lot of coffees I’ve brewed with espresso beans, in terms of how bold it was. This coffee is strong and dark, with some burnt sugar notes and a hint of nuttiness. I think this would really appeal to anyone who likes bolder coffees, but at the same time it won’t put off those who usually prefer a lighter roast because it is smooth and rich tasting, not overly aggressive.

Coffee Top Caddy

This Coffee Top Caddy is a brilliant idea, and I’m sure that anyone who has ever picked up coffee for a friend/family member/coworker/boss will agree. It is hard enough to mix in enough cream and sugar to your own coffee, trying to figure out exactly how much milk and sugar someone else takes in theirs adds pressure to any coffee run.

Designer Josh Harris made a few modifications to the basic design of a plastic coffee cup lid that allows it to securely hold packets of sugar and tubs of creamer easily. So, you can pick up your coffee and various condiments and mix it all together back in the office – and so can anyone else whose drink was on the coffee run. Your hands are kept free to hold the drinks and you don’t need to fuss over hot drinks at a busy condiment bar.

Starbucks Java Chip Frappuccino Ice Cream, reviewed

Starbucks recently launched a new, drink-inspired line of ice creams to grocery stores nationwide. The super-premium ice creams include flavors like Caramel Macchiato and Java Chip Frappuccino, the latter of which I picked up last week. Similar to its coffee shop counterpart, this flavor has a coffee ice cream base that is loaded with dark chocolate chunks. The Java Chip Frappuccino actually uses chocolate-covered espresso beans, but it’s a minor difference because the flavors of the ice cream and the frappuccino are very, very close. The coffee flavor is clear and smooth, and the chocolate adds a nice richness to the overall taste.

Unfortunately, it shares another characteristic with its namesake: a slight iciness that really isn’t desirable in a super-premium ice cream. It may get this from the relatively small amount of coffee concentrate that is used to flavor the ice cream, but wherever it comes from, you can’t just order it “double-blended” to eliminate the problem. So, in the end, the ice cream is almost too spot-on for the flavor and texture of the frappuccino. It’s good, but not better than some of the other coffee ice cream options out there.

Robusta vs Arabica coffee

The vast majority of the coffee sold in the US – and elsewhere – is made with Arabica beans. You’ll see packaging proudly proclaiming “100% Arabica” on everything from instant coffee to gourmet, hand-roasted beans. You’ll rarely see Robusta mentioned. This is because Robusta is kind of the black sheep of the coffee world. The beans are much higher in caffeine than Arabica and tend to deliver a coarser flavor.

This is a nice way of saying that they beans do not taste anywhere near as good as Arabica beans do, at least on on their own. It has been described as “disgusting,” “like putting a child’s unvarnished building block in your mouth,” and like “wheelbarrow tires.” Not a glowing recommendation. But as the NY Times pointed out in their recent article about robusta, it can bring something to the table and a handful of roasters are starting to incorporate very small amounts into some of their blends. Its strong flavor and extra caffeine can add some oomph to a dark roasted blend, and it makes excellent crema for espresso.

Arabica still makes up about 75% of the world’s coffee crops and will probably always be more popular than Robusta because it is more drinkable on its own, but the nuances of Robusta will probably start to be explored a bit more in the future, just as darker and darker chocolates (more bitter and less sweet) are being tasted and tested in the chocolate world.