Starbucks Reserve Guatamala de Flor, reviewed

This picture may not be the most exciting I’ve ever posted, but the promise of a cup of Starbucks Reserve Guatamala de Flor makes up for it. This coffee wasn’t at the top of my Reserve tasting list because I’m not always a huge fan of central American coffees, but I shouldn’t have put it off. The Guatamala de Flor was one of the smoothest and most interesting coffees from the region that I’ve tasted to date (and certainly one of my favorites, though of course I can’t claim to recall every Guatemalan coffee I’ve tasted). I found it to be much more difficult to describe than some other coffees. Many coffees will come out and hit you over the head with bold, distinct berry and citrus notes. This coffee is a little different, because it is incredibly smooth and, while it is very complex, the flavors in it just seem to blend together seamlessly. It has a lovely herbal quality that reminds me a lot more of rooibos tea than it does of the sort of herbs that grow in your garden, with mild hints of citrus (no tartness, though) and even a hint of aged wood. It has a bright flavor and leaves a lingering, complex flavor in your mouth – much like a good Chardonnay.

This is a medium roast, and like the lighterKenya Tana River Reserve coffee, this makes fantastic iced coffee. That tea-like herbaciousness makes it very refreshing, and the full flavor of the coffee comes through without a hint of bitterness.

I should also add that not just one, but TWO Starbucks stores in my neighborhood now have Clovers and a fantastic selection of Starbucks Reserve coffees, so you can look forward to more Reserve reviews as more coffees are released. I know I’m looking forward to trying them!

Coffee fueled car sets speed record

Coffee gets us going in the morning, but it also gets The Coffee Car going in the morning. The coffee car is a heavily modified Rover SD1 redesigned by a team of British engineers that is powered by organic waste – specifically, coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are a waste product in thousands of coffee shops and there is plenty of it to go around. Many shops will even pack up leftovers as “grounds for your garden” for people looking for fertilizer or compost. This coffee fueled car is sort of an extension of that. The coffee grounds are dried and turned into pellets, which are used to power a machine built into the car that turns them into fuel.

The record that the car set was a land speed record for a car powered by coffee. You can bet that there weren’t too many competitors, but the fact that they got that car up to more than 70 mph (average speed of more than 65 mph) says a lot for the success of the project. That said, I don’t think we’ll see a wave of coffee powered vehicles in the future – but I am hoping to see this one appear on an episode of Top Gear someday.

Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Latte

The Pumpkin Spice Latte is a hugely popular seasonal offering at Starbucks, and many other coffee shops offer similar drinks during the fall and winter. All of these pumpkin spice drinks tend to be made with a thick pumpkin syrup that has the consistency of caramel sauce. I’ve experimented with coming up with a homemade version of this syrup, but have found that I get the best flavor when I simply add a dash of pumpkin pie spice – a mixture of cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg – to my coffee drinks and skip the actual pumpkin. To add back some of the richness lost by omitting the pumpkin syrup, I decided to add chocolate syrup to a drink the other day and created a Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Latte.

The latte starts with a shot or two of espresso that is stirred together with some chocolate syrup and a generous pinch of pumpkin pie spice. You want to use enough spice to get the flavor, but not so much that you’ll have a block of it at the bottom of your cup. I steamed some chocolate milk and poured it on top of the drink (adding chocolate sauce to the hot milk will lose you a few bubbles, but will keep your steam wand clean), then finished the whole thing off with a drizzle of chocolate syrup and a sprinkle of spice.

You can also make this with coffee and milk that has been heated in the microwave if you don’t have an espresso machine. Put the hot milk into a small bowl and beat it with a whisk for a minute or two to foam it up for a more latte-like effect. And, as always, feel free to increase the amount of chocolate to taste or to add some sugar to the espresso for a sweeter finished product.

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Pocket Coffee

For a coffee lover, Pocket Coffee is just about as good as it gets when it comes to chocolates. Pocket Coffee is a type of chocolate made by Ferrero, an Italian company that is better known in the US for their hazelnut filled Ferrero Rocher chocolates. The candies have a chocolate shell that surrounds a rich liquid espresso center that really delivers a caffeine punch. A very thin, crisp sugar shell keeps the espresso contained within the chocolate. I first heard about these on Candyblog, and spotted them myself in a local Cost Plus World Market a few months back. I’ve been buying them ever since.

The liquid center has a fantastic coffee flavor that I really like. The sugar that sweetened it gives it its syrupy consistency and seems to help it to blend well with the chocolate shell. It also adds an interesting textural element to the candy, which makes it seem a little more special. Overall? Pocket Coffee is delicious and probably one of the best coffee+chocolate combinations I’ve had – not to mention that it was one of the most unusual.

These candies do use real espresso and do contain caffeine. Apparently, 3 of these is about the equivalent of one shot of espresso. At that rate, I wouldn’t be using them for energy over regular coffee, but they are delicious and the added bonus of caffeine is not a bad thing to keep in mind when you are looking for a pick me up. I keep a small stash in my desk drawer just in case.

Real Simple tests Single Serve Coffee Makers

Pod coffee makers are more popular now than ever. They offer convenience, but the quality of the coffee offered with them is higher than it has ever been, making them more appealing to coffee lovers as well as convenience seekers. In the latest issue of Real Simple magazine, they asked the owner of a popular NYC cafe to test 29 models and see how they performed. Then, they narrowed the selection down to just five winners.

• Best for a full house: Keurig Special Edition Brewing System (which I have), which boasts one of the largest selections of coffee and the largest reservoir (48 oz), so you can brew multiple cups easily.
• Best Budget: Mr Coffee Single Serve, which is only able to brew one cup at a time, but is inexpensive and still offers many coffee options.
• Best for Small Spaces: Nespresso Pixie, which features a beautiful and sleek design and brews espresso, for those seeking a richer coffee. The coffee selection is limited, but high quality
• Best All Around: Nescafe Dolce Gusto Genio took this category for being affordable, easy to use and offering the flexibility of brewing a few cups at a time. It’s cute, but the coffee selection is limited.
• Best Espresso: De’Longhi Pump Espresso and Cappuccino Maker EC279 brews quality espresso at the touch of a button, and even has a milk steamer so you can turn your shot into a latte. It’s very affordable compared to larger espresso machines, easy to use and offers a big espresso selection.