Post from: Kettle and Cup

Buena Beans brings the coffee from La Violeta, Costa Rica to the American market and uses the profits to improve the local school. It is run by Kate Schneider, a former volunteer teacher in the town.

Kate spent a year living and working in La Violeta. She was impressed by the quality of the coffee and amazed by the history of the town. Coffee had pulled the community out of dire poverty over three generations. Thing is, there are no opportunities outside of small-scale farming for the generation of children growing up now and future generations.

With a few thousand dollars, the community could afford to build a secure space to house computers that it received as a donation. With the infrastructure already in place for an internet connection, the entire community could access the Internet through a free connection provided by the government. All they need is four walls and a roof.

Every purchase you make from Buena Beans is a direct action in support of global educational initiatives, sustainable development, and great coffee. They need to sell a total of 4500 lbs of coffee to meet this need. They have all ready sold a lot of that.  If everyone who reads this bought just one pound that goal would be met.

I am not getting paid for this. I just wanted to let you know that this is going on and you can be a part of it. I reviewed Buena Beans Cafe  la Violeta earlier in the year.

image: sxc

image: Buena Beans

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Find it here on Amazon.

image: Amazon

Post from: Kettle and Cup

White Chocolate Mocha

• 1/4 cup light cream
• 4 oz espresso
• 2 tablespoons white chocolate syrup
• 1 oz white chocolate, chopped
• 1 tsp Creme de Cacao
• 1 tsp Amaretto
• Whipped cream

1. Heat cream until it almost boils. Remove it from the heat
2. Add the chopped white chocolate and whisk
3. Stir in the Creme de Cacao and Amaretto, whisk well.
4. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the white chocolate around the sides of a heated mug
5. Pour in espresso and then the cream
6. top with whipped cream and drizzle with remaining white chocolate

Serves 1

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

The basic formula for coffee syrup is one cup of water to one cup of sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves and then simmer for about five minutes, or until the syrup is reduced by half. The different flavors come in when you add cinnamon or vanilla or whatever you like. As a general rule the flavors should be added during the simmering phase to get the most out of them. Then, just pour the syrup through a strainer and you have your syrup. If you are using extracts add them after the syrup is removed from the heat.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• 1/2 of a vanilla bean
• 2 tsp maple extract
• 1 star anise
• 2 tsp almond

Experiment with whatever you like. You can afford to with this, it costs very little.

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

Unless you are doing a review, or are a coffee roaster (or similar) you probably should just enjoy the flavor.

What makes coffee perfect, to my mind, is the reason you are drinking it. I loved the coffee dates Marc and I used to have, sipping coffee and just being together. It was the being not the doing that was important. I dislike coffee cuppings because all the slurping makes me cringe. I am, after all, a rather experienced mom and when I hear those kinds of noises whilst someone is drinking I want to tell them to drink it right or leave the table.

In any case, rather than coffee being the focus, good coffee should be the backdrop of what you are doing. Analyze it to death in private if you must, but coffee has always and should always be a social event.  Nearly every town has some old restaurant where everyone goes for coffee and to find out who left who and who is moving out of state.

I guess I am tired of all the hoopla. Just drink the darn stuff and enjoy it. Somethings shouldn’t be analyzed. Some should just be savored in the moment.

Go ahead, grab a cup. Take a break. Don’t try to taste the citrus, tobacco, or chocolatey-nuttiness. Just sip it and be mindless for a few minutes.

Felt good, didn’ t it?

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

We used to buy this tea when we had the tea room and I can tell you that the tea is very high quality. One of our favorites was called Casablanca, also one of Marc and my favorite movies! The prices are very reasonable and the coupon code makes it impossible to turn down a few tins of tea.

They have organic tea as well as some beautiful bone china tea pots. With the holidays right around the corner take time to stock up!

image:SXC

Post from: Kettle and Cup

So, this Wonderwoman cup is my pick of the week.

Isn’t it awesome?

Image:via Amazon

Post from: Kettle and Cup

I had a mocha latte breve, because to me if it doesn’t have cream it just isn’t worth drinking. It was delicious. The last time I was there I felt the espresso was a little watery which made the latte a little flavorless. This time the flavor was rich and full, although it was almost too sweet when you got to the bottom. The barista attempted a design with the steamed cream and it wasn’t bad, although practice is needed if he wants to head to the international competitions.

The decor is awful at this point but I am hoping that it is a matter of moving in. The furniture is in a jumble and there is too much of it.

They have also started serving gelato, and there seemed to be some unique flavors. He asked if I wanted a sample and then forgot to give it to me so I can’t tell you how it tastes. But they advertise the following:

• Red Velvet Cake
• Roasted Almond
• Cafe au Lait
• Pumpkin Cinnamon
• Oreo Cookies and Cream

The gelato is mad fresh in small batches, and is made with ORGANIC sugar and whole milk. SCORE! Now, if only they would get organic coffee!

What I loved:

• Friendly
• Latte was great
• Real cups!
• Gelato sounds interesting
• Organics
• It’s indy

What I didn’t love:

• Decor looked like a storage shed

Scale from 1-5 They get a 3.5 which could end up being a 4.5 if the decor changes significantly. I personally have a very hard time relaxing in a mess.

Should you go? Sure! The prices are good, the coffee is good, and hey, they have gelato!

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup

I found them at Bonzai Aphrodite, which may be added to my top ten, because the blog, images, and stuff is amazing. Hey, you know I am impressed; I said awesome, incredible, and amazing in the first 55 words! Basically you take unbleached cheesecloth and fill it with your own personal tea blend. The result is an adorable, whimsical, cozy looking array of tea bags that would look fantastic in an apothecary jar on the counter!

If you are searching for great ideas check out this one. Make them for yourself or your family and friends (or both).  Pick out some loose leaf teas that seem like they would go together at Teavana or Adagio, or anther good company and then try them in different combinations until you get the ratio you want.

You could even put them in a apothecary jar of some sort and make a label for them with the name of you custom tea on it.  If you grow your own herbs you could even mix your own herbal tea blend.

Wow..thoughts are flowing…NOW I am inspired!

image:sxc

Post from: Kettle and Cup