Naked Trees and New Perspectives

One of the best parts of late fall and winter is that the leaves fall off the trees. Yes, you read that right. I like it when the trees around town lose their leaves. I don’t really like tromping through piles of leaf mush, but that’s a minor inconvenience compared to the enjoyment I get from seeing the trees without their leaves.

This is because when the trees lose their leaves, you see a different side of them—they seem stronger, more graceful and wiry. You can see the skeletal beauty of the trees, their knotted branches twisting upward, stretching toward the sky. They have been hardened by the seasons and are prepared to withstand another winter of rain (or snow) and wind. They have a ruggedness that you just don’t see when all of their branches are hidden behind the leaves.

In addition, I like how the disappearance of the leaves opens things up. If you grew up in a part of the world where you could see for miles (as I did), sometimes you might feel trapped in places where the trees block all the views. When the leaves fall off the trees in late fall, the city opens up and you see things that you haven’t seen before or you see them from a different point of view.

That wasn't there before, was it?

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Friday Afternoon Links-December 3rd

Here are a few things that went on in the coffee world this week, in case you missed them.

Starbucks is working on recycling all their cups (Link)

In Munich, Germany, Laundromat+Coffee Shop = Laundrocafé (Link)

Instead of selling Fair Trade coffee, Illy educates and train its growers (Link)

More bad weather in Colombia could mean higher coffee prices in 2011 (Link to BusinessWeek article)

The barista from Dutch Bros. who killed a man who attempted to rob his kiosk will not face charges (Link)

Costa Rica is importing green coffee beans for the first time to satisfy domestic demand (Link)

Rumor has it that Starbucks is thinking about buying Peet’s Coffee (Link)

Coffee grown in California? Yep. (Link)

The Restroom Association of Singapore (that’s not a misprint) has granted 5-star status to a coffee shop’s commode in Singapore’s Tampines area (Link)

Equator Coffee and Teas is working with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves to improve the lives of their coffee growers (and others) (Link)

By making coffee buying decisions easier, Seattle’s Best is hoping to reach more customers (Link)

Interested in the history of the Moka express pot? Do you even know what a Moka express pot is? Here’s a quick explanation (Link)

Show Your Patriotism—Drink Coffee!

Today I want to bring you a little coffee history. I was reading Starbucked by Taylor Clark and one of the stories he tells about the history of coffee in America caught my eye. I thought I’d share it with you. But first, a little background (I promise there is a point to this story—it just takes a little while to get there).

I don’t know how many of you grew up drinking coffee before Starbucks became popular. It may be that for most of you, you never cared about coffee before the big green apron came along. I didn’t drink much coffee myself until fairly recently. To be honest, I don’t know if I ever went into a Starbucks before 2002. Growing up, I had an occasional cup after church (a Methodist tradition) maybe once a year, but I was never really what you would consider a coffee drinker. During high school, I remember some older friends telling me that there was no way anyone could make it through college without drinking coffee. They were wrong about at least one person.

My own personal connection with coffee really began in 2001 on a trip to Italy. While staying at a hostel (Casa Olmata) in Rome, we were given a ticket for a complimentary breakfast—a cappuccino and a croissant—at a nearby bar (café) that was across the street from Santa Maria Maggiore. We found the bar about 8am and walked in, a little unsure of ourselves. It was my first trip to the country and I couldn’t speak much Italian. We handed the tickets to the barista and he immediately set to work on the drinks. I stood there waiting, looking around and taking in everything around me.

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Chilling at the Cloud Seven Café

It was a cold, rainy day when I visited the Cloud Seven Café. Cloud Seven is located at the Northeast corner of Jamison Square, in the same space where Sip ‘n Kranz used to be. I had hoped to find a warm spot to cozy up to an espresso (or two), but it didn’t quite work out that way. I was disappointed when I walked in and found the café to be quite cold. In fact, it didn’t seem that much warmer than outside. I could feel a very cool breeze blowing from the café ventilation system. I wasn’t the only one who thought it was cold inside either. Behind the bar I could see one of the baristas shivering. After a while, I was shivering too.

Just below cloud nine

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It's Hard to be Julia

I think I’m in the wrong line of work. Reportedly, Julia Roberts pulled in a million plus for shooting an ad for Lavazza’s automatic espresso machine—without saying anything. All she does is sip an espresso and smile. Here's the commercial—Don’t worry if you don’t understand what the Italian actors are saying. From the look on her face, I don’t think Julia does either.

Apparently she really does have a million dollar smile. That means that mine ought to be worth at least a cup of coffee (maybe even a vacuum pot). I think I’ll have my agent call Lavazza’s marketing department. . .

In other celebrity coffee endorsement news, George Clooney and John Malkovich team up to sell Nespresso.

A longer version of the ad is here. George and John aren't doing so badly for themselves either.

The Columbia Gorge on Ice

If you’re around the Pacific Northwest for very long, one thing you ought to do is take a drive through the Columbia River Gorge. It is a very scenic trip that rivals any other that America has to offer. My family and I drove up the Gorge for Thanksgiving this week, on the heels of this year’s first major winter storm. I was reminded how beautiful the Gorge can be. I was also reminded how temperamental it can be (at least the weather).

The Columbia River Gorge is one of America’s largest river channels. It was formed during the last ice age when the ice dam that formed Lake Missoula broke, causing one of the biggest, most intense floods the world has ever seen. Water rushed out of the lake and across Eastern Washington, digging a network of deep channels in the earth. According to the Montana Natural History Center, the flow of water was 60 times greater than the Amazon River, the largest river in the world. Sixty times! The wall of water rushed through the region and left behind a trove of geological features. It created wonders such as Palouse Falls, Dry Falls (which were 3.5 times as wide and twice as high as Niagara Falls), the Channeled Scablands and Wallula Gap The waters spread out like a giant hand across Eastern Washington, coming together at Wallula and raging their way to the Pacific Ocean. It would have been quite a scene to see, assuming you were standing on ground above the flood plain.

Quite the view

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A Few Links for Friday

I hope everyone was fortunate enough to have a nice Thanksgiving meal yesterday, as well as the common sense to not eat too much. Here are a few things that showed up this week in the coffee news. 

Green Mountain Coffee’s future may not be as rosy as some investors think. Link

Illy Coffee is pushing into the hotel market, edging into Starbuck’s territory. Link

World’s "finest coffee" from a cat’s arse? Link and Link 2 (the ‘innovative’ company’s website)

Who knew that studying coffee rings left behind on mugs could have industrial applications? Link

Frank Bruni of the New York Times wasn’t so impressed with the his Chemex coffee maker, and longed for the return of his Mr. Coffee machine. Link

Stumptown and the “third wave” of coffee are sweeping over the East Cost (at least it has reached Hartford, Connecticut). Link

Portland Ducati dealer MotoCorsa is teaming up with Ristretto Roasters to create the CorsaCoffee brand for all of you motorcycle enthusiasts. Link

A Dutch Bros. barista doesn’t mess around when someone tries to rob his café. Link