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A different kind of coffee cart

Asheville Citizen-Times columnist Susan Reinhardt reported Friday that the VA Medical Center at Oteen is no longer going to be able to serve free coffee to veterans there during the afternoon. The coffee cart in the lobby is staffed and supplied by volunteers who are running so short of coffee -- as well as cups, sugar, and cream -- that they can operate only half a day. Mountain City has offered to help, but it sounds as if they go through more than any one small company could donate.

I ask other local roasters to step up and help out the vets at Oteen. Perhaps our colleagues at larger coffee companies -- hint: Counter Culture and S&D -- who would like to have a more visible local presence could pitch in as well.

For veterans, a nice cup of hot coffee on a chilly day is a treat. Vets from all over have enjoyed the coffee cart in the lobby of the VA Medical Center in Asheville. It's a shame that program has been cut in half, from eight hours a day to four. Now, vets looking for afternoon pick-me-ups such as a cup of fresh Folgers will go without. I learned about the medical center's coffee program cuts through Sandra Coggins of Candler, whose husband is a Vietnam vet and recently entered the center for day surgery. The coffee cart in the lobby is tended by the super busy Pat Paravalos, a volunteer. "I make a pot every five minutes," she said in hurried tones as we talked the other day. "A lot of veterans depend on that cart. Some are in wheelchairs, homeless or from the nursing home. They call it their little therapy cart." Read the full story.

Don't let them drink Folgers. You can email me for more information.

Don't try this at home —

Can a cup of coffee cure a kid's ADHD?

This morning a mommy blogger appeared on "ABC News" and shared that her 7-year-old son starts his day with a cup of coffee. Christie Haskell who writes for Cafe Mom's "The Stir" gives her son Rowan a second dose of caffeine later in the day. What's this mom thinking? Her son must be bouncing off the walls at school. Just the opposite. Rowan is quiet and focused in class. In fact, Haskell claims that she gives her son a cup of coffee to calm him down. She says coffee helps ease Rowan's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). "He doesn't overreact if we ask him to pick up Legos, rather than screaming and throwing himself on the floor," Haskell told ABC. "And if we ask him to sit down and do homework, he can actually do it."

Rowan says he enjoys two things about his coffee regimen. "It tastes good," he told ABC. "And it calms me down."

(Reported in the SF Chronicle and on ABC's Good Morning America).

Long time home-roaster Neil McCollum spotted on PBS this rerun of a North Carolina Weekend show filmed last spring. Waking Life is featured along with several other well-known coffee venues in Asheville.

And in case you were worried about them, don't be, Starbucks is doing just fine. After reading that story, it's difficult to be sympathetic toward CEO Howard Schultz, though he's right about speculation in the commodities market —

From The Telegraph:

Howard Schultz, who masterminded Starbucks' growth from four stores in Seattle to more than 17,000 worldwide, said that more transparency was urgently needed to identify those responsible for pushing up raw material prices. Mr Schultz, who is also Starbucks' chief executive and chairman, said that the current spike in the cost of commodities such as coffee and other foodstuffs is "not based on supply and demand" but based on market speculation. He said that the farmers who actually produce the commodities are receiving a "de minimus" proportion of the price rises. "Right now we are experiencing a very strange and almost inexplicable phenomenon in the commodities market. Without any real supply or demand issues we are witness to the fact that most agricultural food commodities are at record highs at once, and coffee is at a 34-year high," he said. "Through financial speculation -- hedge funds, index funds and other ways to manipulate the market -- the commodities market is in a very unfortunate position. This has resulted in every coffee company having to pay extraordinarily high prices for coffee." Read more ....

From Mountain Xpress:

If you get a craving for a pumpkin latte, we recommend that you head over to Waking Life Espresso at 976 Haywood Road in West Asheville. There, you can try Jared Rutledge’s Zombie Pumpkin Latte, made with canned pumpkin pulp, fresh-ground whole spices, raw sugar and Hawaiian sea salt. Rutledge reports that he runs through about a gallon of the pumpkin flavoring a week. Why the “Zombie?”  Because it’s made with the brains of the pumpkin, says Rutledge.

There's an informative story about Waking Life Espresso in Mountain Xpress.  See why Jared has the best tasting espresso in town --

More good news about the health benefits of coffee and caffeine. Two stories from Coffee and Cocoa International --

UK -- Big caffeine consumers 'high' on happiness

The more caffeine people consume the more they see it as a positive thing, according to a new study. The report, by Dr Lorenzo Stafford of the University of Portsmouth's psychology department, says heavy caffeine users are the only known 'drug users' to see their habit in a positive light. His study investigated people's underlying feelings about caffeine. The results were published in the latest issue of Psychology of Addicted Behaviors. He said: "Caffeine is found in coffee, tea, cola and even in chocolate. It is the most widely consumed drug in the world, with all of the hallmarks of more addictive drugs, including withdrawal symptoms, tolerance and dependence. Our findings show that the more caffeine a person consumes, the more it is likely they will see caffeine as a good thing." For the purposes of the study, Dr Stafford focused on tea and coffee drinkers. The research used an implicit association task to test the underlying opinions of people who drink no caffeine, those who drink one-three cups a day, and those who drink five or more cups a day.

THE NETHERLANDS -- Coffee consumption linked to better heart hearth

Drinking several cups of coffee or tea a day appears to protect against heart disease, a 1 3-year study from The Netherlands has found, adding to a growing body of evidence suggesting health benefits from both beverages. According to the study, those who drank more than six cups of tea a day cut their risk of heart disease by a third; consuming 2-4 coffees a day was also linked to a reduced risk. Although the protective effect ceased with more than four cups of coffee a day, even those who drank this much were no more likely to die of any cause, including stroke and cancer, than those who abstained. "It's basically a good news story for those who like tea and coffee. These drinks appear to offer benefits for the heart without raising the risk of dying from anything else," said Professor Yvonne van der Schouw, the lead researcher.

Are you sure you're drinking enough coffee?  Maybe more is actually better for you.  Researchers at  Florida State University have found that 500mg of caffeine a day may help prevent Alzheimer's Disease. 

The NPR story says 500mg of caffeine requires drinking five or more cups a day.  That's a lot to drink, but the trick is to make your coffee full strength, or buy it from someone who does.

Arabica coffees contain about 1.2% caffeine, so brewing at 65 grams/liter will yield a beverage with about 780mg caffeine per liter.  To get the suggested 500mg, you'd have to drink only about 640ml (22oz). -- that's four dinner cup servings or one Starbucks vente-size.  You could also get the recommended dose of caffeine from five shots of espresso.

And from Coffee & Cocoa International, a UK study reinforces Alheimer's benefit --

A review of evidence from other studies suggests that regularly drinking coffee, around two to three cups a day, reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by as much as a quarter. The latest research - published in Journal of Alzheimer's Disease - looked at 26 published studies into the link between reduced risk of developing the disease and consuming coffee regularly.

The researchers found a 25 per cent cut in the chance of developing the disease among coffee drinkers. There was also a direct link between the amount of coffee drunk and the extent of the protective effect conferred, the researchers found.

And from the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe website --

Clerics decide against banning Kopi Luwak for Muslims
INDONESIA 21st July 2010

The highest Islamic body in Indonesia in late July decided not to ban Muslims from drinking Kopi Luwak, the exotic and rare coffee harvested from civet cat droppings. The Indonesian Council of Ulemas had considered issuing a fatwa against the coffee, local reports said, on the grounds that it was unclean. However, after discussions, the Muslim clerics agreed that it was not forbidden to harvest, sell or consume Kopi Luwak as long as the beans were washed.

Indonesia's population is 90% Muslim.

Kopi Luwak, which can fetch up to $500 per kilo, originates from several Indonesian islands where the luwak civets are found, including Java, Sumatra and Sulawesi. The animals eat ripe coffee cherries and then excrete the beans, which are gathered and cleaned.

A fatwa?