A reader just sent me this photo of Stewie as latte art etching made by Kitanda Coffee.
Sources:
Kitanda Latte Art Photo Gallery – From INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero on Flickr. You are free to use any image for any purpose.
Amazing Latte Designs at Kitanda Brazilian Espresso and Bakery – Coffee Hero post from December 28, 2009.
Kitanda – 15230 NE 24th St., Redmond, WA 98052
Family Guy – Show home page on FOX.com.
Inspired by Joerael Elliott of Dubsea Coffee, I grabbed a toothpick and tried my hand at latte art etching. Isn’t it lovely? 
By: Greg Nolan
Today’s New York Times has an informative article on the improving coffee scene in New York City. From the article New York Is Finally Taking Coffee Seriously by Oliver Strand:
For years New Yorkers had to look to places like Stumptown Coffee Roasters in Portland, Ore., or Blue Bottle Coffee in San Francisco for this kind of quality. Now both companies have opened roasters and coffee bars in New York. Four Barrel Coffee of San Francisco will be roasting here soon.
The article goes on to list 30 places to visit. The list starts on page 2 and the side bar of the article has a link to an interactive map. I’ll be printing out that list before my next trip to NYC.
Photo Grumpy Coffee by John Niedermeyer
Source:
New York Is Finally Taking Coffee Seriously – by Oliver Strand
Cafe Grumpy – Made the top 30 list.
Seattle Coffee Works recently started a Monday coffee cupping, so I went down to participate.
The five coffees on the table were:
Hopefully I spelled those correctly. Although I was impressed on how much the Bali impersonated an East Africian coffee, my two favorites were the Ethiopians. They both had the fruity quality that Ethiopia is known for. As the coffees cooled, I felt that the Sidamo pulled ahead of the Yirgacheffe with richer flavor.
In addition to the Coffee Cupping, I had a very interesting single origin espresso from the Costa Rica Santa Elena Estate. Katie from Seattle Coffee Works nailed it when she described it as peppery in a good way. I agree. It was extremely good and unlike any espresso I’ve had before.
Seattle Coffee Works is in the heart of the tourist area of downtown Seattle, which means unlike other local coffee cuppings, this one is more likely to attract a tourist just passing through. At the cupping, I met a guy that was visiting from my old hometown of Columbus, Ohio. Poor fellow was just given a taste of great Seattle coffee and now its time to go home.
Sources:
Seattle Coffee Works – 107 Pike St., Seattle.
Coffee Cupping: A Basic Introduction – INeedCoffee article.
SCW Photo Set – The INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero photo gallery for Seattle Coffee Works.
It appears I never posted about my December visit to Noom Coffee in Bangkok, Thailand. While exploring the neighborhoods of Bangkok, I discovered this coffee shop down an alley off an arterial street. Don’t ask me where this was, as I just blindly walked around and couldn’t make sense out of any street sign.
Despite the language barrier, I was able to have a limited conservation with the owner (Noom) about his coffee. When I ordered an espresso, he asked me if I wanted it like Europeans or like it is served for Thai people. He then showed me 2 cups. The larger cup was for Thai people and the smaller one is “for Europeans”. I picked the smaller one, which would have still been large for Seattle.
By Thailand standards, the espresso was good. The service was outstanding. It was one of my favorite coffee places I visited during my month long trip to Asia. The espresso cost 20 baht ( 61 cents US).
One of the more popular posts last year on Coffee Hero was my beer review titled Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout – Elusive and Yummy. With so many coffee and espresso inspired stouts and porters, it was certain that Coffee Hero would have more reviews of these craft ales. But it didn’t happen. I quit drinking beer back in September.
Beer drinkers shouldn’t offended, I say More For You! 
Anyway, I would still love to showcase reviews of coffee and espresso based beers here on Coffee Hero. If you are interested in writing these reviews with photos, send me an email. The ideal reviewer will be knowledgeable on both quality beer and quality coffee.
Sources:
Saying Goodbye to Beer – Why I quit drinking beer.
Espresso Oak Aged Yeti Imperial Stout – Elusive and Yummy – The one coffee beer review on Coffee Hero at this time.
By: Ryan Jacobs
I saw this ad while shopping at Target yesterday. It creeped me out much like that King does in those Burger King commercials. I guess the money savings come from bypassing the bags and just pouring the beans directly in your hands?
I know several people that don’t like coffee. I’m OK with that. But every so often I’ll meet someone that after learning about my love for coffee wants to rant to me about how awful the beverage is and that they would never drink it. I learned how to respond to these people one day during my junior year of high school.
I was sitting in a study hall when a fellow student sat down next to me. This guy was known to smoke lots of pot, or so I thought, yet there on the cover of his Trapper Keeper notebook was a huge DARE sticker. DARE is the anti-drug educational program for kids. The fact Mr. Pot Smoker had this sticker on this notebook struck me as odd, so I pointed at the sticker and asked him about it.
Photo Americano in Cambodia from Common Grounds – Siem Reap, Cambodia
He responded to me with dead seriousness and stated that you shouldn’t do drugs. Then after a long pause he smiled and said “more for me“. I learned an important lesson that day. Whenever someone starts preaching to me about the evils of coffee, I just smile and say “more for me“.
Last Sunday the Coffee Club of Seattle went over to Kirkland to visit the Urban Coffee Lounge. Besides the great coffee drinks, our group was impressed by the wall decoration. It is a collection of different sized coffee mugs fixed to a concrete backing. Below are a few photos of the wall fixture.
Sources:
Photo Gallery – INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero photos of Urban Coffee Lounge.
Urban Coffee Lounge – 9744 Northeast 119th Way Kirkland, WA
Coffee Club of Seattle – Meetup.com page.
I love espresso and I love rooibos. Lucky for me there is a product called Red Espresso. I posted a full review on INeedCoffee. Check out Red Espresso is Espresso Style Rooibos.
Photo Red Espresso vs Regular Rooibos by INeedCoffee / CoffeeHero
